Accusation

As soon as it was connected, a small voice rang out. The screen showed the same petite blonde.

She sat there with an empty canvas and a painting brush. It looked like this video was captured by a CCTV.

The room appeared to be a workshop. Ana sat there for some time, looking at the sky.

Then she slowly picked up the palette, mixing dark purple with blue, and roughly started coloring the white canvas.

She looked serene, calm, and determined as she painted. The scene was so mesmerizing that some people even lowered their breathing so as not to interrupt her.

She stopped after coloring the canvas purple, thought for a few minutes, took out some clear gel glitter, and began smearing it over the purple.

The video was fast forwarded and it showed Ana looking at the completed painting that looked like the spitting image of "The Seven Seas".

It was no doubt that she was the one who had painted it.

A sudden uproar started as people began whispering loudly and pointing fingers at the Woods family.

"How can the Woods family be so heartless? I can't even imagine the grief Ana faced. She looks so young and it is said that artists are sensitive. Would they shoulder the blame if anything happened to Ana?" An anonymous person said out loud after which a lot of people started expressing their opinions.

"Is the Woods family not afraid of Karma? They must have thought that they could get away with it considering how grand of a ball they hosted"

"They must not have a concise. Otherwise, how could they sin by stealing others' works? Art is the Soul force of an artist, if you use such underhanded means to snatch it, isn't it the same as killing the artist?"

"Mr. William, how will you take responsibility for this? Will you still stick to your principle of "Honesty is the best policy"?

A lot of people spoke out in defense of Ana Smith. Ana looked at them with surprise as if she wasn't expecting them to speak up for her.

Those who saw her innocent eyes reflecting purity were smitten and strengthened their resolve to make the Woods family pay for their actions.

Even William Woods believed that Emma had stolen the painting. He was so infuriated that he threw his cane at Emma's feet, hitting her right leg.

Emma didn't even try to move as she stood there like a block of ice. She made no move to avoid being hit by the cane.

Her behavior was unnatural but people attributed it to her guilt.

William was so enraged that he spouted profanities against his granddaughter. Harry Wellington added fuel to the fire by calling William an associate of Emma and threatening to deal with them strictly.

"What does this video prove?" Adrian spoke exasperatedly, shutting out all voices.

"I knew that you wouldn't agree to it so easily. But I still wanted to test your integrity and it's safe to say that you've disappointed me to no end. I wanted to give you a way out however it looks like you are not worth it." Max said between his teeth, not caring about keeping up appearances.

Emma was startled. She never expected Max to disrespect her family. Even if she was head over heels in love with Max, she couldn't remain quiet when he insulted her dad like this in front of everyone.

The Woods and Davies had been friends for three generations. Even though there was no blood relation, the juniors of each family were taught to respect their elders under all circumstances.

Her anger started building up. No matter what, she had never insulted his parents so who gave him the right to insult hers?

She wasn't affected by the video. 'A fake will remain a fake no matter how many times you say it's real.'

Emma had painted "The Seven Seas" herself. She didn't have to show a video to prove it to anyone.

Jennifer saw Emma's expression change and she knew that if Emma spoke then all their hard work would be for naught.

She witnessed Emma painting the picture she was the one who told Ana which colors to use and how much depth was to be given to each layering.

She would be exposed if Emma said anything. She planned to make Max annul the engagement due to which Emma would be overcome with grief and not pay attention to other things and their plan would succeed.

It had succeeded to some extent but she didn't expect Emma to gain her emotions so quickly.

However, now the situation had taken a turn for worse as Max insulted Emma's family, which she had not taken into account.

She should have considered Max's obsession with art and artists while planning.

She looked around as she deliberated how to revert these courses of action but it was too late.

She watched in horror as Emma went to Max, and tapped his shoulder.

When he turned around, she slapped him so hard that the sound of bones cracking was heard. Max almost lost his balance as his mind went blank.

People were startled. They couldn't register what had transpired. Jennifer was terrified.

She had not expected Emma to act so rashly. Emma had always displayed her most affectionate and caring side in front of Max.

Who could have known better than Jennifer how deep Emma was in love with Max?

She loved him to the point of self-destruction. 'Obsession' would be the most suitable word to describe Emma's feelings.

But now, the same Emma had slapped Max across the face.

Max froze. He blinked quickly as he tried to comprehend the situation. No one had ever even dared to disrespect him let alone smack him.

His eyes turned red. He couldn't believe that Emma had raised her hand at him.

Emma clenched her jaw. Her hand had turned red. She glanced at her hand.

'It's broken' Emma thought.

Her face remained indifferent, devoid of any emotions. She did not regret hitting Max.

If she could, she wanted to slap Max to the point where his face would resemble a ginger's shape.

"Emma!" William frowned in displeasure as he said in a reprimanding tone.

"Is this how you were taught?" William admonished. He didn't like Emma's reckless behavior.

He still believed that Emma lied to him and Max about "The Seven Seas".

Emma remained silent. On the other hand, Ana was startled. All her haughty behavior calmed down.

She immediately tightened her hold on Max's hand as soon as she collected her thoughts.

She had heard about Emma's hot-tempered personality but it was her first time witnessing it.

To say that she was frightened would be an understatement.

Ana lightly touched Max's face, to which he winced.

His handsome face had a bright red palm print, going from the corner of his eyes to his chiseled jaw.

Max glared at Emma who had already been looking at him.

But her gaze lacked the love that poured from her eyes whenever she looked at him.

Max felt a sense of loss as he scrutinized Emma's cold expression.

"You must be nervous now that your secret is revealed. That explains your actions" Max threw a biting remark but his slurred words at the end told another story.

"You know what? I'm disappointed." Emma spoke bitterly.

"In the fact that I was disillusioned into thinking that you were a nice man"

No one spoke a word. They looked like they were entertaining themselves with a drama as they waited for the next scene to take place.

"I was doubtful in the beginning, but now I'm sure that you could never paint "The Seven Seas" because I can see how evil you are just from your actions today," Harry spoke out.

He was also taken aback by Emma's sudden actions. Now he felt like he must seek justice for the young artist who not only had her painting stolen but when someone advocated for her rights, they were looked down upon to such an extent.

"I would even believe if somebody told me you don't know how to hold a painting brush properly. Not to mention, a painting with such depth and serenity," Harry wanted to lecture Emma to the degree where she would be scared to even say the word painting out loud.

"Does it look like I care about your opinion?" Emma said as a matter of fact. She was annoyed with this guy ever since he insulted her grandfather.

That's just how she was. She didn't care about anyone except those whom she loved.

'Why did I even pretend to be like someone who I'm not and can't ever be?' Emma thought loathingly.

Harry choked. He took Emma's words as a strike to his pride. He had gotten used to everyone respecting him and only saying nice things about him.

He had never thought that he would be disrespected by someone so young.

It was his first time dealing with such a crude response that he didn't even know how to rebuke it.

"Y-you, y-you mannerless child" Harry only managed to say this before quieting down. He did not want to be insulted anymore but imprinted Emma's words in his mind and swore to teach her a lesson.