Chapter 36
Summer turned around and gave Sanford a wink. Sanford immediately turned his head to the side in a proud manner, but Summer still noticed that his cheeks were slightly flushed.
She did not expect Sanford to be so talented in this aspect. He could actually tell that this painting was a fake at just one glance. Even Brandon could not spot the flaws in the painting at first glance.
‘My kid is really amazing!’ she thought, grinning from ear to ear. Alick happened to thoroughly see the interaction between Summer and Sanford, and he frowned, thinking, “What is this woman up to again?’
“Even if it’s to please Jonathan, Ms. Taylor shouldn’t have presented a fake as a birthday gift. Fortunately, Ms. White noticed the flaws. Otherwise, if someone else were to point it out later, wouldn’t that make Jonathan lose
face?”
“I really have no idea that this is a fake,” Joan said.
Sensing the strange looks from everyone around, she became anxious, so she grabbed Alick’s arm with tears. shimmering in her eyes and said, “Alick, you’ve got to believe me. I put in a lot of effort to have someone buy this painting for me. There’s no way it is a fake.”
“Mr. Johnson is an expert in this field,” Summer said. “If even he says so, there’s no way this isn’t a fake.” With a smirk, Summer added, “Are you doubting his professional abilities?”
Brandon’s gaze instantly turned cold, thinking, ‘People in the industry consider me an authority. If a fool whol knows nothing can casually doubt me, wouldn’t all my years of work have been in vain?’
“Mr. Johnson has never made a mistake in judgment,” Jonathan said. “You use a fake as a birthday gift. I let that slide, yet you even want to question Mr. Johnson’s expertise. Is this the upbringing a child receives in the Taylor family?”
As soon as Jonathan finished talking, a man in a well-dressed suit stumbled forward from below.
“Mr. Hill, don’t be angry,” he said. “Joan must have been hoodwinked. She didn’t mean to give you a fake.” The person who had just spoken was Liam Taylor, Joan’s father. He was the current chairman of the Taylor Group.
“She knows she’s wrong,” Liam added. “You’re the bigger person. Don’t argue with someone who is younger.”
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Jonathan squinted. His face was full of disdain as he thought, ‘Neither of this father-daughter duo is a good
person.’
As Joan saw Liam giving her a look that signaled a message, she tugged at Alick’s sleeve and looked at him with grievance, saying, “Alick, stand up for me. If I had known that this painting was a fake, there’s no way I’d have presented it to Jonathan in front of so many people.”
Alick did not respond immediately, but his expression was not pleasant.
“You know I won’t do something like that,” Joan added. She choked up a little as she spoke. Her eyes, which had turned bloodshot, seemed to be carrying a great deal of grievance.
It was only after Alick shook off Joan’s hand subtly that he said with an indifferent expression, “Joan didn’t mean it. Let’s just forget about it. Grandpa, I’ll definitely think of ways to find a genuine work by George for you in the
future.”
Jonathan snorted and said, “It’s okay!”
Since Alick had spoken up, all guests thought it was not appropriate to say anything further. They returned to their seats, and it was only then that Joan felt a lot more at ease.
She thought, ‘At least Alick still stands up for me, so I’m not considered defeated this time around. As for Summer the bit c h, I’ll just wait for her to make a fool of herself.”
A hint of malice flashed across her eyes. She smiled at Summer and said, “Summer, what gift did Jonathan? Hurry up and show us what that wonderful thing is.”
you prepare for
Summer showed no reaction, so Joan pretended to be surprised, saying, “Jonathan cares so much about you. Summer, you didn’t come without a gift, right?”
Jonathan frowned slightly, thinking, ‘This woman started to stir up trouble again.
He was about to say that it did not matter even if Summer did not prepare a gift and that he would be happy as long as she came. However, before he spoke, he saw Summer smiling radiantly.
“I’ve certainly prepared a gift,” she said before nodding at Clark, who then immediately walked over carrying a
wooden box.
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Chapter 36
Joan’s eyes lit up when she saw the box in Clark’s hands. She could not wait to say, “Clark, quick. Open it and let us see what’s inside.”
“The gift isn’t for you, so why are you in such a hurry?” Summer said as she looked at Joan with a beaming smile. that did not reach her eyes.
“I’m just curious,” Joan said, wondering why Summer was smiling so strangely.
She was puzzled but did not think much about it. She was more eager to see Summer make a fool of herself.
“Jonathan, this is the gift I prepared for you,” Summer said. “Open it and see if you like it.”
The wooden box looked a little old, but the craftsmanship was exquisite. It had delicate carvings on it, adding a
touch of charm.
There was a small silver lock on the box. Jonathan took the key from Summer and turned the lock to open the
box. Then, he said, “This is…”
In the box, there was a navy blue scarf which was adorned with a few green bamboos at the ends. It was elegant and dignified yet not lacking in grandeur.
Jonathan immediately put the scarf around his neck and said joyfully, “Summer, did you make this scarf yourself?”
Summer nodded, offering an apologetic smile as she said, “Indeed, I made it myself, but due to rushed preparation, it’s not perfect.”
“This is great as it is,” Jonathan said.
He expressed his love for the gift, saying, “I love this gift. Thank you, Summer.”
“It’s great that you like it,” Summer said.
Jonathan truly liked this scarf. Although the style was somewhat simple, he could not shake the feeling of familiarity with the embroidery style on it. However, for a moment, he could not recall where he had seen it before.
