Chapter 830
Franklin narrowed his eyes and a hint of indulgence shed in them. "Because you like it," he said.
So he wanted to bring everything she liked to her.
Sylvia didn''t say anything more, but a warm current inexplicably surged from the bottom of her heart.
She carefully examined the painting, and it was obvious that the yellowish background was not made of
paper.
Jasper picked up the magnifying ss next to the card holder prepared for the auction and studied it
carefully in front of the painting. "This seems to be..."
As Sylvia said, it was human skin.
The painting was too old, but you could still see this thinyer of skin that was very soft, smooth and
delicate. Completely different from sheepskin or animal skins.
None of them were frightened by this fact; they did not feel any inner horror or gloom because it was
human skin.
Instead, several people sitting behind them shuddered a bit. "Miss Andrews is too scary! Why buy a
picture made with dead human skin?"
"Yeah! I''ve read online novels before where they talk about how there are grudges on things like this..."
"Are you addicted to online novels? Can we really believe what''s written there?"
Weston''s mouth twitched. "This is such a cruel method - peeling off someone''s skin to make art."
"This painting has been specially treated so that it has been preserved for at least ten years instead of
over twenty years," Sylvia said as if she knew something special about it.
"Ten years? How do you know?" Weston paused for a moment. "About a week ago when an antique
shop almost closed down for business hours, a man dressed in ck rushed into my store saying he
wanted to sell me this painting."
"I didn''t pay much attention then until one clerk informed me that I had acquired something special - an
artwork painted on human skin which had been preserved for at least 20 years and also happened to
be Phoenix''s work. So I hurried back here and bought it."
"What about that man dressed in ck?" Sylvia looked at him intently. "Is he still around?"
"He left immediately after receiving payment; I don''t know who he is," Weston shook his head slightly
as many peoplee into antique shops selling their wares every day; It''s impossible every time
asking these customers'' privacy details.
Sylvia''s dark eyes were coldly intent. "Find out who he is."
"Boss," Weston looked puzzledly at Sylvia while his heart beat wildly without knowing why... He felt
something strange about all this. "Is there anything wrong with this picture? Why are you so obsessed
with acquiring it?"
"I know Phoenix," Sylvia''s voice seemed to travel through the dark. "She taught me how to paint on
skin, and I can do it too. But... this painting isn''t from twenty years ago, it''s from about ten years ago.
So... I''m thinking that maybe she didn''t actually die."
"So you want to find out where Phoenix is?" Franklin took her hand in hisrge one, only then realizing
how cold her fingers were.
Sylvia nodded. She had been searching for answers for a while now, but never seemed to get
anywhere.
What she hadn''t told them was that the mysterious Phoenix was actually her mother Monica.
And there was a map on this painting...
She squinted at the map. Where was it?
She needed to study it more closely.
Where exactly did this map lead?
Maybe it was a clue left behind by her mother, or maybe not.
The auction continued on, but Sylvia had lost interest and prepared to leave after saying goodbye to
Weston. As she reached the elevator doors, she heard someone call out behind her. "Miss Andrews!"
Turning around, she saw Simeon walking quickly towards her.
He had an elegant figure and handsome face which remained unaffected even though he seemed
slightly out of breath from chasing after her so quickly.
"What''s up?" Sylvia knew Simeon''s true identity so there was no need for polite small talk between
them.
"Can I borrow that painting for a moment?" Simeon gestured towards the painting with his eyes and
Sylvia immediately understood what he meant as they walked away together holding onto the artwork
with their hands
They stood about three or four meters away from Franklin and Jasper who were still engrossed in
conversation nearby
"Why did you buy this painting?" asked Sylvia curiously as they examined its details further..
"There are secrets hidden within this picture," said Simeon cautiously ncing around before
continuing. "It depicts a secretboratory where illegal activities involving non-human research are
being conducted."
"Alby wants me to get my hands on this map; Mr. Mcguire wants it because Tyrell had been working in
researchb all along."
"If Alby also wants it, then why don''t you just take it back first? I''ll be meeting Alby soon and by then
we''ll study it together."
Sylvia handed the painting to Simeon and said, "Be careful. Tyrell didn''t get the painting, so he
probably has another n. Be cautious."
"I know. He knows the painting is with you now, so he''ll probably go after Mr. Maskelyne..." Simeon
looked worriedly in Franklin''s direction.
"Don''t worry about that. Just go," Sylvia whispered before walking towards Franklin.
The Mcguire Residence.
