Chapter 204 Reaching Consensus
Evelyn didn't give her a chance to ask questions. She put on a rushed expression, "Well, if I don't leave now, I'll be late. You guys carry on, see you later!"
Without waiting for Olivia to react, Evelyn hurried off.
Olivia stared at her swift retreat, completely stunned.
She even wondered if Evelyn really did have an appointment...
Andrew watched Evelyn's departing figure, raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. His gaze returned to Olivia as he asked, "Shall we walk together then?"
At this point, refusing would seem rather ungracious.
Olivia nodded and said, "Sure."
She felt a bit relieved inside. Good thing she'd already bought the painting.
If she'd been any slower and Andrew had caught her in the act, how embarrassing would that have been?
Soon, the two of them continued browsing the second half of the exhibition with Bianca.
Olivia held Bianca's hand and asked gently, "Bianca, did you cause any trouble for Andrew?"
Bianca shook her head and said in a sweet childlike voice, "No, I was really good!"
After speaking, she hugged her little water bottle and took a couple of sips, her cheeks puffing up like a little pufferfish.
Olivia found it adorable and smiled as she poked her cheek.
After the three of them walked away, Evelyn peeked out from behind a pillar and gave herself a thumbs up.
She was so clever, naturally creating opportunities for those two!
Not far away, David and the bodyguards watched the sneaky Evelyn and asked quietly, "Ms. Thomas, didn't you say you had something urgent?"
Evelyn jumped at his sudden voice and quickly turned around.
Seeing it was David, she patted her chest and complained, "Why don't you guys make any noise when you walk? You scared me!"
David calmly replied, "We were here before you, providing discreet protection."
Evelyn wasn't embarrassed at all and replied casually, "Oh, then just pretend you didn't see me..."
Then Evelyn prepared to leave and browse on her own.
At that moment, David suggested, "How about you joins us? There are more of us, and we've been keeping track of Mr. Hamilton and Dr. Garcia's movements, so we can help you avoid running into them."
Evelyn looked surprised, realizing they were on the same page.
So the two hit it off and toured the exhibition together.
The bodyguards exchanged glances, thinking to themselves, 'Should we also develop an impeccable sense of timing?'
Meanwhile, Olivia had no idea about any of this and was simply touring the exhibition with Andrew and Bianca.
It had to be said, Andrew's decision was quite right.
Bianca was indeed very absorbed in what she was seeing.
Andrew didn't just let her look on her own. He stayed by her side, occasionally asking her about her observations and thoughts on certain paintings.
Bianca wasn't shy either, expressing in a sweet childlike voice everything she felt.
When something was off, Andrew would correct her.
After a whole morning, Bianca gained a lot, and even Olivia learned quite a bit.
Before they knew it, it was almost noon.
Andrew was worried Bianca might be hungry, so he planned to look around a bit more and then take them to eat.
Just then, his phone suddenly rang.
Andrew glanced at it and said to Olivia, "You two keep looking, I'll take this call. I'll be right back."
"Okay, go ahead." Olivia had no objection and continued looking with Bianca.
After Andrew left, the mother and daughter walked around the corner to see works on the other side.
Olivia also noticed that the further into the exhibition they went, the more exceptional the works became.
The variety and styles became increasingly refined and complex.
Suddenly, Bianca stopped walking, her bright eyes drawn to a sunflower painting on the wall.
This sunflower was an oil painting with an abstract style, created by a painter from the last century.
However, that painter's life was very short - he died young.
He had been passionate about painting since childhood, but unfortunately, just as he became famous, he died of illness.
There were a few other visitors nearby, also admiring this painting.
"This piece is such a shame. It's appeared at auctions several times before, with the highest bid reaching over a hundred million, but then somehow the painting got damaged."
"Yeah, now it's only worth eight million dollars."
Olivia then noticed that this painting was indeed incomplete.
Nearly a third of the right side was damaged.
But even so, it didn't affect the painting's appeal.
The intact left portion was an absolute work of art.
Through the yellow paint, she could almost feel herself standing in that field of sunflowers.
Olivia looked at Bianca's transfixed expression and couldn't help asking, "Baby, do you like it?"
Bianca nodded her little head, her eyes shining brightly, "Mommy, I've seen the complete version in a video!
Uncle Andrew said this artist was a genius, but his health wasn't good. If he'd lived well, he definitely would have become someone really amazing. I want to study hard!"
Olivia's heart stirred at these words, and she asked again, "So do you like this painting? If you do, I'll buy it for you."
