Ch. 141..150
Sir, You Don’t Know Your Wife Chapter 141
The lighting of the ballroom was dimmed all of a sudden while the guests were still busy whispering to one another.
Only some very faint lights remained offstage.
By the time the light was turned back on, three young girls had materialized onstage.
Wearing a black dress, Janet looked straight ahead with composure before sitting down at her designated seat.
Paint of various colors as well as paint brushes could be found on the desk.
Henry and Mason took a seat in the last row, and Henry stared at the girls on the stage with anticipation.
Then, he raised his brow and asked Mason who was beside him, “Young Master Mason, do you think Janet will win the contest?”
Mason curled his perfectly sculpted lips up into a smirk and kept his eyes glued to Janet. “What do you think?” he asked Henry back in a breezy tone.
Henry shrugged and replied, “How do I have any clue since I’ve never seen Janet’s work? I can’t say anything for sure because the other two girls from the Jackson Family are very outstanding too.”
In fact, an opinion had already formed deep down inside him and he thought Janet was not here to win.
After all, the other two girls had gone through proper drawing lessons before and both of them were undoubtedly good at drawing. As for Janet, she used to stay in the countryside and it was hard to tell how great she actually was.
“Ha!” Mason let out a chuckle. His eyes did not move away from Janet for a single second.
While the guests offstage fell silent, the three contestants on the stage were busy thinking about their strategies.
This time, Old Mr. Collins wanted their paintings to be related to animals and their works would be evaluated based on two yardsticks: creativity and vividness.
The time limit was set at two hours and they were required to stop painting once the time was up.
Old Mr. Collins’ requirement was quite challenging for Chloe because she was more used to painting with a point of reference. But now, she had to create the entire painting on her own which required great imagination.
Emily felt her chest tighten when she heard the requirement. Did they have to produce something creative within two hours? It was too short a time for her because she usually needed a whole day’s time to complete a painting and the fact that she wouldn’t have something to refer to just added to the level of difficulty.
After she heard the rules, Janet reacted to it with composure and looked fixedly at the blank canvas.
In fact, two hours to her was akin to two days to other people.
Cocking her head to one side, she stared at the blank canvas and just seconds before she was about to start painting, she put down her paintbrush again.
Shoving the papers, ink and paints all to one side, she cleared out a space on her table on which she placed her elbows to support her chin. In the meantime, she closed her eyes which looked as clear as water.
From time to time, Emily and Chloe would peek at her. When the two of them saw what she was doing, both of them covered their mouth and sniggered.
The guests offstage started mocking Janet too.
“Is Janet Jackson serious?”
“Are my eyes still functioning well or has Janet Jackson just dozed off?”
“Hahahaha, she’s so hilarious! Seems like she knows herself well enough to realize she has no hope in winning so she decided to just give up altogether!”
Shirley scoffed, “Megan, I must say I’m very impressed by how strong your daughter is psychologically. Since she can fall asleep in an environment like this, what makes her different from a pig?”
Her remark put Megan in so much embarrassment that she started wiping away the cold sweat that had broken out on her forehead.
Many of them started laughing at the girl who was snoozing onstage.
Half an hour later, Old Mr. Collins couldn’t stand it anymore and approached her to wake her up.
Janet looked up at him puzzledly with a pair of groggy eyes.
Old Mr. Collins sighed, “Aren’t you going to start painting? You only have one and a half hours remaining.”
“Okay!” Janet immediately took some paint and started mixing colors randomly.
Seeing that, Old Mr. Collins shook his head in resignation.
To him, what she was doing was pure absurdity.
As time passed, the three girls on stage churned out their works.
Because the desk was on the stage, no one in the audience could see what they were painting, which added an element of mystery to the contest.
Old Mr. Collins made an announcement as soon as the time was up and the three girls immediately stopped painting.
While Emily and Chloe modded at their works in satisfaction, Janet rose to her feet and whispered something to Old Mr. Collins.
Sir, You Don’t Know Your Wife Chapter 142
After Old Mr. Collins nodded at her in approval, Janet walked down the stage and left the ballroom.
All the guests were dumbfounded.
“What’s going on?”
“Has Janet Jackson pulled out of the contest?”
“Hahaha, I guess she must have wet her pants because she couldn’t produce anything.”
“See, I told you she couldn’t draw at all but you refused to believe me. Now, you can see the truth very clearly with your own eyes.”
Those who didn’t know Janet well were jeering at her. Only Lee and Lara, who were sitting at a secluded corner of the ballroom, exchanged a smile with each other knowing that it was a typical move of Janet before she pulled off something wondrous.
Two minutes later, Janet rushed back to the ballroom and hurried back to her seat. She was holding something in her hands which she later affixed on her canvas before covering up her painting.
Everyone was exchanging puzzled looks with each other as no one had a clue what she just did.
Looking all smiles, Old Mr. Collins announced, “I hereby announce that the contest has come to an end and the paintings will be revealed in fifteen minutes!”
