Accidental Marriage With Mr Billioniare
Chapter 148: THE SKETCH

Chapter 148: THE SKETCH

Astrid stepped out of her sleek, black Lamborghini Aventador, a gift from her grandfather.

She was still too irritated by Julian and had thought of coming to spend her remaining days with Maren.

She slammed the door shut and walked towards Maren’s studio, her heels clicking on the pavement.

As she entered the building, all eyes turned to her. She didn’t miss the gazes and murmur.

Ever since her grandfather introduced her, everyone had gotten to know her.

Astrid didn’t respond, her eyes scanning the beauty of the building until they landed on a familiar face. Nadine, her step-sister, stood frozen, staring at Astrid.

She was trying to be sure that the person before her was truly Astrid.

"Astrid?" Nadine called out again, her voice trembling slightly.

Astrid’s expression remained calm, but her eyes narrowed slightly. "Sorry, but do I know you?" she retorted, in a sarcastic way.

The room fell silent, with all eyes on Astrid and Nadine. Nadine’s face fell, her eyes welling up with tears. "Oh... I thought... you were my step-sis," she stammered.

Astrid nodded curtly and turned to walk away, but Nadine grabbed her hand, holding her back. "Astrid, wait," Nadine pleaded, her eyes searching Astrid’s face for any sign of recognition.

Astrid’s expression remained cold, but she didn’t pull her hand away. She stood there, frozen, as Nadine stared at her, hoping for a glimmer of the past.

"Miss, I think you are now crossing limits with the way you grabbed my hands," She scoffed at this.

"I just want to.." Astrid grabbed her hands and pushed her away, making everyone gasp in shock.

"Hey... That is distressful, she is one of our top models," Astrid glanced at the lady beside her and smirked.

"Funny, how you didn’t think it was disrespectful when she grabbed my hands,"

"I... I... was only trying to see your face, you look so much like one I know."

"The next time you grab my hands wrongfully, then I will make sure you regret it." With that Astrid finds her way up to Maren’s office.

"Miss Astrid," Hanneth called as she ran to her, "Boss showed me pictures of your new self and I am left flabbergasted, it didn’t do justice to your glow-up." Astrid smiled toothly.

"Where is Maren? I want to surprise her," she smirked and pointed to the next room.

"She is busy... sketching but I am

Pretty sure you are excluded from the number of people that can’t go inside," Astrid nodded her head and then found her way into the room.

There were palates scattered all over the ground, with Maren concentrated on the one piece she was working on now.

Astrid admired Maren’s focus as she worked on her sketch, recalling how she would often get lost in her creative world when designing buildings.

Not wanting to distract her, Astrid decided to help with the clean-up, quietly tidying up the room.

But the silence was broken when Maren groaned in frustration, tearing out the piece of paper and throwing it to the ground.

"Maybe you should have a good rest first before proceeding with the sketch," Astrid suggested, trying to offer some encouragement.

Maren looked up, surprised to see that the whole room had been tidied up already. "Astri... how? When?" she asked, her eyes wide with wonder.

Astrid shrugged her shoulders, moving closer to Maren. "You were so engrossed in your sketch, I didn’t want to distract you."

Maren’s face lit up with a smile. "Wow, thank goodness you are here then. I can just have a few drinks with you."

Astrid nodded her head, and Maren stood up from her seat. "I need my coat," she said as Astrid Picked up the paper Maren had thrown away, staring at the sketch for a few seconds before picking up Maren’s pencil.

As she began to sketch, all her attention was diverted to her drawing.

Astrid’s pencils moved swiftly across it. The room was quiet once again, the only sound was the soft scratching of the pencil on paper.

Just as Astrid finished her sketch, Marrm walked into the room, a jacket slung over her shoulder. Her eyes scanned the room, taking in the tidy space.

Astrid, still holding the paper, looked up to see Maren now standing before her her eyes fixed on her. She felt a surge of fear, realizing she had accidentally worked on Maren’s sketch without permission.

Maren’s voice cut through the air, her tone shrill with excitement. "OMG, Astrid, what the heck is this?" Astrid’s eyes widened in terror as she dropped the paper on the table.

"I am so sorry," Astrid apologized, her voice shaking slightly. "I thought you trashed it and just sketched something that came to my mind. I didn’t mean to mess with your work without asking for your permission."

But Maren teared up her eyes widened in shock, she had the paper as she gently tried towards the table, picked up the paper, displayed it in her hair, and stared at it with a mouth ajar.

Maren’s eyes widened in amazement as she stared at the sketch Astrid had created. "You are sorry? For damn sake, you are so good at sketching! Why have we been friends for months and I don’t know that you can sketch an amazing job?" Maren exclaimed, her voice filled with excitement.

Astrid took a step forward, a sheepish grin spreading across her face. Maren’s eyes sparkled with amusement as she gave Astrid a weird look.

"Okay, I don’t care that you’re not mad at me for drawing on your paper," Astrid said, her shoulders relaxing in relief.

Maren’s face lit up with a bright smile. "Of course, this is amazing! This is wonderful! This is oh my goodness, I am speechless!" She dropped the paper on the table, her eyes scanning the sketch once again.

"I have never seen anyone create a beautiful dress like this in a week. I love this!" Maren gushed, her hands clasped together in excitement. She carefully elegantly folded the paper, her eyes sparkling with inspiration.

Astrid felt a surge of pride at Maren’s reaction. She smiled, feeling happy that she could create something that Maren loved.

"Astrid, I am going to create those dresses, and you are going to be the one putting them on for my next launch, please," Maren said, her eyes shining with excitement. She clasped Astrid’s hands, her grip warm and firm.

Astrid’s eyes widened in surprise. "Come on, Maren, there are other models you can use for this. I am pretty sure they are going to do a good job, but I am not a model, and this kind of dress... though I don’t see it as a great drawing, but as you sa, I believe your best model was supposed to put it on," Astrid said, her voice laced with hesitation.

Maren’s face fell, but she quickly recovered. "No way, Astrid. You are the only one I want to model my dresses. You have a unique sense of style, and I know you do justice to my designs."

"Common.." Astrid still disagreed, weirdly hearing him water to model she wanted to stick to his rule.

"But you’re my best model, you are my friend, and you learn faster. I can just make you the opening and closing of the launching. It’s a simple thing. Don’t worry about the money, I will pay in full."

Astrid’s eyes raised as she coughed, her expression amused. "Hey, I get that I needed money in the past, but not anymore."

Maren didn’t seem to care about Astrid’s protests. "I don’t care, Astrid, you are doing it. I need to get the materials I would be using for this dress,"

She said, her voice filled with excitement. She placed the paper in her bag, a big smile playing on her lips.

"I am so excited about this," she squealed again, pulling Astrid by her arm as they walked out of the studio.

One of Maren’s employees approached her, "Boss, are you done with the sketch?"

Maren stopped, turning to face her employee. "Of course, it’s all done. I will take care of that later, but for now, I need to rest my head. I won’t be coming back."

She pulled Astrid by her hand toward her car. "Astrid, did you come with your car?" Astrid nodded her head, and Maren breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fine, let’s go with yours. Mine can stay here," she suggested as they both got into Astrid’s car, with Astrid driving out of the premises.

In the darkness, a figure they had bought emerged, a sinister smile spreading across his face. "You finally became one of the most important women on earth," the voice whispered, his face obscured by a mask.

His fist tightened, his eyes gleaming with malice. "You now even have someone you care for." Another chuckle escaped his lips. "I will make you lose any loved ones you have, one after the other."