Chapter 3

Grace Parker POV

“This manuscript has not been publicly authorized.”

My voice was not loud.

“May I ask where Miss Blake obtained the high-resolution scan?”

The room instantly fell silent.

Serena’s face turned pale.

“It was in the materials folder Mr. Hart gave me. I didn’t know it couldn’t be used. Miss Parker, I really didn’t do it on purpose.”

Adrian sat in the guest section, his face ugly.

He took the microphone.

“I had someone organize the materials. Serena was only carrying out instructions, so you don’t need to embarrass her in public.”

I looked at him.

“So you authorized it?”

“I’m your husband.”

“You are not the copyright holder of Evelyn Hayes’s works.”

Once those words fell, scattered whispers rose in the venue.

Adrian’s eyes turned completely cold.

“Grace Parker, we’ll talk at home.”

“No need.”

I stood up.

“Attorney Harris is on his way. If the arts center continues playing unauthorized materials, I will issue a notice letter on-site.”

Serena’s tears immediately fell.

“Miss Parker, it was so hard for me to get this opportunity. Did you look down on me from the start, so you won’t even lend me one image?”

I looked at her.

“What I look down on is stealing.”

Serena looked as if she had been slapped, swaying on her feet.

Adrian immediately got up and supported her.

“Enough!”

He suppressed his anger.

“Will you only be satisfied when everyone is humiliated?”

I did not look at him again.

After Attorney Harris arrived, the event was forced to pause.

The person in charge of the arts center looked deeply embarrassed and apologized repeatedly.

After I handled the entire matter and returned to the car, I realized my fingertips were shaking.

Adrian did not chase me out.

He stayed backstage to comfort Serena.

That night, the ninety-fifth love letter was shredded.

In the letter, Adrian had written: Grace, I will stand on your side from now on and never let anyone bully you.

I flattened the scraps of paper and suddenly felt that sentence was very unfamiliar.

I did not go home right away.

The car was parked in the alley behind the gallery, and rainwater slid down the window.

I sat in the back seat and watched the sharing session video again.

When Adrian spoke for Serena, his tone was so natural, as if he had been born to stand in front of her.

I suddenly remembered my first independent exhibition.

Back then, I was so nervous I did not sleep all night, and Adrian stayed with me in the exhibition hall to adjust the lighting.

He smiled and said, “Of course I have to make sure my wife’s dream turns out perfectly.”

The same man.

The same exhibition hall.

It was not that he did not know how to favor someone.

He had simply given his favor to someone else.

I turned off the video and sent the file to Attorney Harris.

At that moment, I stopped fantasizing that he was only temporarily confused.

After I returned to the gallery, Attorney Harris asked if I wanted to sue immediately.

I looked out the window.

“Send the notice letter first and give them a deadline to correct it.”

Attorney Harris was a little surprised.

“Do you still want to leave Mr. Hart some room?”

“Not for him.”

I placed the sharing session video on the table.

“I’m giving all the partners a decent chance to step back. If they don’t want dignity, then we’ll talk litigation.”

It was not that I had no temper.

I just finally no longer wanted to turn every battle into a marital fight.

Adrian was best at calling my legitimate rights protection jealousy, and calling my protection of my mother nonsense.

Then I would put my words into a notice letter and lay out the materials one by one in the open.

That night, my father, Thomas Parker, called to ask if something had happened.

I held the phone and did not hide it anymore.

“Dad, Mom’s manuscript was used by someone. I’ll handle it.”

Thomas was silent for a long time on the other end of the phone, and his voice turned hoarse.

“Grace, don’t carry it alone. The things your mother left behind are not yours alone to protect.”

That sentence made my nose sting.

I had always thought I had to protect my mother alone.

It turned out my father was still there too.