The judges gathered briefly before Luca stepped forward as their spokesperson. “Rosa’s oil painting skills are frankly beyond us.
Evaluating her work feels almost out of place in this competition…” Luca paused, glancing at Elliana, clearly deferring to her decision.
Elliana spoke up without hesitation. “I never intended to compete. I only entered to expose Luciano’s fraud. I’m withdrawing Lonely Sunset from the running. Let the contest play out as it should.” The judges let out a collective sigh of relief. A visible wave of relief passed through the judges.
Clement gave a respectful nod. “Rosa, do you have any advice for the competition?”
Elliana’s gaze shifted to Riding the Waves, credited to Paige. Her voice was calm but pointed. “The brushwork is unmistakably Ethan’s. He’s been through a lot. Art should be something that helps him heal.” The judges exchanged thoughtful looks and nodded in agreement.
“Don’t worry, Rosa. Even with Paige disqualified, Riding the Waves stays in the running and will be judged fairly. I’ll personally verify the true artist and make sure the prize money ends up in the right hands,” Clement assured her.
Elliana gave a small nod. “Thanks, Clement.”
He waved it off with a modest smile. “Just doing my job. Come on, Rosa-join us in the VIP seats for the rest of the show.”
Elliana wasn’t particularly eager to stay. But with Lonely Sunset still on display, walking out felt like abandonment. So, she accepted his invitation and took her seat beside him in the VIP section. With Lonely Sunset officially withdrawn, the rest of the competition progressed without a hitch.
After thorough deliberation, the panel unanimously awarded Riding the Waves the top honor at the Starry Oil Painting Competition. Brick Bridge by Bentlee, which had originally placed third, was elevated to runner-up.
The reshuffle nudged Hailee’s piece from sixth to fifth place. That boost came with a thirty-thousand-dollar bump in prize money-raising her winnings from two hundred to two hundred thirty grand.
To Hailee, it felt like manna from heaven. Still dazed from the revelation that Elliana was actually Rosa, the unexpected windfall only added to her mental whiplash.
But her quiet meltdown went unnoticed-overshadowed by the bigger headline.
Just as the final applause settled, someone from the audience stood and shouted, “Rosa, I’ll give thirty million for Lonely Sunset! Will you sell it?”
Rosa’s paintings were the stuff of legend-exceptionally rare and fiercely coveted. Besides two early pieces floating around, there was nothing else out there. Her focus had long shifted to jewelry and fashion, leaving the art world starving for her canvas pieces. That scarcity drove collectors wild.
Lonely Sunset was a jewel in its own right. Still, since Elliana had painted it quickly during a livestream workshop, some collectors assumed it lacked the refined depth of her earlier masterpieces. The man who opened the bidding thought thirty million was a fair starting point.
But before the offer could hang too long in the air, Clement spoke up with a polite but pointed correction. “Sir, just for context-the museum currently holds Spring Goddess, one of Rosa’s early works. It sold at auction for one hundred million.”
The implication landed with weight. If an early Rosa piece could command nine figures, what made anyone think her latest, painted with honed skill and confidence, was worth less? Put plainly: thirty million wasn’t going to cut it.
The original bidder blinked, momentarily stunned. He’d watched Elliana’s livestream-seen her paint Lonely Sunset with effortless grace, like it was just another day in the studio. Could it really surpass Spring Goddess?
He wasn’t the only one wondering. Other collectors, on the verge of jumping in, hesitated. Was this latest piece truly that valuable?
Luca rose from his seat, his expression warm but authoritative. “Lonely Sunset is a leap beyond Spring Goddess. The brushwork, the ideorealm-it’s on another level entirely.”
The judges around him nodded in quick agreement.
“No doubt about it,” one judge added. “This piece elevates Rosa to a new tier in the art world.”
“She’s continued to grow, even without releasing anything new for years. This proves it-Rosa’s untouchable now.”
“Collectors, take note-Lonely Sunset is a stronger acquisition than Spring Goddess.”
With Ublento’s top art authorities backing the painting, the room shifted. The bidders finally grasped what they were looking at-not just a painting dashed off on a whim, but a masterwork that marked the evolution of a legend. And Elliana-
Rosa-had conjured it like it was nothing. A few strokes. A live demo. And she’d shaken the entire art world.
A voice rang out from the crowd, loud and clear. “I’m bidding one hundred twenty million!”
With Spring Goddess having fetched one hundred million, and Lonely Sunset being deemed an even greater work, the opening volley had to land high.
The sheer number was enough to thin the herd. Most collectors, no matter how desperate to own a Rosa original, knew their bank accounts couldn’t keep up. Now, it was a high-stakes duel between the deep-pocketed elite.
“One hundred thirty million!”
“One forty!”
“One fifty!”
That last bid hit the room like a gong. The crowd fell still. For most here, one hundred fifty million wasn’t just steep-it was astronomical. After all, the Starry Oil Painting Competition was meant to spotlight emerging artists, not trigger bidding wars for icons. Rosa’s presence had upended expectations. And most collectors here weren’t as deep-pocketed as Cole-they had limits. One fifty was already jaw-dropping.
Clement turned toward Elliana, about to ask if she was ready to part with the piece, when another voice boomed from the back. “I’m going one eighty!”
Exclamations tore through the hall. “Is this for real?”
Heads whipped toward the man who’d casually tossed in an extra thirty million like he was paying for lunch.
The way he smirked, it was as if Lonely Sunset was already hanging in his private gallery.
For a moment, it looked like no one could touch him. Then came a low, gravel-edged voice-tight with resolve. “Two hundred million.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.