The guests dispersed right after his announcement—some of them going to enjoy the refreshments and some heading to the bathroom.
Janet then went to the lounge backstage where she bumped into Emily; no one else was there at that juncture.
Judging from the sly smirk on Emily’s face, she seemed to be secretly hatching some schemes.
Janet cast her a glance before asking her in a crisp and soft voice, “Are you plotting something against me now?”
Smiling smugly at her, Emily put on an innocent look and refuted in a demure and gentle voice, “Janet, how can you think of me that way? There’s no way I am plotting anything against you as I’m a very kind person.”
In response to her statement, Janet snickered sarcastically.
Within two minutes, Shirley, Jade and Megan arrived at the lounge too.
Looking concerned, Jade asked, “Janet, why were you sleeping on stage just now? Are you feeling unwell?”
Janet answered her with a calm smile, “Nope, I’m alright.”
Shirley put on a smirk and ridiculed, “Mom, you don’t have to worry about her. Perhaps she spent too much time feeding the pigs in the village that she can now sleep anytime and anywhere just like them.”
“Shirley, watch your words,” Jade warned in an annoyed tone.
“Did I say anything wrong?” Not looking bothered, Shirley took Chloe’s hand and led her out of the lounge. “Chloe, we shouldn’t stay too close to pigs. We don’t want to be dirtied by them.”
Emily bit her lips to suppress the urge to laugh when she heard Shirley.
Ten minutes later, the guests returned to the ballroom where they waited for the paintings to be revealed and the winner to be announced.
Old Mr. Collins had hired some helpers to reveal the paintings.
The helpers did their work professionally by wearing white gloves so that they would not smudge the painting.
Chloe’s painting was the first to be shown.
Everyone gasped in shock as soon as her painting was revealed.
It was as beautiful and charming as her.
A butterfly with bright and vibrant colors which looked almost like the real thing was drawn on the canvas. Her painting was outstanding as it depicted the moment when the butterfly was harvesting for nectar in flowers and the layer of nectar that covered the end of the butterfly’s body was a brilliant detail.
Although her work was not really creative, she managed to make up for it with her excellent drawing skill.
Old Mr. Collins too nodded in satisfaction when he saw Chloe’s painting.
Noticing how awestruck everyone was by Chloe’s work, Shirley held her head up haughtily as though her daughter was already the winner.
She was very glad that her daughter had brought her glory instead of letting her down.
Next up, the second helper stepped forward to reveal Emily’s painting.
On the canvas, a school of kois in golden yellow and bright red were drawn; the colors glittered and sparkled under the spotlights.
It was drawn so vividly that the fishes looked like the real thing.
The use of colors created an illusion that made the kois look like they were swimming in a pond, forming a sight of magnificent beauty.
The pond in which the kois were swimming was clear and the water seemed like it was really flowing.
Some kois in the painting were painted in black to provide a strong contrast to the gold and red colors—it was a marvelous combination of mystery and beauty.
Staring at Emily’s painting, Old Mr. Collins’ eyes were brimming with surprise and pride. He was so impressed that he couldn’t even speak smoothly. “T-The colors are so brilliantly matched!”
The guests were also staggered by the splendid beauty of her painting.
“This color combination is second to none.”
“Why didn’t I know that Emily was this good before?”
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“I knew I made the right bet on Emily and I’m sure she will be the winner tonight.”
“You’re right. Although Chloe’s painting is great, it lacks creativity. Emily’s work is almost perfect in terms of creativity, vividness as well as the combination of colors.”
“I knew Megan’s daughter wouldn’t be too bad and I’ve never believed the rumor saying she stole someone else’s work.”
“Does she need to do that when she’s already such a good painter herself?”
Henry, who was sitting offstage, was enamored of Emily’s painting too.
At the same time, he couldn’t help feeling anxious for Janet because he was afraid she might have to go back home empty-handed tonight.
Looking at the astonished and mesmerized expressions of the distinguished guests, Emily couldn’t help but hold her chin up and feel pleased with herself.
With this painting, she was sure many of them would be captivated by her talent.
After observing the expressions of the rest of the guests, Jade’s heart went out to Janet thinking that she was likely to end up losing the contest tonight.
Everyone started showering Emily with endless compliments.
“It’s a splendid color combination and I think it’s almost as good as Master Nato’s work. I would be convinced if someone told me it was painted by Master Nato.”
As Janet had been resting with her eyes shut throughout the entire process, she had yet to see the paintings by Chloe and Emily. At the mention of Master Nato, she opened her eyes because her curiosity was piqued.
When she opened her eyes slightly and saw Emily’s work, her pupils constricted out of the blue with iciness filling up her eyes in an instant.
Lee, who had known Janet for years, knew her style of painting very well. He knew Janet was an artist known for producing eye-catching color combinations because she had a sharp eye for colors.
Staring at Emily’s painting, a slight crease formed on Lee’s forehead.
“What’s the issue?” Lara asked.
Lee, who was gazing at Janet’s ominous eyes, answered Lara in an undertone, “The style of that painting looks very similar to Janet’s.”
