Chapter 739 Sour Grapes
“Her high alcohol tolerance should not be a reason the few of you join hands to harass her. It doesn’t mean I don’t know just because I keep quiet about it. Why would you bully a friend of mine? Do you guys even think of me as your friend?” Jamie spoke clearly and logically. “I will say it now—I will not turn a blind eye, and I will not be taken advantage of. We can stay as friends if you are willing to work it out. And if you are not, we will call it quits right this instant.”
Narissa couldn’t help but do a double take at Jamie, as this was the first time she had ever seen him being so serious.
Charissa and the men couldn’t say anything in return, and then soon unwillingly left due to the shame.
——
Alexander and Elise were attending an art exhibition together.
They hadn’t been there for long before they saw Ariel walking toward them with her arm linked around Danny’s.
As soon as Danny saw them, he immediately let go of Ariel’s hand and went to welcome them.
“Alex and Elise? What are you both doing here?”
“Why can’t we be here?” Elise smirked as she fervidly gave him a knowing look.
Alexander also let out a smile then. “You have finally grown up, huh?” he teased.
“What?! That is my business partner!” Danny explained himself in panic. “There are other business partners around too, it is just that you haven’t seen them!”
Alexander, however, continued to make fun of him. “You are only explaining because you want to hide the truth. Say no more. Your sister-in-law and I understand.”
“Elise, please, you have to control my brother!” Danny cried.
Ariel stepped forward then. “Please don’t tease your younger brother too much, Mr. Griffith. One is bound to be looked down upon if they were to attend such a function without a date.”
Her eyes met Elise’s as she spoke, and she gave her a small nod to greet her.
Elise returned the gesture before she turned to look at Danny. “Are you listening to this, Danny Griffith? Just look at how open-minded your partner is. Your agitation will only make nothing look like it is something.”
“I am not agitated! Ugh—fine. Anything you say…” He finally resigned himself to his fate.
Danny was already on the verge of collapsing from Ariel’s relentless dominance in almost everything at work, and now even his beloved sister-in-law was on Ariel’s side? At this point, all he could see ahead of him was complete darkness!
“Fate must have brought us to each other. How about we walk together?” Ariel invited the couple, to which Elise gladly accepted.
After a while, a small crowd gathered in front of an oil painting titled ‘Wedding Contract’.
The painting was a work by an emerging artist named Xue. As popular as it was to gather a group of critics, the feedback wasn’t positive like one would expect it to be.
“The mystical colors used are indeed one-of-a-kind, but it seems that the artist’s vision could be wider.”
“I feel the same. The construction of the painting is too crude, and the bride’s face doesn’t at all show the festivity of the wedding celebration. The painting seems to have deviated from the theme.”
“Indeed. It supposedly is a wedding, but no one is smiling. Not the groom, not the bride, and not even the servants. Even if the artist wanted to emphasize the difference between the bride and the groom, they shouldn’t have made it so biased.”
Ariel kept her eyes on the painting, and she only smiled when she heard their discussion. It was as though she was in the audience watching a show being played.
However, the clear voice of a female that sounded nothing like the bunch of chatterboxes’ suddenly rang out from beside her.
“I dare say it is you who have a narrow view for your comments,” Elise said to the critics without mincing her words. “The beauty of this painting is that it is made completely from the point of view of a female. It focuses on the uncertainty toward her future, and the concern for her family the bride may have on the day of her wedding. Even the servants are a focal point. There is not a hint of joy on their faces because they know that the young miss they served would no longer live a carefree life once she has become someone else’s wife. Every stroke used to make this painting is there for a reason. Instead of this being about a wedding contract, it more so brings attention to the wedding being a life-and-death situation.”
As Ariel listened to Elise’s explanation, she couldn’t hold back the surprise in her eyes as her impression of Elise changed.
“Don’t go around spewing nonsense when you don’t know art.” The critics’ faces had fallen when they heard that, and they didn’t look pleased at all. “If it really is as you said that weddings are hard, why would couples still get married? You are one cynical young lady, aren’t you?”
“I agree,” another critic added. “I am sure no man would marry an arrogant woman like you. You are probably talking trash about weddings to validate yourself because you have no one to get married to.”
Alexander stepped forward at this moment and wrapped his arm around Elise. “I am sure whether or not my wife can get married is the least of your concern. I do want to ask, though. What gives you the right to criticize my wife?”
Looking at the stunning couple, the critics suddenly lost their tongues.
Some time had passed before they said weakly, “You probably are a bad egg as well to be protecting a woman like this. It is because of women like her that Cittadel is filled with women who lack virtue. They are the reason the world is a mess!”
As someone who didn’t know a thing about art, Danny initially wanted to stay out of the fight. However, as soon as he heard this, he exploded, “I have seen people who do body modification, but this is the first time I am seeing someone who has gotten a brain reduction. You folks really have opened my eyes to a whole new world. You know what? I don’t think you are worried about women who have no virtue. It is probably because women are way above your level that you feel like trash compared to them.”
“Ha! We are trash? Go ask around and see if there is anyone in this industry who hasn’t heard our name before.”
“Indeed. You no-names babies not only outwardly disrespect your elders, you even yap about this and that to pretend like you truly understand the artist’s work. You bunch are obviously here to cause trouble. You should be removed from this vicinity!”
The men started causing a commotion about wanting to get a security guard to bring Elise’s group out.
“There is no need for that.” Ariel stepped forward to stop them. “This lady here is right. That is exactly what the artist wants to convey.”
“Here comes another uppity one. Get her out of here along with the rest of them!” a critic roared.
“I am afraid you don’t have the right to.” Ariel then calmly revealed, “I am the artist who made this piece.”
“Oh—I see. So the artist herself has brought someone to create a buzz, huh?” The critic started exaggerating after he thought he had found her Achilles heel. “You are afraid of criticism because your painting is terrible. Look at how easy it is to get on the youngsters’ nerves nowadays!”
“My temper depends on who I am dealing with, but since some of you are not satisfied with my work, may I ask how many pieces of your own work are being displayed?”
Ariel getting straight to the point immediately crumbled the resolute expression on the men’s faces.
“Also, just so you know, I am only standing here today because the organizers have been begging me to. I am sure they wouldn’t want to offend me if I went to tell them that I don’t want to see your faces,” she threatened as she arrogantly raised her eyebrows.
The visitors might not be taken out of here if the critics were to kick up a fuss about them, but the critics were sure that they would have no choice but to leave if Ariel was the one to complain about them.
Realizing that they had stepped on a landmine, the critics looked at each other and randomly threw out a weak threat before they all scurried away.
“Stay here if you dare!” Danny boomed at their diminishing figures. “Bunch of sour grapes.”
Ariel then turned to look at Elise. “It is rare to find someone who can understand me. May I have the honor of asking you to dinner tonight, Mrs. Griffith?”
Elise briefly looked at Alexander before she nodded. “Sure.”
“A new work by SQ has arrived!” someone exclaimed, instantly catching the attention of a majority of the visitors.
Everyone then started to swarm in the direction the voice came from.
Seeing this, Elise and Ariel also followed the crowd.
However, as soon as their eyes fell on the ink painting, they announced at the same time, “It is a fake.”
Elise looked at Ariel in surprise when she heard that. She didn’t think that Ariel had such a good eye to spot the painting’s authenticity. Recollecting herself, she swiftly made way to an employee and asked, “Where is the person who brought this over?”
