Ex husband's Plea for Forgiveness novel Chapter 117

After the party, Emily managed to get Queena's number. She had planned to start hanging out with Queena to get closer to her.

With Yulia's help, it didn't take long for Emily to make Queena fall in her trap.

Queena quickly changed her clothes after lunch and headed downstairs. She saw that Melinda was sitting in the living room, reading a book.

"Mrs. Lin is coming here today. I'm leaving now because I've got important work to do. Make her feel at home and don't cause any trouble."

Although Queena despised Melinda, she couldn't deny that she was the smartest of them all. However, Yulia's constant mind games made her believe that Melinda was devising cunning plans against her.

"I know, Mom. Don't worry, I'll take care. Have a good time."

Melinda closed the book and smiled. She wondered why Queena was leaving the house when her friend was going to meet her at home but she didn't dare to ask her.

Once Queena left, Melinda asked Gavin to tell her about Mrs. Lin, her likes and dislikes. She wanted to well-prepared to receive her.

Emily had invited Queena to an art exhibition that was held by a young, popular painter.

Yulia had informed Emily about Queena's love for painting and calligraphy. Therefore, Emily decided to bring her here.

"This young man has done a pretty good job,"

Queena said, arching an eyebrow in appreciation. She went in circles and inspected all the paintings.

The paintings were beautiful with hidden meanings that only people who truly loved art could decipher. Whereas, in the layman's eyes, they were just pieces of art with beautiful strokes. Queena could understand the meanings and couldn't take her eyes off the paintings. Emily couldn't understand anything and decided to break the silence.

"Aunt Queena, I remember that you were good at painting and calligraphy. I used to admire all your works. They were out of the world,"

Emily said, looking at the majestic piece of art before her. It was a painting of a serene landscape. The vivid red figure in the corner seemed to lure the attention of the viewers.

"Oh, I draw pictures and write calligraphy just to pass the time. My work is nothing compared to the paintings of this artist,"

Queena said, shaking her head with disappointment. Emily's eyes were gleaming with excitement. "Well, I don't know if I'm lucky enough to see your work." She pouted.

"I'll ask the driver to pick you up tomorrow. You can come to my house and take a look at my artworks."

Queena shrugged casually. They strolled across the art gallery before leaving. The next day, Queena kept up her promise and arranged the driver to pick Emily up.

Queena's paintings were in the drawing-room of the Gu's mansion. She had always been fond of art and calligraphy, and therefore, the walls were covered with her works.

Although Emily didn't know much about art, she could tell that Queena wasn't as good as the painter was.

"Oh my God! Aunt Queena, your paintings are simply fantastic. I can see that you've paid attention to every stroke. They are very realistic and when I look at the paintings, I feel like I'm in these picturesque places, admiring their beauty."

Emily was an eloquent flatterer and Queena fell for her words.

"Really?"

she asked, her face beaming with joy. Queena couldn't believe Emily's words but she was excited to hear someone praise her and recognize her talent.

"Yes, of course. Although I don't know much about art, I can still tell whether it's good or bad, and you've done a brilliant job."

Emily smiled. She was afraid that Queena would see through her lies and continued to praise her further to gain her trust.

"Aunt Queena, you need to trust your skills. You're gifted and I think you should conduct an exhibition,"

Emily said sincerely. Queena was tempted. She had always wanted to exhibit her artworks but she was skeptical about her talent. She felt that she wasn't good enough and didn't want to make a fool of herself.

Emily's words encouraged Queena to reclaim her passion. Her wavering mind firmly rested on the idea of holding an art exhibition.

At dinner, Queena announced that she was going to conduct an art exhibition. Everyone fell silent and looked at her in shock. They didn't know what to say.

"You want to hold an art exhibition?"

Nelson put down his chopsticks and looked at her in confusion. He wondered how she had come up with such a lame idea.

"Yes, I want to hold a painting and calligraphy exhibition."

"Bullshit!"

Nelson bellowed. Everyone's eyes widened and Melinda almost choked on her food. Queena's face fell, her cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

"You're just an amateur. You're not talented enough to hold an exhibition. Your painting and calligraphy have no artistic value."

Queena's face turned pale. Melinda felt sorry for her and opened her mouth to say something but Jonas put a shrimp ball into her mouth.

"Dad, are you telling me that I shouldn't hold an exhibition?" she croaked.

"I just want you to understand your potential and not make a fool of yourself. If you're too bored, take care of the family for me instead of coming up with stupid ideas,"

Nelson said coldly. Queena's confidence began to crumble but she wasn't ready to compromise.

