Chapter 83 Interested in Making a Deal?
This remark stirred up discussion among the crowd.
People began raising questions one after another.
"How can the styles be so similar?"
"It's like they were painted by the same person."
"Exactly! Especially the way the petals are drawn - the lines, the composition - aren't they identical?"
Yasmin heard this, and her face gradually turned pale.
She even turned around, wanting to slip away.
Bobby, Steven - she couldn't care about any of them now.
She had to leave this place immediately.
Everything else could wait.
But before she could retreat from the crowd, a slender yet strong hand grabbed her firmly.
"Yasmin, where are you going?"
Amelia wore a smile on her face, but her voice sounded like a demon from hell.
She normally wouldn't bother humiliating someone like Yasmin, but Yasmin shouldn't have - absolutely shouldn't have - stolen work from the Richardson family to gain benefits for herself.
Right after the Richardson family got into trouble, Yasmin couldn't wait to distance herself from them.
Now that she needed the Richardson family, she went out of her way to sneak back and steal Grant's creative work.
Coming around when she needed something, kicking them away when she didn't.
How could there be such a cheap deal in this world?
She wasn't deliberately humiliating Yasmin - she was simply seeking justice.
"Let go of me!"
Yasmin didn't dare speak loudly. She just stared at Amelia with her carefully made-up eyes.
Amelia smiled.
"I will let you go, but not now."
As she spoke, she gave Grant a look.
Grant understood and walked toward Samuel and Geraldo.
Yasmin instinctively wanted to chase after him and stop him.
But Amelia didn't give her any chance to catch up, holding Yasmin's hand tightly.
Yasmin couldn't move forward at all.
While Yasmin was anxious, Grant had already explained the situation to Samuel and the others.
Geraldo's brow furrowed sharply.
"You're saying Yasmin copied your creative work?"
Grant shook his head. "Not just the creative idea - she copied my entire painting. In my bedroom, there's an identical painting. If you don't believe me, I can have someone bring it over right now."
Geraldo was about to speak when he suddenly remembered something else.
He pulled out his phone, found a photo in his album, and handed it to Grant.
"Do you recognize this painting?"
Grant took the phone and recognized the painting with just one glance.
"This moonlit night painting is also my work. Though I didn't paint this one."
Meaning, this painting was also copied from his work.
Geraldo's expression became extremely unpleasant.
Samuel understood at this moment what play Amelia was putting on.
His eyes were full of amusement.
This was quite a show.
It seemed that anything involving Amelia was pretty interesting.
He spoke up: "Everything requires evidence, especially today's competition, which concerns our Crawford Group's new product. If Mr. Richardson doesn't mind, could you have the painting brought over now?"
"Of course!"
Grant took out his phone and called Holden, telling him to bring the painting over immediately.
"Yes, the one on the desk, the one I wrote the date on - from the first of this month."
"Yes, Grant!"
Holden hung up and went to find the painting.
The Richardson Manor wasn't far from Luminance Art Gallery - without traffic, it would only take twenty minutes to get there.
Samuel gave Jeremy a look. Jeremy immediately understood and went backstage to make an announcement over the speakers.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we sincerely apologize. Regarding the championship, we have a new dispute. The final champion will be announced in half an hour. We deeply apologize and ask for your understanding."
This announcement caused another wave of discussion.
"Wasn't it decided to be dual champions? Why is there suddenly a new dispute?"
"That's normal. Today's competition is to find a designer. There's only one lead designer, so they definitely still have to choose between the two."
But some experts in the art world guessed the truth.
"Is it because these two paintings have such similar styles?"
"Could it be plagiarism?"
People discussed heatedly with different opinions.
But everyone became more interested in who the final champion would be.
Amelia let go of Yasmin at this moment.
Whether she stayed or left, the result wouldn't change.
But Yasmin still held onto a thread of hope.
She quickly walked up to Geraldo, hoping he would let bygones be bygones.
"Mr. McGinnis."
Geraldo directly turned his face away.
"Don't talk to me right now."
Before the evidence was confirmed, he didn't want to say another word to Yasmin.
Yasmin's expression darkened.
"Mr. McGinnis, don't listen to other people's lies. Please trust me."
Geraldo said expressionlessly: "Whether it's truth or lies, I'll find out soon enough."
Yasmin clenched her hands tightly, catching sight of Grant from the corner of her eye.
His gaze was as cold as before, as if looking at a cockroach.
Yasmin's breathing stopped.
She had always known that Grant didn't like her.
But she couldn't just do nothing.
"Grant, can I talk to you for a moment? One minute is enough."
"Say what you want to say."
"Can we go over there to talk?"
"If you have something to say, just say it directly. What are you trying to do, being all sneaky?"
Yasmin's throat tightened, but she still held back her anger and said: "I have something very important to tell you. It's about Lucas. Don't you want to know?"
Regarding Lucas, Grant hesitated for two seconds, but still followed Yasmin to a place with no one around.
"You can talk now." Grant said flatly.
Yasmin grabbed Grant's sleeve.
"Grant, you already know, don't you? You know that my competition entry this time borrowed from your painting, right?"
"Borrowed?"
Grant laughed coldly, his eyes full of mockery.
"Are you sure it's just borrowing? Isn't it copying?"
Yasmin was already used to the barbs in his tone.
She put on a pleasing smile and said: "Yes, I did copy it. But please, for the sake of our past relationship as siblings, forgive me this once. I promise I'll never copy your paintings again."
"Past relationship as siblings? Maybe there was a little bit of that in the past, but that relationship completely ended when you forced Mom to sign the document severing the parent-child relationship."
Yasmin let go of Grant's hand.
"Then what if I'm willing to tell you the reason why Lucas has been stuck in the entertainment industry all these years without making it big? Will you help me this one last time?"
Grant's eyelid twitched.
"You know the reason?"
"Yes! But you have to promise me first. Otherwise, Lucas might stay stuck like this forever, being a Z-list celebrity for the rest of his life."
Grant's eyes turned cold.
"Are you threatening me?"
"Don't make it sound so ugly. I'm just making a deal with you. So, Grant, are you interested in this deal?"