Chapter 9 Philomel’s Authenticated Work
Bridgette bit her lip and thought of Sephora’s gift. “Where’s the gift you brought with you this morning? Is it for Sir Austin?”
Hearing her mention the gift, Sephora finally looked up at her and said with a half–smile, “What about it?”
Bridgette said, “You better get out with it. Don’t blame me for not reminding you in advance.”
Feeling a bit uneasy under Sephora’s gaze, she quickly walked away.
As Sephora looked at Bridgette’s retreating figure, the laziness in her eyes was replaced by sharpness.
She realized Bridgette was the one who had switched the gift.
This time, Bridgette had crossed the line,
She lowered her head, her smile obscure.”
Elaine finished playing the piano and walked down the stage. Immediately, Bridgette grabbed her to a corner.
Bridgette said, “Bad news, Lanie. Sephora has snuck into the party. She must have known I’ve prepared Sir Austin a gift, so she wants to ruin the party just to deal with me.”
Elaine was stunned. “How did she get in here?”
“See? She’s right over there,” Bridgette said instead of answering.
1043
Chapter 9 Philomel’s Authenticated Work
Elaine looked over. At first sight, she disliked Sephora.
Everyone else was celebrating Xavier’s birthday, whereas she was hiding in a corner and focused on eating.
Besides, she didn’t wear a gown or any makeup. How disrespectful.
“I’ll go kick her out.” Elaine stood up.
Bridgette added, “I heard that she got Sir Austin a gift, too. I bet it’s not something decent.” Bridgette was worried that Xavier would open Sephora’s gift and see the words. If he knew her relationship with Sephora, he might dislike her, too.
She regretted writing those words so much.
“Let’s go and see her gift,” Elaine suggested.
She took Bridgette to where the gifts were, and Bridgette pointed out Sephora’s gift box at once.
“I saw that box at home.”
Elaine immediately walked over and opened the box.
It was empty,
Bridgette was stunned and instinctively looked at Sephora.
Elaine frowned, “Forget it. She’s already in here anyway. Besides, sending an empty box isn’t a big deal.”
“Who knows what else stunt she might pull?” Just as Bridgette finished speaking, her gift was announced and lifted by two attendants.
16.115
104
Chapter 9 Philomel’s Authenticated Work
A bunch of old men surrounded it, praising it genuinely.
Sephora saw the piece as well. She put down the plate with the cake and walked over to them slowly.
“This is really something. I went to the auction, too, but lost to that mysterious bidder. I never expected to see it again at Xavier’s birthday party.”
“Philomel is probably very young. The strokes lack certain force, but they’ve got incredible energy.”
“Too bad no one has ever heard from Philomel these years. I wonder what happened. What a pity!”
As they surrounded the piece, Sephora couldn’t get inside. Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm.
“What are you gonna do?” Lowell lowered his head and looked at her. He noticed that when she had walked over, her eyes had been a bit sharp. It seemed she was deeply upset by the piece.
He raised her arm and saw a razor blade between her fingers.
“What’s this?”
Sephora looked up slowly, not surprised at the sight of Lowell at all. She said truthfully, “I wanna cut up that calligraphic work.”
Almost surprised by her honesty, Lowell let out a derisive laugh. “Are you doing this to mess with me?”
Sephora looked at him, puzzled. After a moment of hesitation, she said, “Sir, do I even know you?”
1000
Chapter 9 Philomel’s Authenticated Work
Lowell choked up at her question. He forgot that she had never seen him before, and he had only seen her once from afar.
“Then why did you want to ruin my grandfather’s gift?” He never knew he could be this patient.
She replied calmly, “I’m Philomel. I didn’t write those words as a birthday wish for Sir Austin. My sister sent the wrong gift. So, I’m gonna write something else for him.”
She sounded very confident when saying “I’m Philomel“.
Lowell was amused. How could someone this young possibly be a master calligrapher?
But she seemed so serious, which suggested she might not be lying.
He asked, “So, where’s the right gift?”
She lifted her chin and said righteously, “I haven’t written it yet.”
“Fine. After you write it, I’ll cut up that calligraphic work for you. How’s that?” He remembered the gift was from the Garcia family, and even if Xavier didn’t like it, ruining it in front of so many guests would be inappropriate.
But Sephora was so stubborn and willful, which piqued his interest. He decided to give her a chance to see what she could write.
Sephora nodded, and he immediately got people to prepare walnut ink and vellum.
From afar, Bridgette saw Lowell grabbing Sephora’s arm, annoyed her a lot.
which
Sohos
10401
Chapter 9 Philomels Authenticated Work
Elaine said, “Sephora is so over the line. She’s here to seduce Lowe, right?”
Aggrieved, Bridgette hung her head. “Who am I to compete with her? She’s Dad and Mom’s favorite, and I’m just their adopted daughter.”
“You’re the one Xavier adores. She’s not in a place to compete with you! at all! Wait here. I’ll go talk to Xavier right now to have her kicked out!”
After saying this, Elaine went to look for Xavier, but he was nowhere to be seen. Spotting Lowell talking to his business associate, she walked over to Sephora.
“Hey, you. You’re Bridie’s sister, right? Do you know whose party this is? How dare you set foot in here? I advise you to get out now, or I’ll have someone kick you out.”
Her voice wasn’t exactly small, which immediately caught many people’s attention. They all looked over.
Sephora was already in a foul mood, and her expression turned icier now that someone was provoking her. “Who are you?”
“I’m a friend of Bridie. Bullies like you disgust me the most.”
“Bullies? You mean I bullied Bridgette?” Sephora asked.
“You came here to ruin Xavier’s birthday party to make things hard for her, right?” Elaine asked.
Sephora sneered, “She’s not worth the trouble.”
Elaine glared at her.
Chapter 9 Philomels Authenticated Work
Just then, Rodney noticed the commotion and nudged Maxwell. “Look over there. Lanie is having a row with someone. Isn’t that the girl who punched you at the plaza?”
Maxwell looked up and recognized Sephora at once. “How come Lanie. is arguing with her?”
“Who knows? We should go help Lanie out. That girl is so strong and bad–tempered. If things get physical, Lanie won’t be a match for her.”
As they were about to walk over, Lowell had already appeared next to Sephora. He looked down at Elaine and said flatly, “Are you trying to chase away my guest?”
A bit terrified of him, Elaine bit her lip. “Lowe, she’s here to sabotage Xavier’s birthday party.”
“She’s my guest,” Lowell said and grabbed Sephora’s wrist. “Everything’s ready. Come with me.”
Yet, she stood still. Her gaze cut through the crowd and locked onto Bridgette, who was standing not far away. Then she smiled, “Have everything placed on stage. I’ll write in front of everyone.
104
