All of a sudden, Bonnie’s phone, which was in her pocket, started ringing.
The crisp ringing tone threw their romance out the window. Bonnie’s head started to clear. Her face was still slightly red when she reached out and pushed against his chest. “Get up. I have to pick up the call.”
Ivor understood that someone like her had to pick up every call. After all, they could be emergencies. So, he stopped messing with her and propped himself up with his arms.
Pulling out her phone, she saw that it was a call from the research institute.
She frowned slightly and answered it. Her voice was instantly colder. “What is it?”
She was on the phone for about a minute before she hung up the phone. Turning around, she said to him, “There’s an emergency at the research institute. I need to go now. Don’t forget to finish the soup.” He stood as well. “Do you need me to give you a ride?”
“It’s okay. I drove here.” She waved at him with her back turned to him and marched out of his villa.
He watched as she left and recomposed himself.
Then, he went to the study. He saw Floyd, who was waiting by the door, and said, “Let’s talk inside.”
Floyd nodded. “Copy that, Mr. Ivor.”
Both of them went into the study.
Ivor sat on the chair, his stunning eyes were plagued with somberness. “Do you have an update for me? Can anyone restore the painting?”
Floyd shook his head. “The painting conservators said that the tabby cat painting is damaged beyond repair. It’s virtually beyond salvation.”
Ivor rubbed his brow again. Sighing wearily, he wracked his brain for a solution.
Floyd was trying to figure it out as well. Then, he frowned. “Mr. Sigmund is going to be discharged in several days. He treasures the painting above everything else.
“I’m afraid we’ll have a hard time explaining everything to him when he comes back and finds the painting missing.”
“I’m aware of that. I know him well enough to know that he’s going to raise hell when he finds out about it.”
That was what Ivor was worried about the most. The more he thought about it, the worse his headache became.
“Well. What are we going to do now? How about we find another master painter to imitate this particular painting? We’ll get through Mr. Sigmund first and think about the future after that.” Floyd suggested.
Ivor gave him a sidelong glance. “Do you think anyone could just imitate Master Kieran’s work? More to the point, it wouldn’t feel the same even if we found someone who could do it. Grandpa is highly intelligent. I’m sure he can tell that it’s a duplicate.”
He was still searching for ideas in his mind as he spoke.
All of a sudden, something came to his mind, and he said, “I’ve asked you to track down another one of Master Kieran’s paintings. The one that someone else had bought. Do you have any leads on it?” Floyd responded, “Rumor had it that a wealthy businessman purchased it. So, I managed to locate the buyer’s address and wanted to go there and ask him about it.
“By the time I contacted them, however, they said someone else bought it at an insanely high price. We’re still investigating who’s the new buyer right now.”
Ivor frowned. His phone, which was put on the desk, started to ring.
Looking at the phone, he noticed it was an unknown caller. Then, he hesitated for several seconds before answering the call.
“Hello. Who’s speaking?”
“Hi, Ivor. It’s…”
It took him less than a second to recognize Eloise’s voice. Then he hung up on her without a second thought.
Several seconds later, she was calling him again.
She made no less than a dozen calls before he decided enough was enough. His eyes were filled with coldness when he moved to block her number. Before he could navigate to the option, however, she sent him a text.
“I have the painting you’re looking for, Ivor.”
