CHAPTER TWENTY SIX – COMPETITIVE EXPRESSION

Clutching the bewildering canvas close like a cherished security blanket, Diego finally deigned to meet her steady gaze - his own expression taking on an inscrutable intensity. "Ahhh, but have we, ma chérie?" he countered in a deceptively mild tone, lips quirking upward in a small, sly smile. "For you see, this mere unveiling represents something far greater than any tawdry melodrama over ephemeral artwork." Jasmine felt the others' rapt attention lasering in as Diego slowly rose to his feet with studied nonchalance, trailing one hand along the chaotic textures in an incongruously gentle caress. "No, what we have stumbled upon here is nothing less than the opening salvo in the truest battle that has simmered entre nous since your arrival." His gaze locked with hers, eyes glittering with sudden, fevered intensity. "A struggle that shall finally determine, once and for all, whose creative vision reigns supreme as the ultimate embodiment of artistic truth!" A ringing silence hung