Lara was flabbergasted when she heard him. Did he mean that…
…
The guests sitting in the first row all turned to look at Megan and lauded, “Megan, I’m really impressed by Emily!”
Megan nodded at them courteously with hardly concealable joy on her face. “It’s not too bad.”
“Megan, you’re being too humble.”
The grin on Megan’s face grew wider as she responded, “Emily is a really talented girl and she showed her gift in painting when she was little. However, she only managed to achieve her current standard through hard work.”
“Seems like first place will go to Emily.”
Someone suddenly chimed in, “It’s a shame that your elder daughter is not talented. Her standard is a far cry from your younger daughter.”
Megan responded to that comment with hollow laughter.
Staring at the smug expression on Emily’s face, Lara’s blood boiled.
The corners of her lips twitched and she leapt to her feet all of a sudden. She then turned to say to her bunch of underlings, “Let’s go!”
Lee stopped her from leaving. “Lara, what are you doing?”
Glancing at Lee, Lara snapped, “What do you think? That b*tch stole Janet’s idea so I’m going to teach her a lesson.”
“Don’t be rash. If you go up there right now, you will risk exposing Janet’s real identity,” Lee advised her earnestly.
“But…” Lara countered with some hesitation.
Looking unruffled, Lee replied, “There’s no but. Do you think Janet has no means to deal with that issue?”
Thinking that what he said made sense, Lara sat down again.
At that juncture, Old Mr. Collins approached Emily and flashed her a jovial grin. “Emily, can you share with us what inspired this painting? At such a young age, you’re really great at matching the colors.”
With that, he passed the microphone to Emily.
Looking proud, Emily answered, “I’ve been putting in extra effort to improve my painting skill over the years. To be an outstanding painter, not only does one have to be gifted, but one also has to work hard. I’ve conquered numerous obstacles along the journey to be what I am today. However, I must say that I’m only at the early phase of my drawing career and I will continue working hard.”
Having listened to Emily’s speech, Janet couldn’t help but sneer.
Emily cast a sideways glance at Janet with a trace of contempt in her eyes.
“The painting competition tonight is unprecedentedly exciting as we got to admire the butterfly painting by Chloe as well as the koi painting by Emily, which blew us away. I’m really impressed beyond words by their excellent drawing skills despite their tender age.” With joy written all over his face, Old Mr. Collins continued with a wide grin on his face, “Now, let me announce the winner of tonight.”
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“The winner is…” Old Mr. Collins turned to face Emily first before he continued, “Emily…”
Emily nearly jumped in excitement when she heard her name.
“Hold on.” At that juncture, a cold voice disrupted the joyous moment.
Janet strode toward the middle of the stage and stared at Old Mr. Collins with steady composure in her eyes. “Old Mr. Collins, are you really going to announce the winner without looking at my work first?” she asked breezily.
At first, Janet was in fact not too keen on winning the contest and becoming the apprentice of Old Mr. Collins. However, she couldn’t accept it when somebody else won by stealing her idea, and it insulted her.
Old Mr. Collins looked stunned when he saw Janet rising to her feet.
Everyone was dumbfounded for several seconds too before they burst out laughing.
“Isn’t the outcome very obvious by now? Emily is clearly the winner of tonight!”
“That Janet girl is such an attention-seeker. Won’t she feel embarrassed by making a fuss?”
“Didn’t she see how good Emily’s work is? Does she think she can win?”
“Hahaha, I really look forward to seeing her painting which must be as awful as a pile of dung.”
“She really should reflect on her own abilities before making any noise. I don’t why she is looking for trouble despite the fact that her work won’t be better than Emily’s.”
In an instant, everyone was condemning Janet for her shameless attitude.
However, Janet was neither anxious nor angry standing in the middle of the hall. Staring at Emily’s painting indifferently, a trace of amusement was visible in her eyes.
Calmly, she commented, “This koi painting is very beautiful, isn’t it?”
To everyone’s surprise, Janet started off by offering Emily a compliment.
All of them were baffled as no one had a clue what she was trying to do.
Flashing her a faint smile, Emily pretended to sound humble when she responded, “Thanks. Is there anything else you wish to express?”
Raising her brow, Janet questioned, “May I know what inspired you to think of such a color combination for the kois in your painting?”
Emily chuckled, “Of course, I came up with it after some meticulous thinking. I’m not inferior to you in terms of my gift and effort.”
Janet first chortled in response to her statement before she continued with a cold voice, “Really? I can see you’ve really made a lot of effort trying to imitate my sketches.”
Everyone frowned in confusion when they heard Janet.
Emily’s hands clutched the corners of her shirt tightly and nervously upon hearing Janet’s allegation.
Indeed, the koi painting was one of the few paintings she had taken from Janet’s room before.
When Old Mr. Collins announced that the theme was animals, her mind had gone blank for a moment. All at once, she thought of the koi painting she found in Janet’s room which struck her as a dazzling beauty. Finding it hard to believe that the work was produced by Janet herself, she was adamant that she must have stolen someone else’s idea and not Janet’s.