Widening her eyes and expressing disbelief, Joan thought, “No way! I clearly got someone to destroy the gift that Summer prepared. Why is she still able to present this scarf? Where exactly did things go wrong?’ She could not
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figure it out.
After the birthday party ended, Joan found the serva n t from the Hill family who had previously done things on her behalf.
“Didn’t you assure me that you had destroyed the stuff in the box?” she said. “Why did that woman take it out as if nothing happened?”
“Ms. Taylor, I followed your orders,” the servan t said, feeling so scared that she trembled. She even showed pictures of the destroyed gift as proof.
a
In the photo, there was a piece of clothing cut into bits with scissors. One could vaguely make out that the embroidery pattern on the clothes matched the one on the scarf.
She thought, ‘D a m n! How on earth did that woman find out? What bad luck!’
“Alright,” she said. “Let’s just consider that woman lucky this time. Watch your mouth!”
The ser v a n t nodded and bent forward, making a series of assurances. It was only then that Joan left in a rage. However, neither of them noticed the faint red light flickering behind the corridor.
Summer pressed the stop button on her phone’s voice recording before walking out of the shadows indifferently.
She was not surprised at all by this outcome, thinking
lose face.”
‘No one else besides Joan wants so badly to make me
She put away her phone, preparing to leave. A tall figure suddenly loomed over her. Soon, Alick’s cold questioning could be heard.
“Why did you do this?” he said.
Summer was puzzled, thinking, ‘What did I do?”
“You purposely exposed Joan’s painting as a fake during the birthday party and made her lose face in front of Grandpa,” Alick said. His gaze was as sharp as a blade, and his voice was emotionless.
“Grandpa is so kind to you, yet you so badly wanted to ruin his birthday party?” he continued.
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Chapter 36
Summer thought, ‘Well, who’s the one really trying to ruin the birthday party?”
“Alick, are you out of your mind?” Summer said, laughing bitterly due to intense anger. “Joan insisted on giving a fake as a gift. I didn’t
Jonathan to be fooled, so I told the truth. Is there a problem with that?”
Alick thought, ‘She actually scolded me?’
A hint of hostility flashed across his eyes as he said in a serious voice, “You shouldn’t have made Joan lose face in front of so many people.”
“She created the problem for herself,” Summer said with a sneer. “What’s with your reaction? Your beloved woman got bullied by me, so you want to condemn me on her behalf, huh?”
Alick said nothing, but the coldness he gave off intensified..
He took a few steps forward, forcing Summer to step back one step at a time.
“Summer, don’t cross the boundary that I can’t accept,” he said.
For some reason, he just hated the way Summer completely disregarded him.
Summer thought, ‘Boundary? Alick actually said that that woman is his boundary that can’t be crossed?’
Even though Summer no longer had any feelings for the man in front of her, those words still hurt her deeply.
‘D a m n couple,’ she thought.
“Hurry back to Grandpa’s side and stay put,” Alick said. “Don’t move around everywhere.”
Just as Alick was about to leave, Summer, who was behind him, suddenly called out to him, saying, “Alick, don’t you want to know what I was doing here just now?”
Summer took out her phone and played the recording that was captured earlier. The conversation between Joan and the Hill family’s serv an t could be heard clearly.
“The gift I initially prepared for Jonathan was a vintage tuxedo,” Summer said. “But just before the birthday party started, I found out that the gift had been ruined. So, I changed it to a scarf at the last minute.”
She sneered and continued, “Tell me. Who’s really trying to ruin this birthday party?”
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If she had indeed presented that vintage tuxedo, which had been cut into pieces, as a birthday gift, it would not. have just embarrassed her. Even Jonathan would have lost face, and this would have gone against Alick’s intention in organizing this birthday party as well.
Summer thought, “I’d really like to see whether the man in front of me can still fiercely defend Joan as her facade is slowly removed.”
“Voice recording can be easily fabricated,” Alick said coldly. “Joan has no reason to do that.”
Summer thought, ‘Ridiculous! That woman has no reason to do that, but I have a reason to do that, huh?”
Summer could not believe that the first thing Alick said after snapping out of his thoughts was to question the authenticity of the recording. She sneered as she shook her head.
“Whether or not it is fabricated, we’ll know soon,” Summer said. “Mr. Hill, I hope you can defend your sweetheart just as fiercely by then.”
Watching the figure walk away proudly, Alick’s expression turned extremely gloomy, and he said, “Find out whether what she said is true.”
Bill nodded and quickly left.
Meanwhile, on the first floor of Fay’s home, Abby said, “Thank you for bringing us back, Toby. Thanks a lot.”
“I’m happy to be able to help,” Toby said as he patted Abby’s head and smiled warmly. “Don’t mention it.”
“We’ll go upstairs then,” Abby said. “Goodbye, Toby.”
After the two little ones waved goodbye to Toby, they hopped and s k i p p e d upstairs. It was not until their figures completely disappeared from view that Toby reluctantly averted his gaze, took out his phone, opened the chat with Summer, and texted, [The kids have safely arrived home. Don’t worry.]
A quick reply came from the other end of the line. Summer replied, [Thank you.]
Even though it was just an extremely brief two-word message, Toby felt particularly pleased. This was especially the case when Summer asked him to help send the two kids home previously. His heart was filled with joy, and he thought, ‘It feels great to be trusted by her.’
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nepieray
Toby replied, [You’re welcome.] Then, he happily drove off.
“Abby, what do you think of Toby?” Ballard said.
