"What''s wrong?"


    Seth''s voice came through the line, light and casual. He sounded like he was in a good mood.


    Noreen was direct. "Mr. Harcourt, did you happen to buy a painting at the Sotheby''s auction?"


    Seth paused for a moment, then asked, "Which one?"


    From his tone, it seemed he had bought quite a few.


    "The Veridian Panorama," Noreen supplied the name.


    "One moment," Seth said.


    After about thirty seconds, Seth came back on the line. "Yes, I have that one. What about it? Were you interested in it too?"


    "I was. Would you be willing to part with it, Mr. Harcourt? I''ll pay you what you paid for it."


    Instead of answering directly, Seth asked her, "Are you nning to give it to Academician Joyner as a mentorship gift?"


    "Yes."


    "Then I''ll find a way to get it to you," Seth said.


    Noreen was about to ask how much it cost so she could transfer him the money.


    But Seth hung up.


    Left with no choice, she sent him a message on WhatsApp, asking for the price of the painting.


    But after sending the message, she received no reply.


    Throughout the day, Noreen checked her phone every hour.


    But there was still no response from Seth.


    It wasn''t until the following afternoon, just as Noreen wasing out of a meeting, that Seth called.


    "Are you at the office?"


    Noreen said she was.


    "Come downstairs."


    With that, he hung up abruptly.


    Noreen had to hurry downstairs, where she saw Seth''s car parked on the side of the road.


    Its hazard lights were shing.


    Seeing Noreen emerge, Seth rolled down the window and handed her the scroll.


    "The painting you wanted."


    "Thanks. How much was it? I''ll transfer you "


    Before Noreen could finish her sentence, a taxi pulled up behind them andid on the horn.


    Seth had no choice but to tell his driver, "Let''s go."


    Frustrated, Noreen had to send Seth another WhatsApp message. "How much? I''ll transfer it to you."


    But by the time she went to bed that night, she still hadn''t received a reply from Seth.


    She decided to call him directly.


    This time, however, the call went unanswered until it automatically disconnected. No answer to her calls, no reply to her messages. It was clear he was avoiding her. Was he trying to make her owe him a favor so that she would go easy on Bianca?


    Noreen called a friend who was


    auctioneer and asked her to lo price of the painting


    the


    Gontent


    Ny million.


    Noreen immediately found Seth''s ount number and transferred ny million from her own ount.


    She had just breathed a sigh of relief when she received a text message a few momentster.


    The ny million had been returned. The reason given was that the ount did not exist.


    Noreen was baffled.


    Seth had used that ount to transferpensation money to her before. There couldn''t be a mistake.


    The only exnation was that Seth had closed the ount.


    What was wrong with him?


    Noreen had apulsive need to resolve things. If she couldn''t sort this out she wouldn''t be able to focus on anything else, let alone sleep.


    She called Seth again.


    Still no answer.


    The second and third calls were the same.


    On the fourth try, Seth finally picked up.


    His voice held a hint of weary resignation. "What is it?"


    "The money," Noreen reminded him. "My transfer to your ount was returned."


    Seth sighed softly. "Consider the painting a gift from me."


    Noreen was about to say that she couldn''t ept something for nothing.


    But he exined further, "There are no strings attached. Think of it aspensation. Because besides


    I have nothing else togive" you."


    "Get some sleep. Don''t dwell on this anymore. Good night."