Frowning slightly, Holly texted back, saying, "Arthur doesn't approve of us."Priscilla's reply came soon after. "Parents will always give in to their children. You and Bryce just need to work harder to convince Arthur. You'll regret it if you give up before you try." After a brief silence, Holly replied, "Okay."At 10:00 pm, Bryce and Holly arrived back at the house on Crescent Lane.After taking a shower, Holly picked up the hairdryer to dry her hair. Bryce, who had showered in another bathroom, came over to look for her. When he saw what she was doing, he took the hairdryer from her and dried her hair for her.Smiling, Holly said, "My left hand is almost fully recovered. I can do it myself."Bryce remained expressionless as he sat her down on the couch before replying, "I just want to take good care of you."It was such an affectionate thing to say. Paired with his reserved and stoic manner, it conveyed just the right amount of romance.Feeling touched, Holly said, "Thank y

Annie was stunned. "Goodness me! Are you some kind of genius?"Holly didn't think she was one—not when she couldn't even come up with something romantic to say to Bryce."Anyway, let's end the call here. I'll make a draft and give it to you tonight."Once again, Annie was shocked. "So soon?""Yeah."After ending the call, Holly went to her study. It had all the tools and supplies she needed for her restoration work.Richard loved collecting ancient scripts and paintings, but such historical pieces required a lot of maintenance. In the last few years, Holly was the one who maintained and restored them when needed.Bryce was the one who had someone prepare these tools for her.Holly retrieved a piece of parchment paper and dyed it with tea to age it a bit. Then, she got Leitia to help her prepare the paint.Once the parchment was dry, Holly picked up the brush and started recreating the painting from memory.Stanley's artwork exhibited his profound mastery over layering differe

Rubbing her aching nose, Holly quickly apologized to the man, "I'm so sorry.""It's fine. Is your nose alright?" the man asked.His tone was a little cool but unusual at the same time. His accent was a little stiff as if he wasn't used to speaking the language.Holly looked up and saw a handsome face that was framed with short hair.Before she could take a closer look at his features, her attention was drawn to his eyes. They were like dark pools of water that were still and deep, fanned by thick eyelashes.As soon as she saw his eyes, she felt a thump in her heart.His eyes looked so much like Abel's—even more than Bryce's did.At the recollection of Abel, the one who'd died while rescuing her, Holly's heart started aching painfully again.She clutched her chest and leaned against the wall in pain, her face turning pale."Are you okay?" the man asked as he tried to help her, but before he could touch her, someone shoved him away.Bryce had caught up.He pulled Holly into hi

Figuring out what Holly was doing, Bryce said, "Father called me and told me to give Samantha a ride to the hotel. As soon as she got in, I reminded her I was a married man, so she needed to keep her distance from me to avoid unnecessary problems."During dinner, she wanted to sit with me, and I came up with an excuse to avoid sitting with her. After dinner, Father wanted me to give her a ride home, but I refused him. I'm a loyal man who keeps my boundaries with other women, Holls. "If you don't believe me, you can ask Tobin or check the dashcam footage in my car."It was obvious that he wasn't lying, so Holly's displeasure subsided. In fact, she felt a little moved that he was willing to go against Arthur for her sake. After all, Arthur was his father and the one who determined his future in the family company.Holly hugged Bryce. She wanted to praise him and throw a few romantic comments, but the more she wanted to, the harder it was for her to find the words.She was clueless

Real antiques were all extremely expensive. The cheaper ones were either fakes or simple crafts.Alas, the world of antiques was not an upright one either.Even after searching through many different antique stores, Holly and Annie came up empty.At last, they came to a classy-looking antique store.Holly walked around, checking out the displays. Eventually, she spotted a pile of scrap paper in a glass display. The largest scrap was only the size of a child's palm. It was impossible to discern what the scraps used to be.Annie noticed Holly staring at the pile of torn scraps, so out of curiosity, she asked the store attendant, "How much for that?"The attendant held two fingers up. "200 thousand dollars."Annie's eyes widened in shock. "200 thousand dollars for a pile of scrap paper? Why don't you rob a bank while you're at it?"Unperturbed, the attendant said with a smile, "That was originally Shadow Scape, a painting by Dorian Hodge. It was damaged in the war. If not for that