After the words came out, people around Simon and the reporters all turned their heads and looked around.
'Is Aurora among the crowd?' they thought.
Not far away, Charlie also looked around.
He really wanted to know who Aurora was and to meet her.
'If Aurora knew I wanted to buy Territory, would she agree to sell it to me because of my identity as a restorer of cultural relics?' Charlie wondered.
Cara also became curious and thought, 'Such a mysterious and talented female painter, who could it be?'
Simon stroked his gray beard, turned his head slightly, and looked in the direction of Ashley with appreciation in his eyes.
Charlie's eyes widened in shock after he realized who Simon was looking at.
He thought, 'Simon was looking at...Ashley! Could it be...'
Cara was also shocked and astonished. She clenched her fists tightly, digging her nails into her palms.
'No...no way! How could Ashley be the famous landscape oil painting master Aurora with that skill of painting pears?
'How could she be better at painting than me? Maybe...Simon was looking at the person behind Ashley,' she thought.
However, the next second, Simon walked to Ashley and said kindly, "Ashley, sorry, I should call you Aurora now. It's a great honor to invite you to the Skyward Art Exhibition!"
The moment Simon finished his words, the entire gallery fell silent.
'Holy...crap! Ashley is Aurora!' Cara's fans thought.
Cara's fans were laughing at Ashley for her poor painting skills. However, now, they were so shocked by what Simon said. They all dropped their jaws as if they had been hit by lightning.
Even the surrounding reporters did not come to their senses from the shock in time.
They thought, 'Ashley, who painted the pears, is the long-awaited landscape oil painting master Aurora.'
'Someone on the Internet once said he could tell Ashley's great painting skills from the pears. He was right!'
After dozens of seconds, these reporters realized something, raised their cameras with trembling hands, and kept shooting.
Simon led Ashley to Aurora's paintings.
The warm and bright lights fell on Ashley. She was like a blooming rose with her delicate face.
She lowered her eyes and smiled, "Hi everyone, I am Ashley Ramos, also Aurora Easel."
Everyone heard her lovely voice.
There was a great burst of applause in the gallery.
Those landscape oil painting enthusiasts were so excited that even a few men praised Ashley madly.
"Aurora, I like your paintings so much! I have copied Territory more than a hundred times!"
"Me too! I thought Aurora would be an older lady because of her great painting skills, but I didn't expect her to be so young! You must be the youngest and most accomplished painter in today's exhibition!"
"You are so beautiful and talented in painting. Who on earth said that Ashley's paintings are inferior to Cara's? He is totally wrong!"
"Any of these Aurora's paintings is more impressive than Cara."
"Cara also said she would teach Ashley to draw when she received the reporters' interview. That's so embarrassing now..."
"There is someone who boasted that Cara is the only female star in the entertainment business invited to the exhibition. He also said that Ashley was just a visitor. Now, he should be ashamed of himself!"
Cara's fans were so embarrassed and angry that they never expected Aurora to be Ashley.
'No wonder Ashley came to the exhibition,' they thought.
At this time, Cara's eyes were fixed on Ashley. She clenched her fists so hard that she almost crushed her hands.
She thought, 'Great, Ashley Ramos. I really underestimated you!'
Not far away, Charlie was listening to Ashley's interpretation of Territory to everyone and looking at her in a trance.
He thought, 'The Territory I like was actually painted by my sister Ashley.
Cara smiled slightly and said, "Clinton once said he is very interested in our landscape oil painting. Maybe he came to see the art exhibition."
Charlie smiled, "Cara, you are important to have such foreigners like Clinton pay attention to our painting, which is a good spread of our culture."
Someone echoed, "Yes, it is a great achievement to carry forward our culture and let more people know and like it!"
Cara heard these praises and glanced at Ashley not far away. She became pleased from her depressed mood just now.
Cara's fans were excited and thought, 'Even though Ashley is Aurora and Cara is not as good at painting as Ashley, the painting master Clinton is Cara's friend, and he comes for Cara, which makes us so proud of it.'
After a while, Simon led a dark-skinned man in.
Clinton was fit and about forties with the elegance of an artist.
Simon said something to Clinton. Then Clinton raised his head and looked at the crowd in front with earnestness in his eyes.
At this moment, Ashley, Cara, and Charlie were all in the crowd.
When Clinton looked up, everyone was sure that Clinton was looking at Cara.
Cara smiled gently and greeted Clinton when he came over. "Clinton, it's been a long time."
"Cara?" It seemed that Clinton just found out Cara was also in this exhibition. He smiled politely, "Glad to see you."
"Clinton, why did you..."
Before Cara could finish her words, Clinton interrupted her anxiously, "Sorry, Cara, I'm in a hurry right now. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
Cara was startled, then smiled considerately, "You want to see the paintings? Please."
Clinton nodded and immediately walked away without saying a word.
Cara thought Clinton was eager to appreciate the paintings, but then, she saw Clinton reach out to Ashley, intending to shake hands with Ashley.
Clinton looked at Ashley in excitement and joy. "Aurora, I finally meet you!"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Save Myself From Desperation by Cara Agnes