Ste sensed L''s helplessness and confusion, so she took extra time to offer somefort. She had experienced that same helplessness herself and understood L''s feelings better than anyone. She knew that sometimes, a simple word of encouragement could be the rope that pulls someone out of an abyss.


    It was rare for Ste to meet someone with such a pure love for painting, so she gave L a little more of her patience. Seeing that L seemed to be emerging from the darkness, Ste was genuinely happy for him.


    Just as she was about to reply to his email, there was a soft knock on her office door.


    Aicken walked in briskly, holding several files.


    "Ms. Cameron, there''s an important contract. Mr. York and his team are running into some issues. I''m afraid you''ll need to handle the negotiations personally."


    Ste took the files from Aicken and flipped through a few pages before nodding slightly.


    "I understand. Make the arrangements. Joshua and I will fly over in a bit."


    Aicken acknowledged and left quickly.


    Just then, a notification for a new unread email popped up on her screen. Because of the urgency of the situation, Ste didn''t have time to look. She simply closed herptop and went to find Joshua. This contract was quite important to her, so she couldn''t afford any dys.


    Three hourster, Ste and Joshua departed on a private jet.


    Meanwhile, Leonard, who was waiting by hisputer, still hadn''t received a reply from Summer after a long time.


    Leonard stared at the short message in his outbox.


    "Can I ask who you painted in that picture, the one from behind?"


    Leonard nced at the time and saw it was already past ten at night. Thinking that Summer might have already gone to bed, he decided not to bother him further.


    However, for the next three days, Leonard''s inbox remained silent.


    This had never happened before. Summer had never failed to reply to his emails.


    No matter what he sent, Summer would always respond by the end of the day at thetest.


    Leonard couldn''t help but wonder if his question had been too forward, making


    Summer ufortable and unwilling to reply.


    After some thought, he sent another email.


    "Sorry, I didn''t mean to invade your privacy. I was just asking because the person in the painting looked familiar."


    After sending the email, Leonard


    nced at the painting of the


    figure''s back, which he had hung in


    wall.


    the most prominent spot on his When he learned that Summers'' panting was going up for auction he had immediately sent his assistant to the auction house with instructions to acquire it, no matter the cost.


    As the head of the family, Leonard didn''tck money. He had already obtained power and had little interest in women. Aside from Aurora, his only hobby was collecting art.


    He knew Summers'' painting might


    not be worth that much, but he didn''t care about its mary value, only whether it resonated with him. He had initially bid on the painting simply because he was a great admirer of Summers'' work.


    Simone, however, had assumed he bought the painting for such a high price because he had mistaken the figure for Aurora. In truth, if Simone hadn''t pointed it out, he wouldn''t have even noticed the resemnce.


    That day, Simone came to visit Leonard, wanting to probe into his situation with Aurora. But when she entered the room and saw Summers'' painting hanging on his wall, her expression was one of disbelief.


    She knew Leonard well. At his core, he was a bit of a chauvinist. He would never take back a gift he had already given someone. Yet now, he had reimed this very painting...


    Simone looked at Leonard, but after letting her in, he had returned to his seat by theputer,pletely ignoring her.


    Simone couldn''t help but ask, "Leonard, are you..... dating someone online?"