Chapter 117: Emily’s Worries
...
"Hey, it was a bidding war," Von shrugged easily. "I had to show that monocle guy who was boss. He was pissing
off."
"But Von, that is so much money! You really didn’t have to do that." Her eyes welled up with tears, though this ti they were tears of total relief and happiness. "You flew all the way from Florida just for this?"
"I told you, Nana, you co first," Von said seriously, dropping the arrogant act. "Besides, I wasn’t going to let anyone disrespect your work. That painting is incredible. You earned every cent of that record."
Naomi threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you. You have no idea what this ans to ."
"I do," Von smiled, hugging her back.
Before they could say anything else, Von’s phone began to vibrate violently in his pocket. He pulled it out and winced at the caller ID.
It was Emily.
"Uh oh," Naomi noticed his expression. "Is she mad?"
"Most likely," Von muttered. "Give
a second."
He answered the call and put the phone to his ear. "Hey, Em."
"Von!" Emily’s voice was so loud Naomi could hear it clearly from two feet away. "Do you have any idea what you’ve done?! You missed the pri-ti radio slot! The station manager is furious! And what is this notification I just got from the accounts departnt?! Did you just swipe fifteen thousand dollars from the funding account?!"
"Yeah, I picked up so very special art from the auction. Trust , it’s an investnt," Von said with a grin that she couldn’t see.
"An investnt?! When did you start trading fine art! Get on a plane right now!"
"Calm down, Emily. The radio interview can be rescheduled. Tell them I had a sudden family ergency."
"Oh, so buying a painting is a family ergency now?" she asked sarcastically.
"It is when the artist is my big sister," Von replied simply.
There was a long pause on the other end of the line and the furious breathing stopped.
"Oh, Naomi’s artwork. Say hi to her for ," Emily’s voice dropped a little. But then her brain caught up with the logic of the situation.
"Wait a minute, Von. It wasn’t exactly smart to pay the school fifteen grand for her art when you could have just bought it from her privately! That money is much better off in her pocket than funding so pretentious university’s budget."
Von rubbed the back of his neck, smiling wryly into the cool night air. She made a completely valid point that he hadn’t even considered in the heat of the mont.
He had just wanted to completely crush Edward’s inflated ego on the spot. "Well... it’s been done already," he sai conveying a wincing, slightly regretful expression through the. "I’ll consider that next ti."
Emily sighed heavily, the fiery anger fully leaving her voice, replaced by a tired resignation.
"You are impossible to manage, you know that? You could have just told
the truth from the start. I would have handled the station manager differently."
"I told you I had to go. You were the one typing out curses," Von chuckled softly. "Look, I’ll be back tomorrow. We’ll do double the interviews, whatever you need. Just let
have tonight."
"Fine," Emily conceded, though her tone hardened just a fraction to ensure he was taking her seriously.
"But Von, you need to take these makeup interviews seriously if you really want your album to reach its maximum hype. You’ve thrown away the biggest pri-ti slot we had. You have to make up for that lost ground. And..." she paused, making sure her next words landed with absolute finality.
"You’re returning that fifteen grand out of your personal account, not the label’s operational budget."
"I will, I will... It’s a deal."
Von hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket. He looked over at Naomi, who was trying hard to suppress a laugh.
"Trouble?" she asked.
"Nothing I can’t handle," Von smiled. "Now, I saw a diner a few blocks down when my Uber dropped
off. I’m starving, and I refuse to eat those tiny rich-people appetizers they had inside."
They walked a few blocks away from the campus until they reached a glowing, neon-lit 24-hour diner. The bell above the door chid as they walked in. The place was mostly empty. They slid into a red vinyl booth in the back corner, with Von sitting with his back to the windows to avoid being spotted by anyone walking by.
A tired waitress ca over, poured them two glasses of iced cherry cola, and took their orders for burgers and fries.
"So," Von said, leaning back against the vinyl seat. "Tell
everything. Who’s that girl and her dad, it seed like they had you as a target."
Naomi wrapped her hands around her glass cup. "It’s stupid, honestly. When I first got here, she was actually really nice to . And, well, she’s gorgeous so I was definitely attracted to her."
Von raised an eyebrow already being aware of Naomi’s and refusing to interrupt.
"So she asked
out... But it only took one evening to realize who she was. She treats everyone like garbage and thinks her dad’s money makes her royalty. So, that’s how things ended between us."
"Ah," Von smirked after figuring the story. "And her ego couldn’t handle it."
"Exactly. I’m pretty sure I’m the first person who has ever told her no. She basically swore to make my life hell until I dropped out."
"Well, not anymore," Von smirked. "Tomorrow, you’re going to be the most popular kid on campus, and Chloe is going to be a complete afterthought."
"Because my famous brother bought my painting," Naomi pointed out
"No. Because the painting was incredible. If it was trash, I wouldn’t have bid fifteen grand. But that concept is truly pure talent. You’ve gotten way better since you left ho."
Von wasn’t just flattering her with praises to make her feel better. Looking at Naomi with [Inspect], there was a skill she had that was never there before.
[Unspoken Opus (S): Passively infuses most creations with profound conceptual depth. The resulting artwork inherently rejects superficiality, demanding high emotional and visual literacy to decipher. Viewers capable of understanding the piece will always experience a powerful connection to its core ssage.]
Von still didn’t know how she suddenly got a skill out of nowhere and an S-rated one at that. It made him wonder if it was because she began art training. Whatever the catalyst was, having a skill ant she was better than the average human.
"Thanks. That ans a lot coming from you," Naomi’s reply drew Von’s attention once again. "I almost forgot, the album cover is ready would you like to see it?"
Back when he had first made the decision that Naomi would handle the cover art for Lost And Found, it had caused a disagreent between all the experts involved in making the album.
They had argued that letting an untested amateur handle the visual branding for an album carrying so much expectation wasn’t a good idea.
Von had shut them down imdiately. Back then, he had insisted on Naomi purely out of his love for his sister. He wanted her to have a massive piece of his success. He hadn’t actually cared if the art was just average; he was going to use it anyway.
But now? After seeing her artwork at the auction for himself, and recognizing the sheer, undeniable magnificence of her newly awakened S-rank skill, his mindset had completely shifted.
He wasn’t just doing his sister a favor anymore. He was actually looking forward to seeing what she had created.
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