"How... how is this possible? Yes, it was Second Miss Xiao who contacted us directly."

"You said she contacted you directly, but did she personally hand you the painting? And why are you so trusting of her? She’s mentally ill."

Brian felt like he had a bone stuck in his throat, unable to utter a word for a long time. Xiao Shulan had been confined in a domestic psychiatric hospital, so anything she did was possible.

He finally regained his voice to continue questioning, "But the painting belongs to Second Miss Xiao, right? How did you come to possess her painting?" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"We are her family. After her incident, since both her daughter and husband ended up in jail, who else would take over her belongings if not us? Asking her daughter or husband would be useless. Does her daughter even know what her mother left for her unless you tell her?"

Brian’s silence after hearing this further confirmed Gu Nuan’s suspicions were correct. Kang Yueting knew nothing; if Christie’s hadn’t proactively contacted her, she would have been clueless about her mother’s hidden, substantial dowry.

"I need to report this issue to our supervisor." Brian stood up, looking solemnly at Gu Nuan, "And please, Mrs. Xiao, adhere to confidentiality, don’t disclose any word of our conversation today."

Gu Nuan nodded, "I fear more if you let it slip, it will affect the reputation of our company."

Brian turned around, clutching his folder, and hurried out.

Only now did Zang Xiaolian dare to look at Gu Nuan. Earlier, he hadn’t dared to meet Gu Nuan’s gaze. He thought Gu Nuan was only at Christie’s to investigate the painting, but unexpectedly, she directly made a move!

Beyond "impressive," Zang Xiaolian couldn’t think of any adjectives or praises.

Lingxin admired her mother immensely, but could only hold it in, maintaining a cool facade in silence.

Soon, Brian returned with a colleague.

This was a man much older than Brian; based on Gu Nuan and Zang Xiaolian’s estimation, he should be some leader at Christie’s.

Sure enough, Brian introduced, "This is Mr. Elgar, my superior. He wants to personally ask Mrs. Xiao a few questions."

Elgar sat across from Gu Nuan and said in a low voice, "The issues raised by Mrs. Xiao are significant. However, according to our auction house principles, we cannot show auction items to others without the owner’s consent."

"I understand," said Gu Nuan, her expression equally grave, "Precisely because this matter is so significant, I had to meet with you personally and inform you of the truth."

"Please tell us, Mrs. Xiao, what evidence do you have to prove your painting is genuine while ours is fake?"

Faced with such a pointed question, Gu Nuan was certainly prepared. She had Zang Xiaolian first open the case and show them some images.

Elgar took the images, and upon seeing the first one, immediately exclaimed in surprise, "This—"

"You only listed the dimensions and standard information of the painting online, but didn’t display it because the painting was covered by a layer of fabric, and the owner instructed you that once this fabric is removed, the painting would lose its value."

"Correct," Elgar nodded.