"How... how is this possible? Yes, it was Second Miss Xiao who contacted us directly."
"You said she contacted you directly, but did she personally hand you the painting? And why are you so trusting of her? She’s ntally ill."
Brian felt like he had a bone stuck in his throat, unable to utter a word for a long ti. Xiao Shulan had been confined in a dostic psychiatric hospital, so anything she did was possible.
He finally regained his voice to continue questioning, "But the painting belongs to Second Miss Xiao, right? How did you co to possess her painting?"
"We are her family. After her incident, since both her daughter and husband ended up in jail, who else would take over her belongings if not us? Asking her daughter or husband would be useless. Does her daughter even know what her mother left for her unless you tell her?"
Brian’s silence after hearing this further confird Gu Nuan’s suspicions were correct. Kang Yueting knew nothing; if Christie’s hadn’t proactively contacted her, she would have been clueless about her mother’s hidden, substantial dowry.
"I need to report this issue to our supervisor." Brian stood up, looking solemnly at Gu Nuan, "And please, Mrs. Xiao, adhere to confidentiality, don’t disclose any word of our conversation today."
Gu Nuan nodded, "I fear more if you let it slip, it will affect the reputation of our company."
Brian turned around, clutching his folder, and hurried out.
Only now did Zang Xiaolian dare to look at Gu Nuan. Earlier, he hadn’t dared to et Gu Nuan’s gaze. He thought Gu Nuan was only at Christie’s to investigate the painting, but unexpectedly, she directly made a move!
Beyond "impressive," Zang Xiaolian couldn’t think of any adjectives or praises.
Lingxin admired her mother imnsely, but could only hold it in, maintaining a cool facade in silence.
Soon, Brian returned with a colleague.
This was a man much older than Brian; based on Gu Nuan and Zang Xiaolian’s estimation, he should be so leader at Christie’s.
Sure enough, Brian introduced, "This is Mr. Elgar, my superior. He wants to personally ask Mrs. Xiao a few questions."
Elgar sat across from Gu Nuan and said in a low voice, "The issues raised by Mrs. Xiao are significant. However, according to our auction house principles, we cannot show auction items to others without the owner’s consent."
"I understand," said Gu Nuan, her expression equally grave, "Precisely because this matter is so significant, I had to et with you personally and inform you of the truth."
"Please tell us, Mrs. Xiao, what evidence do you have to prove your painting is genuine while ours is fake?"
Faced with such a pointed question, Gu Nuan was certainly prepared. She had Zang Xiaolian first open the case and show them so images.
Elgar took the images, and upon seeing the first one, imdiately exclaid in surprise, "This—"
"You only listed the dinsions and standard information of the painting online, but didn’t display it because the painting was covered by a layer of fabric, and the owner instructed you that once this fabric is removed, the painting would lose its value."
"Correct," Elgar nodded.
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