“Anyone can be famous as long as the condition’s right. Those who only care about fishing for fame
online wouldn’t be that good. Ellie is the one with true talent,” Alexander playfully stated.
“Based on that, I can join this Calligraphy Contest for fun, right?” Elise snickered.
Of course, she wouldn’t be joining the competition just to have fun. She also wanted to see what kind of
name Tiana was trying to drum up for herself. First, she pretends to be Elise’s student. Now, she’s
trying to claim the writing style Elise created as her own. Did she think Elise was dead?
When he saw how serious she looked, he couldn’t help but blurt, “Ellie.”
“Hm?” As she was busy filling in the form to participate in the contest, she didn’t bother looking up.
“What is it?”
He opened his mouth in an attempt to speak and paused. A few moments later, all courage to confess
fled his body. “Nothing. I’ll start the bath, so it’s nice and warm when you want it.”
“Okay,” she obediently agreed.
After a few moments of hovering around her, he eventually walked to the bathroom.
——
…
Calligraphy Association, Tissote.
As soon as Cody walked into his office, he received a call from Lorenzo Forbes, the head of the
association.
“Cody, are you sure the calligraphy in the photo you sent me belongs to your student?” Lorenzo
immediately asked, going straight to the point.
“Yes. Why?” The mere mention of this fact was enough to fill Cody with pride.
“Don’t you think something seems familiar about the writing style?” Lorenzo asked.
“Sir, I know what you mean. You’re thinking that Tiana might be copying QH, but you also know that
QH’s works have always been stored in the museum. We also only have two of their works. There’s no
way she could’ve copied them. I guarantee that Tiana wrote them by herself,” Cody solemnly said.
After he heard Cody’s words, he found it rather difficult to continue discussing the matter. “I see. Let’s
talk about this another day,” he said as he swiftly ended the call.
Lorenzo went into a trance-like state as he watched his phone screen fade to show images of Tiana’s
calligraphy.
Was that person back?
——
…
Two days later.
Elise received a message from Julius. “Boss, Tiana took your pin from your roommate.”
At that time, she was clearing out the dorm with Mica.
She put down the phone and continued with her task. Then, in a nonchalant tone, she asked, “Mica,
where did you put the pin I gave you?”
Mica froze. After a moment of hesitation, she came clean, “Sorry, Elise. I loaned it to Sebastian. He
said he was interested in the Calligraphy Association, and I couldn’t bear seeing him sighing all the
time. So, I gave it to him. If it bothers you, I’ll get it back right away!”
Sebastian had borrowed it, yet it was now in Tiana’s hands. Plus, somehow, Mica knew nothing about
this.
After some thought, Elise smiled and replied, “I don’t mind it. I don’t like wearing it after all.”
Just like that, she said no more on that matter.
However, that conversation hung up Mica’s mind. Elise was the nicest girl she had ever met in her life,
so she didn’t want to disappoint Elise.
As soon as Elise left, Mica asked Sebastian to meet with her.
Even so, he only arrived half an hour after the agreed-upon time.
“Sorry, I was in class,” he said expressionlessly.
In reality, the class he attended was not his. Tiana had uttered a few complaints about how she had too
much to do and didn’t have time to attend her classes, so he went to class for her.
“It’s fine,” she said. Her faith in him was absolute. Then, with a hint of panic in her voice, she asked,
“Sebastian, can you return the pin you borrowed from me?”
He frowned upon hearing that. The pin was still in Tiana’s possession, and he had told her she didn’t
have to worry about returning it anytime soon. How could he ask her for it so soon?
After thinking about it, he wrapped an arm around Mica’s shoulders and warmly whispered, “Don’t you
want me to spend more time with you? I’ll return it after I’ve spent a few more days with the Calligraphy
Association.”
“I do want to spend more time with you,” she replied, but then hurriedly added, “but I don’t want Elise to
think I don’t respect her. So let me have it for a while to show it to her. I’ll let you have it right after. It
won’t take too long.”
Sebastian lost all his patience when he heard that. Then, he immediately pulled away and haughtily
said, “I lost the pin. You can’t have it back.”
“Lost it? How? Where? I’ll go look for it with you…” Question after question poured out of her mouth as
she panicked.
“Oh, you’re so annoying!” He flung himself away from her. “It’s already lost. How can it possibly be
found?”
Startled, Mica froze. Then, she gingerly said, “But you promised me you’d take good care of it…”
“Yes, it’s my fault,” he coldly said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I’m surprised. I never thought you’d be so
petty over some trivial pin. It looks like we’re not suited for each other. Let’s break up. I’m tired of this.”
“What are you saying?” Mica smiled in disbelief, trying to calm him down. “I’m not trying to be petty. If
there’s a problem, we can work on it together. So why must you say that…”
Sebastian held a hand up between them. There was a disappointed look on his face as he said, “I’m
the problem. I’m not ready to love someone yet. I’m sorry, Mica. Let’s not talk to each other ever again.
That’s all.”
Then, he left without sparing her another glance.
Mica stood there shocked as big, fat drops of tears rolled down her cheeks. Then, her world was
engulfed by an abyss of misery. At that moment, she felt as though everyone had abandoned her.
——
…
With the craze online surrounding the ‘National Goddess’, Nebula TV decided to produce a talk show
called “Hangout with Idols”.
To maintain her media presence, Elise accepted the invitation to appear on the same episode as the
nation’s darling, Garreth.
Although the two had only met once, they were familiar faces. Hence, as soon as the set was ready,
they walked on together.
However, Garreth suddenly collapsed after three questions from the show’s host.
Thankfully, he had been standing in front of a couch and sustained no injuries.
After checking his pulse, she deduced his collapse was once again caused by low blood sugar. It
wasn’t a major issue, but it still took him over twenty minutes before he came to.
When Garreth eventually opened his eyes, he saw Elise sitting next to him. “Sorry to bother you again,
Elise…” he feebly said in thanks.
His eyes kept drooping as if he was resisting a strong urge to just fall asleep.
When she saw that, she said in a soft, reassuring tone, “If you don’t feel well, take the rest of the day
off. We can do the show another time.”
Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Jenny strode through the curtains around the set and barked,
“Change the time? For what? The next few months are all fully booked. You’re not that frail, are you?
You’re fine now, right? We’ll start in another ten minutes. Garreth, get up and go touch up your
makeup.”
He let out a sad, powerless sigh when he heard that before forcing himself to crawl out of the couch.
However, just as he got on his feet, he collapsed back on the couch as his breathing turned into
uneven pants.
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