She was sure Janet must have produced it by copying one of the masterpieces by some great artist.
However, she would never own up to stealing Janet’s idea at such a grand occasion.
Emily retorted confidently, “Everyone here knows that you can’t really paint. So, why do I even need to steal your ideas? The drawing lessons I’ve taken over the years are surely way more than yours.”
Old Mr. Collins too frowned in irritation as he had never expected to see Janet making a fuss at such a crucial moment. He must not have been thinking straight at the time he wanted to take her as his apprentice.
All the guests offstage started accusing Janet.
“What did she mean by alleging Emily to have stolen her sketches?”
“Who does she think she is? Is her work even good enough to be imitated by someone else? She’s hilarious!”
“Can you even draw properly? I can’t believe you have the face to accuse Emily of stealing your idea while you can’t even produce anything good yourself!”
“Exactly. Janet Jackson, don’t you think you’re being very shameless?”
Seeing that all the guests were taking her side, Emily put on a miserable face and cried crocodile tears. “Janet, do you really hate me this much to look for my trouble on such an important occasion? Why are you doing this to me? I created the painting myself and I won’t allow you to humiliate me!”
She only dared to speak so boldly and confidently knowing Janet had no evidence to prove her allegation.
If Janet managed to produce any proof, she would have to admit doing it.
Listening to how unabashedly Emily had spoken, Lara had a pressing urge to dash to the stage and beat her up right away.
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Lara found the whole situation ridiculous and she couldn’t see why Janet had to put up with such humiliation.
Old Mr. Collins stared at Janet and asked in a solemn tone, “Janet Jackson, do you have any evidence to prove your allegation?”
All eyes were on Janet as everyone was looking forward to seeing what evidence she had.
Yet, Janet still looked as cool as a cucumber as she seemed to be mulling over something.
Once again, Lara stood up from her seat and snapped, “Let’s go and tell everyone who Janet really is! I simply can’t hold it any longer.”
Lee stared at her with resignation written all over his face. “Go ahead if you feel like getting banished to Africa to do coal mining.”
He could still remember the time he let slip Janet’s true identity in public when they were in Markovia. As the result of his blunder, he was sent to Africa where he had spent two months in hell.
At that juncture, Janet’s crisp and clear voice came, “Well, I can show you the evidence.” While she was talking, she put on a pair of gloves before she revealed her own work.
A painting of a koi fish leaping over a gate emerged in front of everyone. Under the bright sunlight, the scales of the fish seemed to be shimmering with a silvery glow that made the fish look like a warrior in armor that was mustering every ounce of its strength to make a leap over the gate.
The koi fish looked like it was given a life of its own; it was a symbol of strength and determination.
Upon closer look, one could see that the tail of the koi fish was deliberately given less details and colors. In this way, the fish was made to look more colorful and lively the nearer it got to the gate which symbolized its eagerness for success.
Everyone gaped in astonishment when they saw Janet’s painting.
The unique combination of colors was a telling sign of Janet’s identity.
However, everything seemed so outlandish to all of them.
How could Janet be Master Nato, who was supposed to be an elderly woman?
Deeply shaken, Old Mr. Collins stared at her painting with utter disbelief. “Janet Jackson, are you the legendary Master Nato?”
With a faint smirk, Janet glanced at the guests offstage nonchalantly.
At the same time, joy was barely concealable on Lee and Lara’s face.
Lee knew Janet was no pushover and she would strike back when the right time came.
Having been thinking that Janet stood no chance to win the contest, Henry’s hands were trembling in shock as he stammered, “Y-Young Master Mason, is Janet Master Nato, the legendary artist who is said to be an elderly lady?”
Mason narrowed his eyes slightly and put on a slight smirk without denying it.
Judging from Mason’s reaction, Henry, who was quivering in consternation, reckoned the fact that Janet was Master Nato had been within his knowledge way before this.
At that moment, Henry was having great difficulty registering that fact because he found it too incredible to be true that Janet was both a talented doctor as well as a painter.
The guests obviously didn’t buy it thinking that Janet didn’t fit the description of the legendary artist at all. Therefore, voices of disapproval could soon be heard.
“Janet Jackson, I’m surprised you actually have the face to proclaim yourself as Master Nato.”
“Do you think you can convince all of us that you’re Master Nato with that painting alone?”
“From what I heard, Master Nato would always affix a special stamp on her artwork. Can you produce that stamp now?”
“Show us that stamp to prove that you’re the real deal.”
“I’m sure she doesn’t have it. If she has it, she wouldn’t have participated in this contest because Master Nato is way more famous and her artwork is way more valuable than Old Mr. Collins’.”
“I think she’s just trying to impersonate Master Nato to trick Old Mr. Collins into accepting her as his apprentice.”
All the guests gritted their teeth resentfully because they loathed a deception like this the most because it was way too unethical.
Emily went with the flow by scoffing, “Janet, not only did you ruin my glorious moment, but you also misled Old Mr. Collins and everyone here into thinking that you’re Master Nato. Don’t you think you owe everyone an apology?”