Mr. Mcguire stormed into his home and saw Tyrell sitting on the couch leisurely sipping tea while
holding a ck cat in his arms. Mrs. Maskelyne was sitting next to him ying on her phone.
The contrast between their rxed demeanor and Mr. Mcguire''s angry one was stark.
Tyrell heard footsteps and slowly looked up at him, "Did you get the painting?"
"I''m sorry, Mr. Maskelyne, but Sylvia showed up out of nowhere..." Mr. Mcguire spoke meekly with a
nervous expression on his face. "Sylvia offered too much money; you know our Mcguire Group doesn''t
have that much money right now."
"Worthless!" Tyrell''s expression turned cold as dead water as he silently stared at Mr. Mcguire."You
can''t even handle such a small matter; yet you expect me to help save your son?"
"Mr. Maskelyne, I know you have connections in Aettosa, and I really don''t have anyone else to turn to
except for you. This time, it was my mistake, but I will definitely help you properly next time. " Mr.
Mcguire quickly said, his eyes filled with fear, "My son is in grave danger right now, and besides, you
are my only hope. I don''t know who else I can turn to..."
"If you''re really dissatisfied and want to me me, you can hit me or curse at me. Y ou can even make
me kneel down. Just please save my son."
"Dad..." Katie felt extremely sad seeing her father begging Tyrell like this. It was all because of her
brother. Why did he have to be so stupid and foolish enough for someone else to catch him?
If it weren''t for her brother''s stupidity, her father wouldn''t be this desperate.
"Honey, give it up," Mrs. Maskelyne lifted her head from her phone screen, gave the father-daughter
duo a disdainful nce, and said, "It''s just an old painting. If we can''t retrieve it, then we just won''t.
Nothing will happen if those people got their hands on it anyway. They might not even understand what
they''re looking at."
"What if they do?" Tyrell frowned, his eyes full of hostility. "The consequences would be unimaginable."
"Since that''s the case, why don''t we go see our son?" Mrs. Maskelyne stood up, her tall and slender
figure exuding a strong presence. Even though she was approaching middle age, her beautiful face
was still evident.
Her slim figure and well-maintained face were enough to make anyone gasp in surprise.
"Let''s go!"
Watching the couple walk out of the living room door, Mr. Mcguire copsed on the ground as if he
were in a daze.
His clothes on his back were soaked with sweat.
At this moment, at the concealed corner of the second-floor staircasending, they didn''t notice that a
pair of eyes were staring at them in fear.
Carolyn covered her mouth with both hands to prevent herself from making any noise.
She ran barefoot up to her room as quickly as possible when Katie helped Mr. Mcguire up.
Carolyn was relieved that she wasn''t wearing shoes so she didn''t make any sound.
She had onlye downstairs for some water because she was thirsty but never expected to witness
this scene.
Tyrell and his wife weren''t easy people to deal with; Carolyn never thought Mr. Mcguire would have
such dealings with them.
So did Mr. Mcguire do it to save her husband? She felt confused...
After staring nkly in her room for a while, finally calming down; Carolyn picked up her phone and
called Mrs. Howlett.
"Mom, I found something."
Mrs. Howlett had already fallen asleep when suddenly receiving a call from her daughter which startled
her, "What happened?"
Ten minutester...
Jasper who was staying at a hotel received Mrs. Howlett''s call,"Your sister said Tyrell and his wife are
causing trouble again; you guys should hide or else..."
Owned by N?velDrama.Org.
Before Mrs. Howlett could finish speaking, Jasper heard footstepsing towards him.
He tensed up, "Mom, I know they''re here!" Hanging up, he rushed out of his room just in time!
A group of men dressed in ck came out of an elevator, each holding long steel pipes.
Their faces showed no kindness whatsoever.
The ck-d men stared coldly at him, before splitting into two groups automatically and creating an
aisle for Tyrell who held onto his pet cat.
"Jasper, where is my disobedient son?"
"Mr. Franklin has already gone to bed early; I can pass along your message." Jasper replied calmly
without showing any extra emotions on his face.
He watched calmly as the evil couple approached, as if they were just ordinary people.
"Is that so? Since you don''t want to move, don''t me me for being too harsh." Tyrell''s eyes were cold
and he raised his hand. Two teams of ck-d men rushed towards Jasper in the hallway.
Jasper dodged the attacks skillfully, but the enemies outnumbered him.
Just then, a slender figure stepped out of a room not far behind him with a loud bang from the door
opening. Even though he was only wearing a fair bathrobe, his aura was still strong.
With legs spread apart, he kicked both ck-d men who had pounced on Jasper and sent them
flying to the ground.