Holly managed to catch the essence of Benjamin's techniques, and her painting was rather impressive as well.When she was younger, Winston deliberately caught a lot of shrimp from the pond outside and placed it in a bowl for her to observe repeatedly. It was all just to help her bring life to her shrimp paintings.On the other hand, Bryce prepared a wheel of aged Parmigiano-Reggiano for Trevor. It was extremely rare and hard to purchase an entire wheel of aged cheese. It was a feat itself for Bryce to obtain it in the first place.Trevor had high praises for Holly's replica of "The Shrimp" but didn't even bat an eye at the expensive aged cheese gifted by Bryce.Every time a guest showed up, Trevor would pull them over and say, "This is 'The Shrimp' painted by my mentee. Just look at how vivid and lively the shrimp looks!"At first, his guests merely took a glimpse out of courtesy, but their gazes were soon filled with a particular gleam.They couldn't help but take another glimps
There were many guests here for Trevor's birthday celebration today. Holly didn't want to quarrel with Samantha.As such, she said, "You should attend to your guests, Mr. Habel. I'll have a look around outside for now."Trevor knew that Holly and Samantha didn't see eye to eye with each other, so he didn't insist on her staying.He replied kindly, "Alright. You can have a look around the courtyard, but don't go too far. Come back for lunch when it's time."Holly felt touched. Even though she wasn't related to Trevor, he still took good care of her. It made her recall Winston.She was momentarily overcome by emotions as she replied, "Okay, Mr. Habel."Holly looked for Bryce among the crowd. She found him sitting in a corner of the living room, talking with Moses. They looked like they were talking business.She decided not to disturb him and walked out on her own.Trevor lived in a Victorian-style mansion. The brick walls were painted in a combination of colors of rich earth ton
There was no one else in the courtyard.Trevor hurriedly rushed toward Samantha and Holly when he saw that they were about to drown.How pitiful it was for a man over 80 years old to have to dive into the water to rescue both of them.Trevor jumped into the pond without even kicking his shoes off. He had a hand around Samantha and the other around Holly and started swimming toward the pond bank.However, he struggled as he was too old. He even had to rescue both of them at the same time. He couldn't even help himself as he swallowed mouthfuls of dirty water.Holly struggled to help Trevor out, but she couldn't remove her arm from Samantha's iron grip.Samantha was stubborn and insisted on competing with her to the end.Just as the three of them were in danger, two people jumped into the pond one after another. It was Abelin, followed by Bryce.Abelin instinctively swam toward Holly and reached out to pull her hand without thinking, getting her out of Samantha's grip.Upon seei
A sense of foreboding crept into Samantha's heart, and she cried harder, "Why is your hand so cold, Grandpa? Grandpa! You must wake up, Grandpa!"She reached over to slap Trevor's face in hopes of waking him up.Abelin found her crying too noisy. He frowned and scolded, "Go and cry somewhere else! Don't disturb me when I'm trying to rescue him!"Abelin had a stern-looking appearance that would deter people from nearing him. He was even more intimidating when he got angry.Frightened, Samantha dared not cry anymore. She wiped her tears with the back of her hands and stood up while sobbing.She then reached into her pocket for her phone out of habit to dial 911 but couldn't find it.Samantha thought her phone had dropped in the pond, but she soon recalled that it was charging indoors as the battery was flat.She had forgotten to bring her phone out earlier as she was in a rush to kick Holly out. She then turned and ran to the main building to get her phone.Once Samantha was gone
Samantha couldn't be bothered to get changed as she ran into the living room panically. She grabbed Quirina's arm and dragged her out to the courtyard.Quirina asked, "What are you doing? Why are you so anxious?"Tears started falling as Samantha said, "Grandpa—Something happened to Grandpa, Mom!"Quirina frowned and asked, "What happened? Calm down and talk. You shouldn't be crying so much at your grandpa's birthday celebration."Samantha choked on a sob and replied, "Earlier, I wanted to find out if Grandpa loved me or Holly more, so I pushed her into the pond and called for Grandpa's help. "Who knew Grandpa tried rescuing us both at the same time? It was too hard on him, and he drowned."I didn't have my phone with me so I came back to call 911. But—But Abelin called me earlier and told me there's no need to call 911 anymore.""What? What did you say?" Quirina asked, eyes bulging out of anxiousness.Samantha cried as she said, "Grandpa—Grandpa is dead!"Quirina grabbed Sam
Bryce sent the clothes over to Abelin because he had saved Holly back in Dracowaist Village. He didn't want to be indebted to Abelin.Bryce returned to sit beside Holly and pulled her into his embrace. He sat there quietly, hugging her.Holly knew that something was on his mind by the way he was acting. Yet he wasn't telling her anything, making her puzzled.Her fingers caressed his neck before moving upward to touch Bryce's hair. She could catch a faint whiff of the scent of his shampoo from his stiff, black hair. Even his hair was similar to his personality.But such a tough man had gradually become meek before her. It was as if he had become a warmer and more considerate person after Winona's passing.Bryce hugged her for a good while without letting her go. Holly couldn't help but softly ask, "What's wrong?""Nothing. I just wanted to hug you," he replied with a deep voice, seemingly concealing his emotions.Holly burst out laughing and teased, "You've been hugging me a lot.
Abelin quickly averted his gaze after a quick look. He casually picked his wine glass up and took a sip as if trying to mask his emotions. Bryce was keen enough to catch that moment. He felt uncomfortable seeing it.He reached over to ruffle Holly's hair and asked softly, "Are you sitting with the ladies, or do you want to sit together with me?"Holly looked over to the ladies' table. Other than Quirina and Samantha, she didn't know anyone else at that table. She didn't want to sit with Quirina and Samantha, so she said, "I'll sit together with you."Just then, Trevor waved at them and said, "Come over and sit with me, Holly and Bryce!"He had specifically saved two seats beside him just for the both of them. They exchanged pleasantries with the others before sitting down.Trevor patted Holly's shoulders and said to the other guests at the same table, "Let me introduce my last mentee to you. This is Holly Sinclair. She's also Winston's granddaughter. Please take care of her in t
Seeing that they were about to leave, Trevor tried to make them stay. "Holls isn't done eating yet. You should eat more before you go. You don't have to drink if you don't want to."However, Bryce didn't sit down.It didn't matter if he wanted to drink or not.What mattered the most was that Abelin was sitting opposite Holly.His gaze would fall on her from time to time.Witnessing that made Bryce feel uncomfortable.Seeing that Bryce was standing still, Trevor stood up as well.Then, he placed his hands on Bryce's shoulders and forced him to sit back down.Trevor nagged, "Holls has been through a lot today. We can't let her be hungry, can we? You might not care about her, but I sure am."Hearing that, Bryce finally decided to stay.However, he couldn't enjoy the meal at all.Meanwhile, Edna silently watched everything that happened from the women's table.She tilted her head slightly and softly asked Samantha, who was sitting next to her, "Who's that young man sitting in f