Chapter 3

Nydia continued, "The person who died in the plane crash yesterday was Nydia, who went on the assignment in my stead." Yolanda nearly scoffed at the absurd lie. Nydia had died in the plane crash yesterday? How ridiculous! It was true that Nydia had been in charge of inspecting the plane before it took off, but she hadn't been on-site during the mission that day. Isaac knew Nydia would sometimes go on assignments in Yulia's place, but it seemed he was told a different story this time—that Nydia had died in the plane crash, and Yulia was perfectly fine at home. Yolanda snarled as she hung up the phone and tossed it on the table, muttering, "You're more ambitious than I thought." Nydia had orchestrated the plane crash so that she could take Yulia's place as the heiress of the Hoffman family. Unfortunately, Yolanda had no intention to let Nydia get away with it. However, despite being reborn, Yolanda could not take revenge. She could not defend herself in this body, which had wasted away in the juvenile detention center. More importantly, she had yet to purge the slow-acting poison from her system. If she showed up at the Hoffman residence like this, she had no doubt she would be taken out by assassins waiting in ambush. … The next morning, Michael Green, the painting instructor Diana hired, was shown to the Hendersons' living room. He was in his 40s and had made a name for himself in Riverdale. Inside the study, he gave Yvonne an approving once-over and said, "This must be the charming Ms. Yvonne Henderson. I've been telling my associates that the Hendersons have a prodigy among them. It's impressive that she's done so well for her high school entrance exam as to be offered a place at a top-tier high school." Yvonne smiled demurely at the painting instructor. "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." She had a delicately chiseled face and was a soft-spoken young lady. Anyone who saw her could not help doting on her, unlike Yolanda. Despite her lack of beauty, Yolanda liked to keep to herself and behaved as if she was too good for anyone. After complimenting Yvonne a few more times, Michael finally deigned to look at Yolanda. "And who's this?" "Yolanda Henderson." "Yolanda?" Michael repeated. His smile faded as contempt flashed in his eyes. "You were released from the juvenile detention center yesterday, weren't you? I'm guessing you haven't learned traditional painting before." Diana's expression soured at the mention of the juvenile detention center and Michael's pointed question. "No, but I've dabbled in it enough to know what to do," Yolanda replied coolly. Not only that, she had mastered the art entirely. A derisive gleam shone in Yvonne's gaze when she heard Yolanda's words. She thought it was the biggest joke she had ever heard. Yolanda couldn't possibly know what to do with a paintbrush when she had never even picked up traditional painting. Michael berated a shade tersely, "Yolanda, arrogance is an unbecoming trait. It's all right to admit you haven't dabbled in a certain field. I can teach you as long as you are willing to learn. Pride will be of little help to you." Yolanda looked down her nose at him. It was true that she had mastered traditional painting — she was even an internationally renowned painter. Her work could fetch tens of millions a piece! "Over 300 famous paintings will be shown at the upcoming art exhibition, but the star of the show will be the painting made in less than a minute by a famous painter five years ago," Yolanda said impassively. "Yolanda!" Michael interjected angrily when he realized Yolanda was talking over him. "Were you listening to me at all? The exhibition is in two days. You won't learn anything at this rate if you don't drop the attitude!" Yolanda looked up and met his gaze with a nonchalant expression. "What do I have to learn from someone whose skills are lesser than mine?" Michael stiffened. He wondered if he was hard of hearing at that moment. He had never met such an insolent student in his entire life. He said sullenly, "I see what they meant when they said the Henderson daughters could not be any more different. If you're so brilliant, why don't you tell me about the painter who made this painting?" The next second, an artwork that looked like the real thing appeared on the screen on the study wall. Yolanda recognized it at first sight. Not only did she recognize it, she was also the painter. However, the image shown was of a counterfeit, albeit replicated with expert craftsmanship. "Well, Yolanda? Go on and tell us whose painting it is. Show us that artistic knowledge of yours," Yvonne prompted with a false encouraging smile laced with disdain. As far as Yolanda was concerned, she was being openly mocked. Michael couldn't help snorting at Yolanda's blank face as she stared at the painting. "I see no point in wasting my time and effort teaching a bullish delinquent like you. Perhaps your mother should consider hiring someone else for the job." He had emphasized the word "delinquent". With a wave of his hand, he headed for the door. At that moment, Diana entered the study upon hearing the commotion within. When she saw Michael storming toward the door, she asked in alarm, "Mr. Green, what happened?" "Mom." Yvonne stood up and explained, "Yolanda said she's dabbled enough in traditional painting to know the art, and that Mr. Green isn't good enough to teach her. "But she was at a loss when Mr. Green told her to identify a painting. Why did she do that? The art exhibition is in two days. She can't go around pretending to know things she doesn't…" Diana was extremely disappointed after hearing Yvonne's explanation. She marched up to Yolanda and was ready to slap the young lady across the face. At that moment, Yolanda turned and shot a deadly look at Diana. Her gaze held the promise of violence, and Diana shuddered at the murderous gleam as she drew her hand back. When she registered what had happened, she snapped furiously, "Are you trying to aggravate me to death, Yolanda? Has three years in the juvenile detention center taught you nothing? "It's one thing to steal and get into fights, but to make up stories and pretend to be an expert in something? That's just blatant insolence! Why can't you be more obedient and stay in line like Yvonne?" Diana's scathing remarks pulled Yolanda out of her thoughts. She looked away from the painting and caught Yvonne smirking at her from behind Diana. Yvonne was amused to see her helpless and useless. If she had it her way, she would have Yolanda crushed underfoot forever. But Yvonne was wrong, for what Yolanda said stunned her into silence. "The painting is called The Great Country. It dates back to mid-September two years ago, and it was debuted by a renowned painter, Simon Carter, at the Artists Association in Creybia. "The painting costs 13 million dollars, but unfortunately, it isn't the real thing. It's one of the four replicas in Simon's collection. The real thing was created by Jess Harrington, a famous artist who only has three paintings in her name, and each of them fetched hundreds of millions of dollars. "She hasn't painted anything after the initial three in her collection, which makes her art extremely rare on the market. As such, the original three pieces were replicated by a renowned artist, and this is one of them!" There was a deathly silence in the room. Diana gaped at Yolanda, and the anger in her eyes was replaced by shock. Yvonne's contemptuous smile slipped as she stared at the young lady before the screen. Yolanda had spoken calmly, surely, and confidently. The sheer arrogance in her tone was not at odds with her carriage at all. How could such an air of superiority come from the young lady of the third-rate Henderson family? However, Yvonne quelled the uneasiness rising in her when she recalled Yolanda was nothing but trash. She likely made up the entire narrative about Jess Harrington. Frowning, Yvonne chided, "Yolanda, what are you talking about? Who's this famous Jess Harrington you mentioned? Don't spew nonsense to Mr. Green if you don't know anything about art." But at that moment, the unexpected happened.