“Who told you that I don’t have the stamp? Make sure you don’t blink so that you can see it clearly.” Slowly, Janet lifted her painting and pointed at the stamp on the bottom right corner of the canvas with her slender finger.
The whole ballroom fell silent when everyone saw the small stamp that read: ‘Master Nato’.
Emily went panic-stricken at once; colors drained from her face as she stared at Janet in utter stupefaction.
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“It’s impossible.” Shaking her head, Emily went on to snatch the painting from Janet and examined the stamp.
Judging from her expression, something dawned upon everyone in an instant.
Everyone was gawking at Janet in shock because they just realized the eighteen-year-old young girl was really Master Nato…
Staring at Emily who was rooted to the spot, Janet stepped forward and seized the painting back. She narrowed her eyes to form a crafty expression and remarked wryly, “You shouldn’t be too shocked to see that because after all…” Janet first waved the stamp in her hand in front of Emily before she continued, “it’ll be even harder for you to digest this.”
At the sight of that stamp in her hand, everyone was left nonplussed. Some of them were so shocked that their lips were quivering as they stuttered, “Did she go out just now to take that stamp?”
“Is it possible that the stamp is just a replica?”
“That’s not possible because that stamp was carved from a piece of heliotrope stone and there’s no way you can find two pieces of heliotrope stones that look exactly the same.”
“Wow…”
It was hard for everyone to recover from the shock even after a long while because they couldn’t associate the young girl with Master Nato.
They couldn’t resist but capture the moment with their phone; it was as though they just couldn’t wait to show everyone in the world the staggering sight they had just witnessed.
When Emily noticed that everyone was aiming the cameras at herself, she covered her face with her hands miserably.
Megan, who was looking sullen, glared at Emily furiously and muttered, “Emily, how could you do that?”
Megan was so frustrated with Emily that she just sighed before storming out of the ballroom.
After Emily’s shady deed was exposed to the public, she simply found it too embarrassing to remain there.
Looking bleak, Brian followed Megan out.
The impact of the sudden change of events was felt most significantly by Old Mr. Collins because the young girl whom he had been looking down upon turned out to be the legendary Master Nato, whose talent in painting was insurmountable by him even after a whole lifetime of hard work.
He felt the most awful when he recalled the multiple occasions he made degrading remarks about Master Nato.
At that juncture, he wanted to kneel down in front of her and beg for her to be his teacher but then again, he was held back by fear and he dared not even look into her eyes.
Janet then strode toward him at a slow pace and put on a smirk. “What did you say before? Did you say that you wanted me to be your apprentice?” she confronted him in a menacing tone.
Avoiding her gaze, Old Mr. Collins held his head low and bowed slightly while he muttered humbly, “Of course I’m not good enough to be your teacher and I wasn’t being careful with my words before. I, Steven Collins, apologize if anything I said happened to have offended you!”
“I don’t want to listen to any of your excuses. Even if I win this contest, I’m still too good to be your apprentice.”
“Yes, yes! Of course you are!” Old Mr. Collins answered frantically with his head held low.
Janet walked down the stage and approached Jade. “How’s my performance? I hope I didn’t embarrass you.”
Jade was grinning so widely that her face was crumpled together thinking that she might never be able to forget what had happened for the rest of her life. Feeling touched and still in shock, Jade nodded at her vigorously in approval and beamed, “There’s no way you could embarrass me.”
Chloe, who was unable to take her eyes off Janet, was stuck in a trance.
When Shirley noticed the admiration on Chloe’s face, she rolled her eyes at her and snapped, “Can you at least behave yourself? There’s no point for you to stare at her in that way. Let’s go and stop staring at her already.” Shirley then led her away angrily.
Shirley thought it embarrassing that Chloe ended up being third place in the contest because it just showed that she couldn’t even prevail over Emily.
As for Janet, she first exchanged a glance with Jade before leaving the ballroom.
Only Mr. Collins as well as the guests who had yet to register the shocking truth were left behind.
Gazing at Janet’s slender figure, an overwhelming admiration washed over Old Mr. Collins.
In his mind, he had always pictured Master Nato to be an elderly woman and never in his wildest dreams did he think that she could be a girl at only eighteen.
There was no way he could accept that.
…
When Janet and Jade arrived at the lounge backstage, Megan and Emily were there.
Emily was seen holding her head low as if she was ready to receive a scolding from Jade.
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Meanwhile, Megan turned her face away from them; both of them did not utter a word. Jade couldn’t be bothered by them because all she cared about the most was her real granddaughter, Janet. She smiled sheepishly at Janet when she asked her, “Janet, why did you keep us in the dark of your talent in painting?”
Janet first raised her brow quizzically before answering in a level voice, “I started learning to paint when I was still living in the countryside and my teacher advised me to be low-key to avoid trouble. Also, he told me that I shouldn’t paint for a living because that would make my paintings lifeless and dull.”