Bianca fidgeted with her fingers, looking a bit conflicted, and said, "I do like it, but this painting costs a lot of money, and you'll have to work really hard, Mommy."
Bianca didn't have a clear concept of money, but she knew that Olivia had to work to earn money, and she didn't want Olivia to work too hard.
Bianca thought for a moment, held her mommy's hand, and said in a sweet childlike voice, "How about I wait until I grow up and earn my own money, then I'll buy this painting?"
Olivia listened to her thoughtful little voice, her heart melting.
She stroked Bianca's head and said with a smile, "It's okay, if you like it, I'll buy it for you! I have money now, don't worry."
With that, Olivia called over a nearby staff member, "Excuse me..."
Her voice had just started, before she could finish, when she was interrupted by a childish voice behind her.
"Daddy Michael, can I buy this painting?"
This voice was quite familiar.
Wasn't it Sophia's son?
Olivia frowned and instinctively turned around. Sure enough, she saw those three people.
At that moment, Aiden seemed to have noticed them too and said with feigned surprise, "Oh, it's Bianca and Aunt Olivia, what a coincidence!"
Bianca's little eyebrows furrowed, clearly disliking them, and she moved closer to Olivia.
Olivia's eyes darkened, and she couldn't help but want to curse her bad luck.
Why did they run into these people wherever they went?
She coolly looked away, not planning to acknowledge them.
But Michael spoke first, asking her, "You brought Bianca to buy paintings?"
Wasn't that obvious?
Olivia didn't respond, not really wanting to answer him.
Michael could see Olivia's cold attitude, and a wave of irritation rose in his heart.
But he didn't plan to argue with Olivia here, so he suppressed that restless feeling and looked at his daughter standing by Olivia's leg.
"Bianca, do you want to buy a painting?"
Bianca pressed her little lips together and, out of politeness, still answered, "Yes, we want to buy this one..."
She pointed at the damaged sunflower painting in front of them and told Michael.
When Aiden heard this, his expression became troubled, and he immediately said, "But... I saw this painting first, and I was the first to say I wanted it."
He tugged at Michael's hand, acting cute as he shook it, saying, "Daddy Michael, you promised to give me a painting as a reward. I like this one..."
Sophia had originally been unhappy about running into Olivia here.
Since the medical business conference, Michael hadn't given her any pleasant looks.
Even when she lowered herself to try to seduce him, he wouldn't even glance at her.
But fortunately, Aiden was doing well. The painting he did at school yesterday won second place in the city's children's division, and the teacher called to praise him.
The teacher also told them, "There's a well-known painter in the country who really appreciates Aiden's work and wants to take him as a student. Ms. Brown, perhaps you could consider it..."
Sophia naturally wanted the best for her son, so after getting the contact information from the teacher, she arranged to meet this painter at this exhibition.
The exhibition tickets were naturally obtained through Michael.
They had just met, and the person was indeed a fairly well-known painter in the country, whose works had won quite a few domestic honors.
Although not yet at the master level, among domestic painters, he was above average.
Michael had also softened a bit toward Sophia because of this.
He even promised Aiden he would give him a painting as a reward.
No matter what, Aiden had brought him some honor.
Sophia was also feeling proud about this.
Even if she couldn't succeed herself, she still had her son!
As long as she and her son worked together, how could they fail to win over Michael?
But unexpectedly, this pride hadn't lasted long before she turned around and saw Olivia and her foolish daughter.
Sophia's heart couldn't help but tighten.
Worried that Michael might change his mind, she quietly reminded him, "Michael, it does seem like Aiden spoke up first.
His teacher said he has great talent. Since he values this painting, it must be because there's something special about it that attracts him. This is very important for a child's development."
She didn't use her usual forceful tone, but spoke to Michael in a soft, helpless voice.
Michael's expression became hesitant.
During this time, he had been reflecting on the past.
He knew in his heart that over these years, he had indeed neglected Olivia and Bianca, and he had thought about making it up to his daughter.
But today's situation concerned Aiden's future development.
Besides, he had promised in advance to give Aiden a painting.
Now, Aiden had finally chosen one; if he went back on his word, it would set a bad example for the child.
But then there was Bianca...
Sophia saw that he didn't immediately agree and guessed that he was really being swayed by Olivia and her daughter.
She became anxious and said urgently, "Michael, Aiden just got accepted as a student by a famous teacher - it's different from Bianca! If Bianca is just painting for fun, she can easily choose a different one, can't she?"