Painting

After a few more minutes, the banquet finally started with the yearly welcome speech by the mayor himself followed by some words from his beloved wife. Then a series of entertainment presentations started. Soon enough, the banquet turned lively as people started asking their partners to dance along with everyone else.

After a few minutes of dancing, the mayor's wife once again started talking about her hobby in painting. This time, she started talking about a huge painting of a forest that she bought from a famous painter abroad. The mayor's wife almost teared up as she recalled how the painting had touched her core as she and her husband actually met in a forest. At that time, she had a fight with her father and ran away. Then she got lost. 

Coincidentally, the mayor was out with his friends, hunting. The Mayor's wife recalled the happiness and joy that she felt when she first saw her now husband. At that time she had been starving for two days. It was as if an angel had smiled down at her.

When the mayor's wife saw the painting, she immediately thought of her past and asked her people to find the person who made the art. Tonight, the mayor and his wife were smiling as they pulled the string to lift the cover of the huge painting on the stage.

However… what they saw was something unexpected.

A gasp echoed inside the hall. Almost immediately the mayor's wife actually fainted and was caught by the mayor himself. The other's also showed an expression of horror and anger. What was happening?

Who would dare ruin the painting?

In front of them was… to put it lightly, a destroyed art. Someone actually put some red paint on the art and slashed it, totally ruining the painting. Whispers filled the hall as everyone didn't know how to react to the situation. 

Only the people near the stage acted and helped the mayor and his wife. "Investigate!" The mayor's voice echoed inside the hall. They were about to show the painting and give recognition to the person who made it. And yet this happened.

Who would dare scheme inside an event like this? Who would dare hurt his wife? "Find out who did it!" He said as his wife slowly regained her consciousness. The mayor immediately consoled his wife as his people started reviewing the CCTV camera. 

"I— I think I know who did it." A meek voice came from one of the guests.

"Speak!" The mayor immediately said.

"I— I saw a woman this morning when I was cleaning the area. She came here all by herself and looked at the painting." It was actually one of the waitresses that are serving the guests tonight. Seeing this, Li Yue raised an eyebrow. "I— I think I saw her tonight. I saw her by the entrance. She was wearing a black mask and black dress that hugged her body."

"How do you know it was her… when she was wearing a mask?" the mayor's wife asked.

"That— That's because she didn't wear the mask when they arrived earlier."

"And you say that this person is right here?"

"Yes… Yes madam."

Li Yue on the other hand shook her head and cursed inwardly. She had already expected a scheme like this. But she was expecting it to be against Li Weiwei and not her! After all, she was not Lu Xinyi's enemy at the moment. 

It seems that what she did was not actually enough to keep them busy. Well… she could always do more.

"Her!" Of course the woman pointed at Li Yue's direction. 

The Mayor's wife was about to rebut when Mo Li sent her a warning gaze. Seeing Mo Li's 'just watch a show' gaze, the mayor and his wife immediately stopped themselves from revealing the painter's identity. 

"Me?" Li Yue smiled as she slowly took the mask off her face. "This face?" 

"Yes— Yes… Mayor, that's definitely the woman that I saw. That should be her." The woman trembled, fear apparent in her face.

"Well… this scheme was getting old. Do you have proof that it's me? I'm guessing you magically have a photoshopped image of me near the painting?" Li Yue said as her gaze darted towards Lizzy Lu and Lu XInyi. Wasn't this the same scheme that Lizzy tried to pull all those years ago?

Did the woman become so muddle headed to the point of repeating the same type of scheme again to see if it would succeed? This… This was too much even for Li Yue's simple brain.

"I—"

"Answer her!" Mo Li ordered, his tone as cold as his gaze.

"Yes. Yes… I have it."

Li Yue smirked. "Then… show it to everyone what are you waiting for? Can you at least make it more convincing? This one… whoever hired you is only shooting themselves on the foot. Who would hire such a bad actor?" Again, she sent a provocative gaze towards Lizzy and Lu Xinyi. When she saw the two frowning, Li Yue immediately beamed at them. Surely, this was not the only plan that the two had concocted right?

"This… here… here… it's on my phone."

"Hmph! You dare lie…. That's clearly a fake image!" the mayor immediately said. However, before he could add a word, a voice of a woman echoed.

"Your honorable Mayor… just because your nephew fancies, Miss Li, doesn't mean that she couldn't do any crimes. I suggest we ask a specialist to examine the photo." Unable to stop herself, Lu Xinyi said.

"So… you are saying that I would ruin the painting?" Li Yue raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think I would do such a foolish thing in front of a witness?"

"Hmph! How would I know? All I know is that you stole my sister's bracelet before and even released that video of me and my brother! You think we didn't know the real you? You are hiding so much malice behind that pretty face of yours! You think you can just fool everyone around you? Think again Miss Li! Think again!"

"So that's how it is." So these cousins were not only aiming to embarrass her today, they were actually thinking of showing Mo Li the real Li Yue. Li Yue smiled before she bit her lower lip. She needed to stop herself from laughing.

.....

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