A look of enlightenment took over Jade’s face when she exclaimed, “Oh, I see!”
Staring at Janet, Megan was unsure whether she should be happy for her talent or be sad for Emily’s embarrassing defeat. Why couldn’t she just have two perfect daughters? Why did one of them have to be so inferior to the other in a certain aspect?
At the same time, the painting competition organized by Old Mr. Collins had officially gone viral on Twitter. An article with the title ‘The daughter of a retired model turned out to be the ever famous painting artist—Master Nato!’ soon became one of the most trending topics. Not only had it gone viral on Twitter, it had caused a sensational stir at Star High School too.
Almost every student of Star High School watched the video of the painting competition. Because of that, Janet was the only thing everyone could talk about in Star High School’s forum on Reddit. In the meantime, the protagonist was impervious to the furor and spent her days snoozing in the classroom as usual. Her classmates would glance at her enviously from time to time.
“I’m taking back all the bad things I’ve ever said about Janet.”
“Damn it! You have no idea how psyched I was when I watched the video!”
“I certainly never thought that the glorious Master Nato could be my classmate.”
“From now on, I’m gonna get on the good side of Janet so that she’ll teach me how to paint.”
“Oh, just get lost because that’s my idea.”
“All of you just stay away from her!” Gordon glared at them resentfully. He couldn’t stand how shameless that snobbish bunch was as they were so eager to butter Janet up after knowing that she was Master Nato.
Holding her phone in her hands, Abby glanced back and forth between Janet in the video and Janet in real life. Several seconds later, she shook her head and mumbled under her breath, “There’s no way the person in the video was Janet.”
The corners of Gorden’s lips twitched in annoyance when he patted Abby’s bulging cheeks. “Are you out of your wits due to being too shocked?”
Staring dazedly at him, Abby pinched her fleshy cheeks and exclaimed, “Goodness gracious, I’m not dreaming! This actually happened in real life!”
One of their classmates queried, “Why isn’t Emily here today?”
The rest of them sniggered, “I don’t think she dares to show up at school.”
“She must have found it too embarrassing to come to school because Janet always manages to steal her limelight in every competition she joins.”
“What pisses me off the most is how she stole Janet’s idea in the painting competition.”
“Geez, I can’t believe she’s this cheap!”
Every student of Class A was proud of Janet and saw Emily as a disgrace. Therefore, almost every message in their class WhatsApp chat group contained praises for Janet.
‘I’m in love with her!’
‘Janet will be my role model in painting from now on!’
‘Janet is the best!’
…
Emily had been staying in her room at Jackson Residence for two days to reflect on her own mistake. She dared not log into her account on Twitter, check the forum of Star High School on Reddit, browse the internet nor read the messages from her classmates. It was because she knew everyone must be lashing out on her on all those social media platforms.
Feeling disappointed in Emily, Brain fumed at Megan, “Previously, I said that I would never go easy on her if she made an embarrassing mistake again… It’s all your fault that she is spoilt.”
Megan looked despondent because she had received a ton of messages relating to Janet and Emily over the past two days. She had mixed feelings responding to the messages because everyone was showering Janet with compliments and Emily with criticisms.
Emily turned out to be such a huge disappointment and the reputation of their family was completely tarnished by what she did.
“Please stop criticizing Emily; she hasn’t come out of her room to eat for two days already!” Wiping away the tears from her eyes, Megan wailed miserably.
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It was easy to see how apprehensive Brian was from the way he paced back and forth around the living room.
“Just let Emily stay at home for one week to think about the crap she’s done before she goes back to school.” He was off to work after saying that.
Dabbing away her tears with tissue, Megan nodded and tried hard to keep her grievance to herself.
At Lowry Residence, everyone, including the maids and the bodyguards, was watching Janet’s painting competition video on their phones.
They were so absorbed in the video that they neglected their work and a heated discussion soon started among them in whispers.
“Miss Jackson is really amazing to be such an established painter at her age!”
“Exactly! I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes.”
“I must say that Miss Jackson is really low-key.”
“It turns out Miss Jackson is a very talented lady. No wonder Mr. Lowry fancies her so much.”
“I’m really impressed by the rich talent that is contained in that slender figure of hers.”
“If only Mr. Lowry wasn’t into Miss Jackson, I would have made a move on her.”
“In your dreams! With her talent, I’m sure she will have plenty of suitors after the furor.”
At that time, Mason, who happened to just finish a work discussion with Henry, overheard the bodyguard saying that he was interested in Janet, and the other bodyguard expecting Janet to be highly sought after after the painting competition.
Staring at Sean with his eyes slightly narrowed, he instructed him in a deep voice, “Get the technical team to delete all videos of Janet participating in the competition on the internet.”
Henry chuckled in response to what he said and taunted, “Young Master Mason, do you feel threatened?” Stroking his chin, Henry pretended to be lost in thought for several seconds before he continued, “If she weren’t my future sister-in-law, I would consider making a move on her too.”
Mason widened his eyes and threatened dangerously, “You may give it a try.”
