Chapter 3
3: 3
The next day was the awards ceremony for the International Fine Arts Award.
Eleanor Dickerson's piece took the top gold medal.
I used to be a painter too.
But the car accident three years ago left my right hand unable to hold a brush steady. I couldn't create anymore.
Back then, Adam had made the call to give all my painting supplies to Eleanor.
"They're just wasting away here at home. Better to let them serve some real purpose."
It hurt, but I agreed.
At the ceremony.
Adam and Eleanor sat in the front row.
"Ellie only got two front-row tickets. She's nervous, so I need to be here with her. Go find an empty seat in the back."
The seats in the back were all full.
I had no choice but to stand on the empty patch of floor behind the last row, forcing myself to bear it.
Strange looks kept sweeping over me.
Like a child who'd done something wrong, I flushed and lowered my head.
Soon it was Eleanor's turn to go up for her award.
She wore an elegant trailing gown, standing under the spotlight, her eyes glistening with tears.
"This award, for me, is a surprise, a shock, and the best proof of all my hard work."
I stared hard at the painting on the big screen, my fingertips digging into my palm.
That painting was the last piece I finished before the accident.
Adam had said at the time he was afraid it would stir up painful memories, so he'd sealed my work away in the attic of our rental.
And now that painting had become Eleanor's award-winning piece.
She held the microphone and kept going.
"There's one more person I have to thank."
"Three years ago, when I was about to give up painting because I couldn't afford tuition, he handed me two million and told me I had to keep going, that he'd help me with every difficulty."
"Because of him, I'm the person I am today."
Her gaze passed over the crowd and landed on Adam.
The next second, Adam rose with a bouquet in his arms and walked toward the stage.
The two of them embraced amid the crowd's cheers.
That two million.
It was my accident settlement.
The next year my mother was diagnosed with cancer. We sold the house, the car, spent every bit of savings, and still couldn't scrape together enough for the surgery.
We were short by twenty thousand.
If that two-million settlement had been in my hands.
My mother might not have died.
Rage and hatred surged up. I couldn't take in a single sound; all I heard was my own heavy, ragged breathing, and I wanted to rush the stage and tear all of it apart.
I forced myself to stay calm, turned, and left the hall.
I wandered the streets in a daze, with no direction at all.
I don't know how long I walked.
Rain suddenly came down hard. I'd only just ducked under the eaves of a shop.
The phone in my pocket buzzed.
【After the ceremony I'm going to the celebration dinner with Ellie. Get yourself back to the hotel later and don't go wandering off.】
Even now, Adam had no idea I was already gone.
His eyes held no one but Eleanor.
He'd used my money to send Eleanor abroad, used my painting to win her an award.
It wasn't that he wasn't afraid of me learning the truth. He was certain that even if I knew the truth, I wouldn't make a scene.
After all, in his eyes, I couldn't survive without him.
Maybe that used to be true.
But now my hearing had come back. I didn't need him anymore.
I booked a flight home for that same day on my phone.
I walked back to the hotel through the rain, packed my bags right away, and dragged my suitcase into a cab to the airport.
On the way, I saw the post Eleanor had put up.
Just one photo.
Flushed from the wine, she was slumped limp and boneless against Adam's chest.
The two of them stared into each other's eyes.
My phone buzzed.
It was a text from the government services portal.
【Dear Ms. Fox, you have successfully cancelled your appointment for marriage registration scheduled for 2026-8-26.】
Before the plane took off, I contacted a lawyer.
【I want to recover the two million my ex-boyfriend borrowed from me.】
【And I want to sue the person who stole my paintings to enter the International Fine Arts Award, and won.】