Divorced, But Queen - Chapter 235: Chapter 235

"My painting... It's ruined, Liam. Mono's masterpiece is destroyed," Hannah choked out, her eyes reddening as panic settled in.
She'd poured so much effort and a staggering 150 million dollars into acquiring that piece.
Turning with fury toward the culprit, Hannah's voice trembled with accusation. "Katrina, did you do this on purpose?"
Katrina, still dazed from being jostled by the crowd, stared in disbelief at the damaged painting in Hannah's hands. "Wait... That's a Mono original?"
The commotion brought the hall to a standstill.
Even the five judges turned to look their way.
Straightening, Hannah lashed out, slapping Katrina hard across the face. "Do you have any idea what it took for me to get this painting? I spent 150 million, begged that collector for a month. If you hate me because of Griffin, fine, but why deliberately ruin my painting?"
The slap left Katrina stunned, her cheek burning and her mind spinning. She ought to fight back—but the truth was, she'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"It wasn't all my fault. I was pushed too!" Katrina tried to defend herself, but Hannah was livid, nearly ready to tear her apart.
Meanwhile, Liam set Aria's paintings aside, then took the ruined artwork from Hannah, thinking fast—maybe a restorer could still fix it. "Is this really Mono's work? In this state... it's finished."
The damage was bad: not only were there scratches, but flakes of paint had come off where the glass had shattered.
Hannah's voice broke. "Mono's paintings are so rare—only five are in circulation. Now one's ruined. There are only four left in the world."
Liam tried to sound hopeful. "Maybe it can still be restored."
But even a master restorer couldn't return it to its original glory.
The crowd looked at Katrina now, eyes full of blame and regret.
She stammered, "It was just an accident... I didn't know I'd run into Hannah."
A crisp voice rang out, clear and challenging: "It's a fake."
Heads turned. It was Aria.
Hannah glared at her, all venom. "And what makes you so sure my painting is fake?"
The crowd parted to let them through, curiosity piqued.
Aria stepped forward, eyes settling on the painting in Liam's hands. "Did no one notice how stiff the old man's wrinkles look?"
It was a portrait of an old man. Aria didn't even have to squint—the flaw jumped out at her. "The wrinkles are all wrong. Too rigid, not natural at all."
Liam suddenly realized what she meant.
He'd taken art courses himself, knew how to judge for authenticity.
Up close, the lines lacked the delicate flow, the depth wasn't right.
It was good, but not great. Not real. Not as real as the work Aria herself had produced.
Hannah had been conned.
Aria smirked, unbothered. "Someone sure thinks she's the center of the universe."
He opened his mouth to speak, but Hannah cut him off, voice shrill. "Aria, the thing with the prion virus is ancient history. You don't need to come at me now, not like this!"
So the painting was a fake.
Katrina, finally seeing her chance to clear her name, snapped back, "Hannah, you brought a forgery here just to set me up for damages? You're trying to scam me!"
Hannah sneered. "Like the Gibson family needs to scam someone like you?"
But she turned her anger to Aria now, her voice icy. "Whatever game you're playing, I don't care that you've bought Mono forgeries on the side. That doesn't give you the right to call mine a fake."
Then, with a sudden glare, she snatched up Aria's paintings from the chairs and smashed them to the ground. "These three are the real fakes. Take a look, everyone!"
The frames cracked with a loud snap.
Aria simply smiled, watching as her "one hundred million dollars" hit the floor. Easiest payday of her life.
Liam froze, rushing to recover the artwork—only to be beaten to it by a sharp-eyed onlooker.
The stranger picked up the old man's portrait and stared, eyes going wide. "Holy shit. This is the real deal."
Suddenly the differences were clear. The forgery was no match for the genuine article.
Someone quickly pulled up a photo of the original online. "There's not a single difference—not even in the signature!"
"Mono's true original," another gasped. "So Hannah's painting is the fake?"
"It's obvious. Totally obvious."
"Shit, the lower right corner is damaged." They gathered all three paintings, each with varying degrees of damage, none of them perfect anymore.
"Hannah, you just destroyed not one, but three Mono originals..."
In an instant, all the outrage turned on Hannah.
She snapped, "How could three Mono paintings show up here at once? It's impossible. They're forgeries—mine's real!"
"Let Mono judge," someone said. "He's right here."
All eyes turned to the five judges, now walking over.
Johan's gaze darkened as he caught sight of the handprint blooming on Katrina's cheek.
The Gibson family—truly something else.
Someone handed Mono the paintings.
He glanced at his apprentice, who returned a sweet, almost cheeky smile.
He was still mad, but seeing Katrina grin for the first time, he couldn't bear to look away.
He'd have to paint her like this when he got home.
Hannah called anxiously, "Mono?"
He blinked, then said coolly, "Not mine."
"Told you it was a fake."
Hannah stepped forward, cradling her ruined painting. "Mono, I paid 150 million for this from a private collector. It must be yours—right?"
She'd spent weeks pleading for the chance even to see it, then caved in at the last minute, desperate not to lose out.
She'd hesitated at the wire—what if she asked for authentication and offended the seller? What if she missed her only chance at a Mono original?
Now she waited, hope flickering desperately in her eyes.
Mono's answer was simple: "This painting is a fake. It could never be my work."
The hope drained from her face. "Please, Mono, look again. How could it not be yours?"
"I'll say it again. Not mine."
Her face went ashen. "How could it be a fake?"
Liam sighed, pulling her gently into his arms. "Hannah, it really is a forgery."
Katrina, worried Hannah would still come after her for damages, wisely kept quiet.
That slap could be paid back another day.
"I was conned. One hundred and fifty million, gone." Hannah finally broke down, sobbing into Liam's shoulder.
"Let's go home," he said quietly, guiding her away.
But Aria called after them. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Liam paused, glancing back.
Hannah's voice was strained. "What more do you want?"
Aria smiled. "My one hundred million dollars?"