Henry was very sure that he was jealous.
Immediately, he flashed him a toothy grin and clarified in an embarrassed tone, “I’m only joking because Janet isn’t my type at all!”
Mason ignored him.
What a jealous man Young Master Mason was…
As Janet experienced a meteoric rise in fame, the fact that she was a student at Star High School was soon unearthed.
On the following day, the school was besieged by a bunch of reporters who were all keen to do an interview with Janet, the genius painter. Some professors from art colleges were also there to persuade Janet to enrol in their colleges.
Once the bell rang signifying the end of school, all the students darted out of the classroom before Miss Lilian could even finish speaking and headed to the school gate to watch the excitement.
Miss Lilian was left fuming, thinking that it was certainly becoming more and more challenging to keep the students under control.
However, she could not come up with any excuse to stop Janet from being in this class.
Some of the reporters hovering outside the campus even brought telescopes with them. Once they heard the school bell, they took out the telescopes from their bags and started searching for any signs of Janet.
In the meantime, some of the other reporters, who were surprised by how well-prepared they were, remarked with resignation, “You guys from Independent Daily are really taking this a bit too far by bringing telescopes along.”
The reporters from Independent Daily lamented, “It’s all because Janet Jackson is the talk of the town at the moment. If I manage to capture a shot of her, my trip here will be worthwhile because my boss will be very pleased.”
“Same goes to me. My boss wants me to submit my draft by hook or by crook today. He even threatened to deduct my pay if I don’t manage to do an interview with Janet Jackson.”
“Damn it, I didn’t expect so many people to be here today. Great, now all of us are kept outside by the security guards.”
“By the way, I heard from the grapevine that Janet Jackson has a dubious private life. Some time before this, she was involved in a scandal which went viral on Twitter but everything was miraculously wiped out several seconds after they were posted, which surprised the wits out of my fellow colleagues and I. Do you think she got some big shot sweetheart to settle it for her?”
As soon as that statement was heard, some of them who were Janet’s fans refuted the reporter right away, “What do you mean by that? You are really a sleazy paparazzi who will believe anything that comes your way, aren’t you?”
The reporter, who was pissed off because of that criticism, countered, “Aren’t you a paparazzi too? Otherwise, why are you even here?”
All the reporters were in a foul mood probably because of the scorching hot weather and also because they were losing their patience waiting to see Janet.
Inside the principal’s office, the principal was about to leave his seat to fetch a glass of water for himself when he noticed two men standing outside. “P-Professor Williams and P-Professor Jones, what brings you here?”
Sir, You Don’t Know Your Wife Chapter 149
Right in front of him were two professors, one from the Opera Academy and another from the Painting Academy. While the principal was flattered by the sudden arrival of two professors from the Fine Arts Academy, they merely glared at each other and snorted before entering his office.
Excitement rushed through the principal’s veins as he looked at the professors and asked, “Professor Williams, aren’t you in Barnsford? What brought you here to our tiny school in Sandfort?”
Although he already knew that they were here because of Janet, he still feigned his surprise as to not make the situation awkward. Furthermore, Professor Williams even mentioned his appreciation for Janet in the email he sent him last night.
When he received the email from Professor Williams, he almost passed out from exhilaration. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that he would receive an email from him one day.
Albeit not as famous as Master Nato, Professor Williams was still considered as one of the top figures in the painting world and also had a respectable reputation for being in the field for so many years.
Seeing that the principal of Star High School had no intention of welcoming him, Professor Jones snorted, which caused the principal’s knees to turn weak because he knew that he was not a man to be trifled with either. While he knew that Professor Jones was equally renowned in the painting field in Chestshire, the principal was merely too taken aback by the arrival of Professor Williams that he had overlooked Professor Jones for a moment.
Clearing his throat a couple of times, the principal clarified, “Please excuse me for my ill manners. May I ask if the both of you are here today because of Janet Jackson?”
“Yes, that’s right. Where’s she now? I need to meet her,” both professors exclaimed at the mention of Janet’s name, setting aside their disgruntled emotions from earlier.
“Please hold on a moment while I get her class teacher to bring her here,” the principal said as he made a call to Mr. Smith and told him to bring Janet to his office.
Janet, completely unaware that she was so popular, was sleeping in the classroom until her class teacher came to bring her away.
For the past few days, Abby had been so bored that her eyes lit up at the sight of Janet.
Regarding this incident, Gordon was speechless as well. How did Janet turn out to be Master Nato all of a sudden? he wondered. With so many people hot at her heels now, she doesn’t belong solely to me anymore.
This whole time, Janet had been sleeping in the classroom and had no idea about everything that was going on outside the doors until Mr. Smith came to bring her to the office. As she walked past the classroom building, she saw hundreds of reporters at the gates of the school with binoculars.
With a chuckle, Mr. Smith said, “Janet, we really didn’t know that you’re so talented and were all shocked to find out that you’re actually the legendary Master Nato. Also, it felt like a blessing to the eyes after seeing your painting of the koi fishes!”
