Chapter 4

I knew that Teresa had never been the type to treat her things carelessly.

Quentin had deliberately destroyed the emerald pendant despite knowing how important it was to me. Teresa had simply failed to see through his little scheme.

Teresa was just about to explain herself, but when Quentin looked like he was going to cry, she set the cup aside and hurried to his side.

"It was just some cheap emerald, so it wasn't even worth much to begin with. It doesn't really matter if you break it. It's not like you did it on purpose, so stop beating yourself up, Quentin."

Quentin glanced over in my direction. "What about him, though?"

Teresa replied, "You don't have to worry about it. I'll talk to him and clear this up."

I dragged myself back to my room, leaving them behind. I couldn't help but feel cold all over, colder than the night I had been kicked out of the house.

Mom and Dad had been indifferent toward me ever since I was young. Grandma was the only one in the family who treated me well. She had personally passed this family heirloom down to me.

Unfortunately, I had managed to lose even that precious piece of affection. Perhaps this was her way of giving me one last piece of advice—to let go of this love and move on.

I took out my sketchbook, which was filled with drawings. I turned to the second-to-last page and solemnly wrote down the number 98.

I didn't even realize Teresa had walked into my room. I was completely caught off guard when she snatched the sketchbook away.

Teresa stared at the number written on the blank page, a strange, uneasy feeling stirring inside her. "Why did you write down that number, Aaron?"

I hurriedly snatched the sketchbook back from her. "It's nothing. It's just some sketch notes."

Teresa saw how nervous I looked, then suddenly thought of something and laughed. "You're still upset about not winning the previous competition, huh?"

She was talking about the "Hundred Drawings Competition" I had casually signed up for online last time. She really wanted to go to Solara back then, and the first prize happened to be a round-trip ticket and a hotel stay there, so I signed up on a whim.

I was an architectural designer, though. I spent most of my time drawing buildings and structures, so my portrait drawing was very rusty.

In the end, I only received a participation prize.When I saw that Teresa had misunderstood, I quietly breathed a sigh of relief and stayed silent.

I was still feeling groggy from the fever as she reminded me to take my medicine. It was one of the few times we had shared such a warm moment.

Teresa smiled and said, "It's just a plane ticket. I'm sure there'll be other opportunities next time, Aaron."

She demonstrated how well-connected she was, saying, "I'll introduce you to some clients once this busy stretch is over. I really hope you can become a famous architect one day. I'm also really sorry about the emerald pendant. I'll do everything I can to compensate you once things settle down, Aaron."

It sounded completely promising, yet my face remained completely expressionless. "Let's talk about that later."

Teresa looked slightly surprised when she saw how indifferent I was. "Isn't this what you've always dreamed of? These resources I'm giving you are things ordinary people couldn't even dream of getting in a lifetime, Aaron."

I felt a sharp pang in my chest, leaving me slightly breathless. I finally understood that she saw me as someone only interested in fame and fortune. It was no wonder she believed I would sell my design drafts to Quentin.

If she had known me even a little better, she would have realized that fame and fortune meant nothing to me—what I truly wanted was genuine love, which money could never buy.

Teresa saw that I had stopped responding and assumed I wasn't feeling well, so she left with Quentin.

I was out of it from the fever that night, so I didn't see any of the many provocative messages Quentin sent me on WhatsApp.

By the time I came to, the plagiarism controversy had already exploded—an overwhelming wave of backlash came crashing down on me, leaving me completely lost.

"I honestly didn't expect Aaron to be involved in plagiarism…"

"You really can't judge a book by its cover, huh? It's no wonder he made a name for himself so fast—he was just stealing other people's design drafts all along!"

"I heard he was broke before all this. He only got ahead by relying on a woman. How else do you think he got access to all those great resources?"