CHapter 128


    “What is a bad thing?”


    Annie focused on the road ahead, her hands firmly on the steering wheel, her gaze resolute. “To


    me, anything that goes against morals, thew, or ethics is a bad thing.”


    Noe chuckled softly. “I feel the same way.”


    Annie sighed in relief, grateful that Ms. Noe shared her views. It gave her the courage to share


    her troubling discovery!


    “The guy Yvonne was ying cards with seemed a bit too close forfort. I checked Yvonne’s


    ounts, and the moneying in recently was either from Ashlyn or that guy, and it wasn’t


    chump change. From their chats, it looked just like a normal business rtionship. At first, I thought


    he was some rtive of the Schnabel family, but he wasn’t. That’s why I kept an eye on them.”


    Annie believed that anyone giving awayrge sums of money for no apparent reason was definitely


    suspicious!


    “The thing is…” Annie hesitated, clenching her teeth as if struggling to speak, “Yvonne, she calls the


    guy ‘Dad‘.”


    The chat logs gave Annie the creeps.


    She thought she’d stumbled upon something bizarre, but it turned out this guy really acted like a


    dad to Yvonne. Yet, she’d never heard of the Schnabel family adopting godfathers for their


    kids.


    Noe nodded, understanding that if someone was that close to Yvonne and giving her so much


    money, he was probably her biological father.


    If she remembered correctly, Ashlyn publicly imed that Yvonne was an orphan. It seemed they


    might have been pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes.


    “What’s his background?”


    “He’s a businessman, but from the Gruber family. We can’t really probe further.”


    The Gruber family held significant sway in Imperial City. Though they didn’t quite match the Pock


    or Schnabel families, they still held influence. Digging into Gruber affairs wasn’t simple.


    Annie did right not to pry deeper.


    “I see. Thanks for the ride. Go home and rest; we can talk more after you’ve slept.”


    Noe noticed the dark circles under Annie’s eyes – a clear sign ofck of sleep, probably from the


    hectic days with Yvonne.


    Tears of gratitude welled in Annie’s eyes! Did Ms. Noe ask her to drive just so she could get


    10:05


    some rest? What kind of angel was Ms. Noe?


    Annie nodded like a pecking chicken, watching Noe enter the gallery, reluctant to leave.


    If only she could work for Ms. Noe, chatting with her every day. Oh, how she longed to switch


    jobs!


    Travis stood at the door, respectfully waiting for Noe. “Ms. Noe, several of our partners have


    abruptly cut ties with us, and we have an exhibition scheduled – the invites are already out. If we


    can’t proceed as nned, it will tarnish the gallery’s reputation and financial standing…”


    Travis was on the verge of tears.


    Noe entered the gallery, her tone even, “When is the exhibition?”


    “Thursday, tomorrow. We’ve invited many artists and media. It’s toote to retract the invites, but


    those suppliers just backed out on us without any notice, not even willing to pay the penalties.”


    Noe sat in her office chair and nced at the supplier information.


    A coincidence?


    They were mostlypanies tied to the Gruber family or rted businesses. Essentially, all were


    industries that thrived thanks to the Gruber family.


    “How many pieces are we short?”


    “One hundred and thirty, and we still need to set up an exhibition hall. We can’t get the materials –


    there’s only onepany in Imperial City that supplies them.”


    Travis was frantic, the exhibition hanging by a thread.


    Why didn’t Ms. Noe look worried? Perhaps she was overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation?


    “Change the materials. We’ll find another solution for the exhibition hall. Leave the artwork to me.”


    Change materials? If it were that simple!


    With caution, Travis replied, “Ms. Noe, our gallery has a sterling reputation. We don’t use subpar


    materials, and they’re not good for our guests‘ health…”


    Noe gave him a measured look. “Construct with a space frame system, using aluminum for the


    main frame. Change the venue to an oil painting theme, based on Master Killian’s work.”


    “That could work, but the space framepany…..‘


    Hadn’t he already said they refused to cooperate? If finding a suitable space frame supplier were


    easy, he wouldn’t be so distressed!


    10:05


    Noe picked up the phone and called Beckett “Beckett, I need a batch of space frames for the


    exhibition tomorrow.”


    “Sure, I’ll have them delivered ASAP,”


    Hope flickered in Travis’s evest


    RêAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only


    How could he forget? His new boss was none other than Ms. Noelta from the Schoolbel tamily What


    material could the Schnabel family not procure?


    “But we don’t have that many paintings, let alone Master Killian’s oil paintings, Our entire gallery


    has only five.”


    “I have a n. Don’t worry.”


    Travis was about to say more, but seeing Noe’s calm demeanor, he swallowed his words.


    Fine, even if they were short on artwork, at least the exhibition hall would be ready. They could use


    the lesser works from the storage as ceholders., though the gallery’s reputation was at stake.


    Noe nced at Travis. “I’ll handle the artwork, ensuring the exhibition won’t be any less


    impressive than expected. But I want to know why these suppliers suddenly decided not to


    cooperate?”


    Refusing to work with the gallery, even at the cost of high penalties, didn’t make sense. Moreover,


    these werepanies that had previously coborated, and it would certainly damage their


    reputation as it showed theirck ofmitment to contractual obligations.


    Travis hesitated, stuttering for a while, “Um… um… it’s because thesepanies, I don’t know


    what they heard, but they said that since our gallery changed owners, they…”


    Thepanies in question were like old wolves, previously treading carefully out of respect for the


    former boss, her grandfather Merrick. They behaved like obedient grandkids, not daring to step out


    of line.


    But with the gallery under new management, these samepanies started to strut around like


    they owned the ce. It seemed they felt slighted because Noe, a neer to the scene, hadn’t


    hosted a weing dinner or engaged in the right small talk. They were now showing Noe a cold


    shoulder, hoping to make her bend and learn the ropes of how to y the game of favors and


    networking in the business world.


    Noe snorted in derision. “Good grief, their heads are so full of muck, always looking to y the


    role of the big shot, schooling the younger generation. At their age, still clinging to their positions–


    it’s clear there’s not much upstairs.”


    Although Travis secretly agreed, he wouldn’t dare voice it!


    Ms. Noe seemed all sugar and spice, but who would’ve thought she could be so sharp–tongued


    and feisty!


    “I bet they’ll show up at the exhibition tomorrow to gawk, probably waiting for you to stumble.


    10:05


    and then go crawling back to them,” Travis ventured.


    Noe let out a soft chuckle, replying coolly. “Stumble? Well, that’s perfect. I rather enjoy watching


    others make fools of themselves.”


    Travis, watching her exude such strategic confidence, became curious himself.


    Where on earth was Ms. Noe going to find enough artwork?


    He really wanted to see those snobs put in their ce!


    “Ms. Noe, I’ve got some pieces back home that could help fill the space. Should I bring them


    over?”


    “No need,” she replied smoothly. “I’ve got it covered.”