"I'm sorry. I'm going to conduct the art exhibition irrespective of what you say."

Queena was always a stubborn woman. Once she put her mind to something, nothing could change it. She was always firm with her decisions and opinions.

Nelson rolled his eyes and ate dinner in silence. Queena glanced at Jonas and Melinda to see their response but their ignorance annoyed her even more. She stood up and left without finishing dinner.

Although Jonas didn't encourage Queena, he arranged the money to help his mother conduct her art exhibition. Melinda wanted to help her but Nelson stopped her.

Queena was furious. She wanted to successfully conduct the exhibition and prove that Nelson was wrong.

She was new to all this and had never conducted an exhibition before. Therefore, she hired a planner to help her. The paintings were sorted and Queena wanted to pick a good venue and exhibit her works in a beautiful layout.

Her artworks were an assortment of random paintings and calligraphy. Moreover, she couldn't come up with a theme for her exhibition. Questions were pouring in but Queena didn't have the answers to any of them.

"Aunt Queena, why don't we split the paintings into different themes, so that it looks more professional?" Emily suggested as she couldn't think of a good theme either.

Queena was perplexed and regretted taking a hasty decision. She immediately agreed to Emily's suggestion as she was ready to do anything to make things better.

Conducting an art exhibition was not as simple and easy as Queena thought. After a week of hard work, all the details of the art exhibition were finalized.

On the day of the exhibition, Queena went to the venue early in the morning. All the staffs were ready to welcome the guests but unfortunately, the place was empty. No one had come to attend the event.

After a long time, some people entered the gallery but they were here to attend the book exhibition next door and had walked in by mistake.

When Melinda reached the venue, she saw that it was empty. She understood that Nelson was right. He had only tried to save her from the disappointment.

Queena was an amateur and didn't have a fan base. Moreover, no one was aware of the event as she hadn't promoted it on social media.

"Mom, I've brought lunch. You must have been busy and I think you need to get some rest," Melinda said concernedly.

Melinda was worried that Queena wouldn't have had the time to have lunch because of her busy schedule. But she had overestimated Queena's talent. Queena looked at Melinda with contempt and turned away. She wondered what she was doing here.

The planner of the exhibition had ordered lunch for the employees. They were having lunch together, chatting happily.

However, as time passed by, everyone began to discuss the failure of the exhibition to attract people.

"Mom, please eat something. The weather is cold and no one would want to step out in the morning. I'm sure people would start coming in the afternoon and you'll have no time to eat then."

Melinda comforted Queena, which made her feel better.

She felt that Melinda was right. Everyone would start coming when it got warmer in the afternoon. Melinda was relieved to see the frown disappear from Queena's face.

After Queena went to have lunch, Melinda wandered in the gallery, took pictures of herself, and posted on Weibo. Her fans were thrilled as they finally got the opportunity to meet her.

"An art exhibition? Share the venue!"

"I'm dying to meet you!" The comments started flooding and Melinda patiently replied to all of them.

She promoted Queena's exhibition on her website. Kent was also kind enough to help her.

Melinda knew that she had to be careful. It was Queena's exhibition and she would lose her mind if she saw Melinda's fans swarming around her.

Melinda's fans were enthusiastic. They started visiting the gallery one after another. Melinda felt that it wasn't safe for her to be around and snuck out through the back door.

After Melinda's small-scale promotion, Emily decided to copy her idea. She also posted pictures of Queena's paintings on Weibo.

Despite the cold weather, the art gallery was filled with people. Queena was ecstatic to find that the people were stopping by, despite the cold weather. She was curious about the sudden crowd, so she asked Emily about it. Emily told her that they were her fans and that she had promoted her exhibition. Queena was touched by her thoughtful gesture.

Queena couldn't keep up with the knowledge of Melinda's fans. They asked questions about the intricacies of her artwork and Queena almost couldn't answer some of them.

Most of the fans were sensible and didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings by openly commenting on Queena's inefficiency. They shared their doubts and vented their disappointment through personal texts to Melinda.

"It didn't seem like an art exhibition. It was more like Emily's meet up with her fans," a fan messaged.

She also said that Emily's fans knew nothing about painting and calligraphy but they continued to flatter Queena.

"Each one is entitled to their opinion but thank you for coming by. I appreciate your support," Melinda said.

"Are you willing to hold an art exhibition? Kent once said that you're good at calligraphy," the fan said.

She was excited that her favorite author had replied to her message. She admired Melinda and wanted to see her hidden skills and talents.

"No, I'm just an amateur,"

Melinda replied. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips when she typed the words.