The Billionaire's Ex-Wife Returns!
Chapter 35: Drawn by the Same Person?

Chapter 35: Drawn by the Same Person?

***

Alaric continued to stare at the photo.

He had focused on Lucy for the first time. But when he looked at the photo the second time, Alaric finally found out why Landon did everything to get this painter to paint for him, even if he had to agree to their ridiculous demands and conditions.

In the photo where Lucy was seen, a canvas lying on the floor was slightly at the angle of the picture.

And it almost had the exact same painting he had seen in the first picture. It was uncanny how similar they were as if it was drawn by the same person.

But Alaric spotted some differences between the first painting and the one beside Lucy.

What Lucy painted was a lake in front of a mountain. While the painter Landon hired painted a plain with trees in it.

"Are you thinking they’re the same people? Is that why you hired the painter?" Alaric asked him, returning the phone to Landon.

Landon took his phone back and held it tightly in his hand.

Then he shook his head and said, "No. Do you think my wife would accept the job even if she knew she was working for me?"

Alaric was silent. Certainly, Lucy wouldn’t do that. Why would she hide herself for three years only for her to agree to Landon’s request to paint for him? It was too unthinkable.

"Then... why?"

"Because the painting reminds me of her."

Landon finally confessed.

Why, out of all the painters who have approached him and begged him to hire them, he picked this particular independent painter from another country? It was all because when he saw the paintings in Corone’s portfolio; he felt connected to them.

There seemed to be a pull that made him attracted to him, like a magnet when it couldn’t resist being attached to an iron.

And it made him think it was Lucy who was painting for him.

***

The next day, Lucy came back to the Southwest Branch building.

She wore a light pastel floral gown with delicate, sheer straps tied into bows. The skirt sashayed along her hips as she walked.

It was in the early morning on a weekday. Many people who were on their way to work in the area passed by and couldn’t help but turn their heads in her direction as soon as she got out of the taxi. They all wondered where this fairy came from.

Lucy greeted the guard in front of the entrance. "Good morning, Mr. Davis."

Mr. Davis waved back at her. "Good morning, Miss. You look stunning today as well."

Yesterday, Lucy wore a flowy dress. Today, she wore a vibrant and lovely dress, too.

"Will you be painting today?" Mr. Davis asked. He had learned why she was there and he helped to move the things to the eleventh floor.

"Yes."

"In that dress?" Mr. Davis seemed worried that her dress would be ruined later.

Smiling sweetly, Lucy nodded. "A girl needs to look pretty, even if she plays in the dirt."

After saying this, Lucy walked into the entrance with a cup of coffee in one hand and a handbag in the other.

From her looks and the way she moved, she didn’t look one bit like someone who came to paint, but someone who came to a fashion week.

Lucy headed to the eleventh floor. The place was still in a mess, having not been decorated yet. There were still some beams and ladders scattered around. Wires from unfinished lighting installation were also hanging from the ceiling.

It was a desolate place for a woman to be and Lucy should’ve been afraid of being alone in this place, but instead, she felt a sense of freedom and peace despite the lack of humans around her.

Moving the ladder to the wall she first painted, Lucy tied her waist-long hair into a messy bun before she began to paint.

She first learned she had a skill to draw and paint when she was in elementary. But because she was so poor at buying even a coloring book, she couldn’t explore her skill that much. When she was in high school, the tools to paint were all expensive. Thankfully, there’s a drawing club at school where she joined and was given free materials.

That’s where she began to hone her skills in painting.

After a few hours of painting, the walls soon came alive. And the desolated place gradually began to become brighter as if light were shining inside.

While dipping the brush to mix the colors, her phone inside her pocket rang.

"Hello?" Lucy tucked the phone between her shoulder and ear while her hand continued to draw.

"Lucy! Why haven’t I heard from you?" a lively female voice came from the other side.

Lucy paused momentarily. She put down her brush and held her phone in her hand to focus on the call.

"Mrs. Anderson," she greeted back warmly. "I’ve been preoccupied with something and couldn’t inform you beforehand."

Mrs. Anderson was a frequent buyer of her paintings. When Lucy first began her journey as a professional painter, she knew she couldn’t make it big. Lucy didn’t dream of being one either. She just wanted to draw and paint.

However, Vanessa felt bad that Lucy’s painting was all collecting dust in a corner of their house. So, she took pictures of them and posted them online. But not even a day after the post was published, a few people kept sending them emails, asking how much were the paintings she posted and when they could be delivered to them.

And Mrs. Anderson was the highest bidder amongst them. She paid a whopping twenty thousand dollars for one piece of Lucy’s artwork.

But it did not end there.

Soon, Lucy started to get more attention from unknown people thanks to Mrs. Anderson. And they all would pay a staggering amount, one after another.

Lucy liked talking to Mrs. Anderson, someone who could understand the beauty of art. The two of them talked for another ten minutes before Mrs. Anderson finally got to the main point.

"My daughter’s birthday is about to come, and I plan to gift her a painting you drew. Will you be able to do it?"

Lucy had met Mrs. Anderson’s daughter, Anna, a nice-looking woman who resembled her mother a lot. She was also a fan of Lucy.

Although she wanted to paint for Anna, Lucy couldn’t because she was back in Grid City.

"I’m sorry, but I may not be able to do it."

"Why?" Mrs. Anderson asked. "I can pay double the usual amount. Of course, you can name your price. Just please do this for me and my daughter?"

Lucy hesitated.

Then, she said, "It’s not that I don’t want to, Mrs. Anderson. It’s just I can’t. I’m currently in another country to take in a new job."

"Where?"

"Hm?" Lucy almost didn’t catch her question.

"Where are you?" Mrs. Anderson repeated.

"In Grid City."

Lucy hasn’t told her friends and other clients about her location. However, she trusted Mrs. Anderson and didn’t want to hide it from her benefactor.

But Lucy didn’t know that this would bring her and Landon’s paths even closer.