Portrait of An Arrogant Master - Chapter 36
Yannick was the most famous painter in Laden, so it wasn’t strange for the Director to be familiar with renowned artists. However, Macy felt increasingly uncomfortable under his scrutinizing gaze.
As she awkwardly maintained a polite smile, the Director paused his contract preparation and sat next to her.
“Do you have a place to stay?”
“Yes, at a friend’s house…”
“I couldn’t believe it when you said you were Yannick Horton’s sister. You don’t resemble him at all.”
“Is that so?”
The Director examined her face intently, his gaze growing increasingly invasive. Macy shrank back as he continued to close the distance.
“You look just like your landscape paintings—clear and transparent.”
Why is he doing this? Why is he getting so close…?
As Macy leaned back to avoid him, she lost her balance. The Director seized the opportunity, his hand slipping under her skirt.
“What are you doing?!”
“I like clean women like you. Sl-ts who spread their legs for anyone aren’t worth it.”
“Let go of me! Stop!”
As Macy tried to stand, he forcefully grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down. His lustful eyes bore into her.
“Stay still. You like it too, don’t you?”
“Let me go! I’ll scream!”
“If you scream, the deal’s off.”
Macy froze at his words.
“Did you really think you could get your paintings displayed without giving anything in return, especially as a new, unknown female artist?”
His words hit her like a hammer. Her struggling paused, which he took as compliance, and he tried to lay her down on the sofa.
“Everyone starts this way. It’s not strange.”
“…”
“Come on, be a good girl. Lie down.”
His gaze was sticky, and the feel of his thick fingers on her skin made her want to vomit. As he focused on undressing her, Macy reached for the table.
“Ow!”
She swiftly grabbed a painting and struck the director’s head with the corner of the canvas.
“You b-tch! Stop right there!”
Macy didn’t look back as she fled, her legs trembling the entire way.
She kept running until she could no longer hear the director’s angry shouts. Even then, she didn’t slow down, feeling as if his hands might grab her at any moment and crush her.
“Gasp, gasp… huff… huff…”
Sweat poured down her face like a flood, and her breath hitched in her throat. She couldn’t even think about the painting she had left behind.
“Gasp… gasp…”
It was only when Macy saw the distant silhouette of the shed where she was staying that she finally allowed herself to calm down.
Her face was streaked with dried tears, and one of her shoes was nearly falling apart. Realizing she had fallen and injured her knee, she collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed by the pain.
“Macy!”
Hils, who had just returned to the shop, saw her and rushed over in alarm.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
“I tripped on a stone and fell…”
She didn’t want to tell him the whole miserable story. He already worried about her enough without adding to his concerns.
“It just hurts so much… sob…”
But seeing a familiar face brought a surge of emotions.
Her knee hurt terribly, and she felt so hopeless. The world seemed so frightening. She wanted to survive and thrive to prove Yannick wrong, but nothing was going right. No galleries would take her paintings, and today she had nearly faced a terrible ordeal.
What if the Director spread malicious rumors about her to other galleries? What would she do tomorrow?
Her hand trembled from the memory of striking the Director with the painting. The sensation of hitting someone’s head was still vivid.
“What’s wrong? Tell me what’s going on.”
“Waah…”
“Does it hurt a lot? Do you need medicine?”
“Hmm, sob…”
“I came to deliver a message, but this… what happened?”
As she cried like a child in his arms, Hils said something that caught her attention.
“A message?”
“The Krygen Agency sent a message this morning. They said you have a name treatment scheduled. But you didn’t show up…”
Macy noticed the black carriage in front of the shed for the first time. A middle-aged man had just stepped out. Recognizing her, Kronen approached quickly.
“Macy, are you alright? My goodness, what happened…?”
“Mr. Kronen…”
“I’ll inform Mr. Eren Wood that you won’t be able to make it today. He’ll understand.”
“No.”
Macy wiped her tears and forced herself to stand.
“Let’s go. I’m late.”
“But…”
Even though she was a mess, she wanted to fulfill her responsibilities.
And most importantly…
“I’m really okay. Please take me.”
She desperately wanted to see Eren.
