"What am I doing?" Erica flashed a wicked grin. She was annoyed by Phoebe's sketch. 'Matthew wouldn't even let me take a picture of him. How could he let Phoebe sketch him? I'll take the sketch to him and settle accounts with him!'
As for how to do this, she had two options—she could buy it or snatch it. And which one she chose depended on Phoebe!
But there was a note next to the sketch—"Not for sale."
'Dammit! Looks like I only have one choice.
Phoebe is smart, using a sketch of my husband to attract people to her exhibition, ' she thought to herself.
Erica handed the sketch to Hyatt, took her milk tea back and sipped it as if nothing had happened. "Do you know how much money my husband is worth? How dare you make a sketch of him! But now that we're here, maybe you can pay royalties for using his likeness. Five million should be enough!"
She couldn't just use her husband's money. She had to make some extra money for their family.
She extended her hand, palm up, waiting for Phoebe to write that check!
"Five million?" Phoebe's eyes went wide in surprise. She was upset now, and couldn't help but raise her voice. "Wow, you're a greedy bitch, aren't you?"
Her voice carried, and echoed through the exhibition hall. People were naturally curious to find out what happened, but the security guards blocked the way, and the onlookers could not get close to them.
"What's wrong? Think his likeness rights aren't worth five mil? Why don't you try to invite my husband over to attend your art show? He wouldn't do it even for a few billion." Normally, Erica would have asked for at most five hundred grand. But ever since she married Matthew, it had affected the way she thought about money. After all, he was so rich and always gave her as much as she wanted.
She already snapped a pic of Matthew, and she remembered his reaction. He asked for 100 million. So asking for five million was generous.
'What an entitled bitch! She's in the wrong, and she loses her temper? Humph! She should thank me. I gave her the rights for a good price, ' she thought.
Trying her best to quell her anger, Phoebe lowered her voice and said, "Matthew didn't say anything when I sketched him. So what right do you have to treat me like this? You're a Huo by marriage only. You're just sponging off the guy, while you do nothing worthwhile. You're nothing to me. Get out of my face!"
Erica nodded without hesitation. "Yes, I'm sure my pet snake was nothing too, right?" If she was right, the place where Phoebe had gotten stitches must have healed recently.
With her back to the crowd, Phoebe took a deep breath and held back her impulse to slap the woman across her face. "Erica Li, I can't apologize to you. Just go away, sooner rather than later. Don't make trouble here, or you'll be removed from the premises."
When she heard that, Erica sneered, "Seriously? You won't admit you're wrong, and you threaten me? Ha-ha! Phoebe, to tell you the truth, I wanted to gather all your paintings and burn them in public!"
However, she knew that many people believed Phoebe's innocent act, and had no idea who she really was. Everyone thought Erica was a troublemaker, but had nothing but good things to say about Phoebe. She didn't want to drag the Huo family name through the mud, much less dishonor the Li family, so she gave up that idea. So a public humiliation like that for Phoebe was not in the cards.
"Well, well. Since you won't apologize to me and won't pay the money for my husband's likeness rights, I'll sue you for violating my husband's rights. That plus legal fees should cost a hefty sum!"
After saying that, Erica took out her phone and sent a WeChat message. "Hey, are you there?" She didn't have a lawyer, and had to ask someone to help her find one. Since Matthew liked Phoebe, she didn't know if he would be willing to help. So she had to ask someone else.
"What's wrong, Erica?" came the reply.
"Can you do me a favor? Help me find a lawyer," she texted back. If she didn't teach Phoebe a real lesson, Phoebe would continue to plague Erica.
Phoebe thought Erica was just trying to intimidate her and didn't believe she was really going to sue her. Everyone knew lawsuits were long, drawn out, and troublesome. "Sue me if you like," she said.
"Huh! You think I'm bluffing? Just wait and see. Frankly, I was going easy on you. I only asked for five million. When I sue you, it will be ten!" She would then have ten million and Matthew's sketch. That would be awesome! She really didn't understand why Phoebe would rather be the target of a lawsuit. She could just pay her and she'd stop.
'Did I ask for too much?' she wondered.
'Ten million? She must be crazy. Where the hell would I get ten million? Well, my family has ten million, but Mom would never give me that kind of cash. I'm not exactly well-loved,
Phoebe thought to herself. With a mean look on her face, she trash-talked Erica. "I've never seen a bigger assclown. I feel sorry for Matthew, married to someone like you."
Erica was really irritated now. "Well, even if you apologized now, I wouldn't forgive you! I'm definitely suing you. Might as well set aside ten million dollars, because it's going right in my pocket." She swore she would sue Phoebe and force her to give her ten million even though Matthew really liked her.
Then she found a number from the last WeChat message she was sent and dialed the number. "Hello, is this Mr. Kelvin Fei?"
"Speaking. Ms. Li, right? I got your friend's message. I was about to call you."
"Well, Mr. Fei, here's the thing. Someone violated my husband's likeness rights. I'm going to sue her..."
While Phoebe was gritting her teeth, Erica left the exhibition hall with Hyatt. He held the sketch in his hands.
The security guards wanted to stop them, but they didn't dare to do anything since their boss, Phoebe, hadn't given them orders.
At the Pearl Villa District
The moment Matthew stepped into the bedroom, he heard his wife mumbling something. She was holding a piece of paper in her hand. "I think my husband's hotter than that. I don't think she really did him justice. She just couldn't capture his handsome soul."
"What are you doing?" Matthew asked casually, hanging his coat on the hanger.
Erica sat at the mirror, and looked back at the man without saying anything.
His curiosity aroused, he loosened his tie and strode around behind his wife. That was when he saw what was on the piece of paper she held. It was a sketch, and it was a sketch of him, no less.
"Where did you get that?" he asked. He didn't remember anyone sketching him.
"Oh, I snatched it!"
she answered. Matthew was an observant man. He immediately knew that his wife was angry, so he continued to ask calmly, "Where did you snatch it from?"
"Phoebe's art exhibition," Erica answered bluntly.
At the same time, she complained in her mind, 'Don't pretend you don't know. Is there someone else who has sketched you before?'
After thinking a while, Matthew asked attentively, "Did you and Phoebe get in a fight?"
'She dared to sketch me without my permission. She must be tired of living.'
"What? Why would you think that?" Erica suddenly smiled brightly. "I'm an adorable girl that everyone likes. Why would I ever get in a fight?"
The man raised his eyebrows. 'Well, she's right. She is adorable. So did she push Phoebe around? Probably. After all, she took the sketch. I don't think Phoebe can do anything to intimidate her.'