Abelin sensed the shift in Holly's energy. He nonchalantly said, "You gave me two large paintings. I should be helping you out anyway."That made sense. Holly felt like she was just overthinking things again.Abelin continued, "I can't say I'd be the one being of help, either. Once you're famous, you'll be restoring scripts, vases, and whatnot. I would have to ask you for help, even."Holly relaxed at his words. She smiled. "You're too polite, Mr. Gabelman."Abelin's eyes darkened a little. "Just call me Abelin. Mr. Gabelman sounds weird."However, Holly didn't dare to be too friendly around him. After all, she had a jealous husband.She avoided Abelin like he was the plague. She didn't want to upset Bryce.Trevor, who had been left out of the conversation for a while, coughed politely and said, "Holly, look at this vase carefully. Take note of the shape, size, and the embellishments. I really love this vase. I'll teach you how to fire one in a kiln when we get back."Holly's s

Bryce froze. He wasn't expecting the hug.He thought she would be upset that he was cleaning her hand and would complain about it.He was ready to apologize.But somehow, Holly hugged him instead.He let her hug him like that for a long while.Bryce reached up, pulling her head down gently on his shoulder. Then, he caressed her cheek.There was warmth in his hands.Holly leaned against his shoulder, asking softly, "What's wrong?"Bryce's gaze dimmed. Softly, he said, "I'm not sure."Holly was silent. Then, she asked, "Were you like this with Samantha?"Bryce's eyes darkened. "Never."After a pause, he said, "I'll try to reign it in."Holly considered it carefully. "But if you suppress your emotions, it might backfire on you. That would be even worse.""I'll just try," Bryce said lightly."It won't work. What if I just paid more attention next time?" Then, she added playfully, "It's a good thing that I'm in the antiques industry. I mostly talk to old men."Hayden and Abel

"Mr. Gabelman's here!" a sharp-eyed shop assistant called out.After that, he jogged up to the main entrance and pulled the glass door open.Abelin walked in with a mahogany box.Trevor stroked his beard, smiling at him. "What brings you here, Abelin?"Abelin waved the mahogany box in his hands and smiled. "This is my family's genealogy chart. It's really worn out. I wanted Holly to restore it. I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it."Hearing that, Holly went up to him and took the mahogany box. She opened it and stepped aside, beginning to examine the chart.Trevor was happy to hear someone praise his mentee.He was the one who taught her how to do all that. He took pride in it and said, "That's right. You should get my mentee to do these things. She's so young, but she's already so brilliant. She's going to put us old farts all out of business."Samantha's face turned splotchy red hearing her own grandfather praise Holly.Trevor glanced at her. Seeming to remember something,

Samantha was left with the static sound on the receiver. She was furious.She just couldn't understand it. Just what sort of a spell had Holly bewitched all these people with?Why did they all love Holly and hate her so much?It was just illogical!Holly was a country bumpkin who didn't know how to dress up. She had never even stepped foot outside of the country.Meanwhile, Samantha was a princess. She was delicate, beautiful, and fashionable.She was better than Holly in every way.Samantha was upset. The people who liked Holly had terrible taste, including her Trevor.As Samantha fumed, Holly, with Trevor's permission, brought Abelin's genealogy chart home to restore it. It just so happened that Trevor's Pavilion didn't have the materials needed for the restoration.Bryce had prepared a study for her at home. It was specially for her restoration work.Abelin's chart was quite aged. The paper was dated to be thousands of years ago.The chart was thick, and the pages were fi

"Everything is fine. Just go to sleep." Bryce switched off the lights.Holly stared at his handsome face for some time.In the dark, the shadows on his face were even more prominent. Lying beneath the shadows was a storm.Holly wondered why he was like this.A while later, she said softly, "Abelin wanted me to restore the genealogy chart. If you're against it, I can return it to him tomorrow and ask him to get someone else to help him.""Don't. Just restore it. It's your work," Bryce said lightly."I don't think you're too happy about it.""I am," Bryce said. He sounded too indifferent about it.He sounded unhappy no matter how he put it.Holly took a deep breath and said, "Just tell me what you want me to do. I'll listen to whatever you say.""Just do what you have to. I'll control myself."His mask was slipping.Holly repositioned herself, leaning against his chest. She caressed his cheek and began kissing him.She wasn't really good at comforting people.For the first