chapter1025

"Genius doesn't care about age," Mabel said, sounding genuinely impressed. Lydia was incredible, honestly. So young and already so accomplished.

Lucinda sat frozen in her chair, her fingers clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white. She had no idea how to even start describing the mess of feelings inside her. She'd been painting since she was a kid, but her work had never really gone anywhere. Not even in her own country. At best, she could use it to show off now and then, just to prove that she was a proper, well-rounded heiress who could do a bit of everything.

But Lydia... Lydia always did things to the absolute max. Melody Mastro, Miss L, Lorelei, NO1, plus those crazy medical skills. And now, on top of all that, she turned out to be the famous artist Owen. Was she even real?

Lucinda just couldn't get her head around it. It felt like Lydia was living on a completely different level, leaving her absolutely no room to even try.

"So, Lydia, are you really Owen?" Wendy said, still sounding like she was in shock. Owen was famous not just here, but all over the world. Her paintings were so popular, just one could sell for a fortune at auction.

Lydia didn't bother to answer. She just motioned for the art supplies to be packed away and handed the finished painting straight to Mr. Robinson, who looked like he might burst from smiling so hard.

Damien watched, a little envious. He was a huge fan of Owen's art too.

Meanwhile, Janet was practically trying to disappear. Earlier, she'd blurted out that if Lydia turned out to be Owen, she'd kneel and call her grandma. Now what? She kept thinking, If I can't see them, maybe they can't see me. She tried to shrink into herself, like a big balloon deflating into a tiny dot.

"Lydia, who taught you to paint? You're already a master at your age," Damien asked, trying to sound casual. Everyone wanted to know. Sure, Lydia was talented, but even the most gifted people usually had a famous teacher. Did she really just learn all this on her own?

Lydia smiled a little, not giving anything away. "My mentor put down the brush years ago. They don't want any attention."

Honestly, if Damien's family hadn't been there, maybe Lydia would've been more open. But she had no intention of giving them anything to gossip about.

Damien went quiet, watching Lydia like he wanted to ask for a painting but couldn't quite swallow his pride. He looked so conflicted.

Lydia turned, fixing her eyes on Janet, who was still trying to blend into the background. "I remember

someone saying

that if Lovers Owen,

they'd kneel and call me grandma."

The room went silent as everyone turned to stare at Janet. Her face went bright red. She wasn't usually

onbarkassed

asily, but right now,"

she wanted to crawl under the table.

"Lydia, I was just messing around earlier," Janet said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"But I took you seriously," Lydia replied, her tone light but leaving no room for doubt.

The message was clear. Janet had to follow through.

Janet looked miserable. If she really knelt down in front of everyone and called Lydia grandma, how could she show her face again?

Wendy's face tightened. "Lydia, we were just joking around earlier. You can't take it seriously. We're family Janet is your cousin. How could you ask her to kneel and call you grandma. People would laugh at us."