「Rewinding time.」
This meeting was, once again, a video conference.
Phoebe Ainsworth had dressed up for the occasion, with light makeup and her hair worn down in a sleek, professional style. She looked every bit the modern female entrepreneur.
As for Shirley Thorne, her attire was much more casual.
She wore a T-shirt, jeans, and her hair was up in a topknot. There was even a smudge of paint on her face she hadn't wiped off.
"Have you been working on a masterpiece lately, Miss Thorne?"
Through the screen, Phoebe Ainsworth casually tossed out the provocation. Her words hovered somewhere between a pleasantry and a taunt, making it impossible to tell which she intended.
Shirley Thorne, having pulled an all-nighter to finish her work, was teetering on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. She completely missed the barb in Phoebe's words and just answered honestly, "You'll see in a moment."
'Her paintings were part of the bid, weren't they?'