Janet merely grinned faintly at his words without saying anything.
Outside the school gates, the reporters could only capture pictures of Janet’s figure, and no matter how they yelled, she refused to lift her head up. Every one of them was so frustrated that they berated, “I really wish to get rid of that teacher who’s standing in my way of taking Janet Jackson’s pictures!”
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the principal’s office was turning tensed and strained as both professors, who were usually gentle and elegant, got into an argument over Janet.
Wiping away his sweat nervously, the principal wondered if it was a blessing or curse that this was happening. Clearing his throat, he tried to gently dissuade both of them. “Professors, please calm down. Don’t argue because Janet will be here soon.”
Despite everything the principal said, it was fruitless as both the professors couldn’t care less.
“Jones, you sly fox. Last night, I’ve already called the principal to show my appreciation of Janet and you’re showing up now to snatch her from me? Are you purposely going against me?” Professor Williams said furiously as he glared at Professor Jones with a burning gaze.
With a snort, Professor Jones said, “Mr. Principal, I think you need to replace the school’s security officers. It seems like anyone can come in easily.”
Angered, Professor Williams pointed at him and lashed out, “What are you saying? What do you mean by this?”
“I mean exactly what I said!” he replied calmly.
Sir, You Don’t Know Your Wife Chapter 150
“Alright, Mr. Principal. If you don’t throw Jones out today, I’ll make sure your school suffers!”
Without showing any signs of backing down, Professor Jones sneered, “As the renowned Professor Williams, you’re actually threatening people? What’s the meaning of this?”
Caught in the middle of the situation, the principal hurriedly said, “Please don’t get so worked up, professors. Janet will be here soon and then you can ask for her opinion. Even if I’m the school principal, I cannot make any decisions for her.” Turning to Professor Williams, he continued, “Don’t you agree?”
That seemed to work this time as both of them quieted down. Despite the truth in his words, anyone who was smart would want to recruit a talent such as Janet into their own institution.
“I don’t care, Janet has to come to our school no matter what. Even if she’s not willing to come to our school, she shouldn’t attend Jones’ school,” Professor Williams grumbled.
All of the principal’s earlier efforts to dissuade the situation went down the drain as Professor Jones lashed out in anger again, “What do you mean by that, Williams? Just because your trashy school is unable to recruit a talent like Janet, you can’t stop us from recruiting her!”
“Trashy? How dare you insult the top arts institute in Barnsford?”
And again, they started an argument.
Just as the principal tried to pacify them again, Janet appeared at the office door. “Are you looking for me, Sir?” she asked as she leaned against the doorframe lazily.
Breaking into a brilliant smile, the principal chirped, “That’s right, come in quickly!”
Upon hearing her voice, both professors sprang up from their seats and went forward to greet her.
“Please take a seat, Master Nato!” Professor Williams said ingratiatingly as he pulled out a chair for her.
“How are you, Mr Nato? Nice to meet you,” Professor Jones said, smiling agreeably.
Nodding, she thanked him softly, “Thank you.” Opening her eyes, her vision was blurry as she yawned and gazed at the two men in front of her. “Why are you looking for me?” she asked, expressionless.
“Master Nato, I’m here today to ask you if you would like to come to Opera Academy?” Professor Williams asked politely.
“Joining our Painting Academy is the correct decision, Master Nato,” Professor Jones said firmly.
While both of them looked at her with anticipation and respect in their eyes, she didn’t really hear their formalities and had simply heard vaguely the schools they mentioned for her to go. “Why should I go?” she asked, her round eyes filled with bafflement. “Why should I go?”
The intense emotions which both professors had earlier instantly died down with her question. Clutching his chest, Professor Williams asked bitterly, “Aren’t you even going to think about it, Master Nato?”
Worried, Professor Jones said, “Master Nato, let me be honest. Our school is inviting you to be the associate professor!”
The principal, who was watching at the side, almost fell from his chair as he stared wide-eyed at him in disbelief. “What? A-Associate professor?”
“Master Nato, not only can you be a professor in our school, but you can also request for any benefits you would like. The chancellor even mentioned that he’ll arrange a building solely for your classes,” Professor Williams fawned.
Shocked from everything he had just heard, the principal no longer knew how to react. On the other hand, the young teen merely lifted her eyes nonchalantly and answered, “I’m not interested.”
With his eyes almost popping out of its socket, the principal thought that she must have lost her mind and tugged at her shirt, asking, “Ms. Jackson, didn’t you hear what they said?”
Casting him a gaze, she raised her brows slightly and said, “I heard them clearly that they’re inviting me to their schools to be a professor.”
The principal’s mind turned blank at her reply as he was not expecting that she would reject their offers so breezily.
Regardless if it was the Opera Academy or Painting Academy, they were both institutions which many could only dream about joining, not to mention that she would be joining as a professor.
Unwilling to give up, Professor Jones decided to give it another shot and said, “Not only does our school excel in painting, but we’re also offering scholarships from the government every year and millions of that will be allocated to you, Master Nato!”