The Faceless Billionaire Celebrity Wife-Chapter 197: Elovien’s Gallery

The absolutely familiar voice made Shikera turn on her heels, at the same time as Ethan.

"Cyprian?"

Cyprian was standing just a few metres away from her, with Raymond beside her. Looking a bit startled...

Shikera averted her gaze from Raymond and walked towards Cyprian, meeting her halfway through the studio. The two seemed to have forgotten their last discussion as they hugged each other and hooked their arms together, before continuing the short walk around the gallery. They went to each of the paintings, admiring it with utmost enthusiasm while being oblivious to the situation between their partners.

"Look at this! My hair looks somehow reddish so it’s glowing beneath the light," Shikera exclaimed, looking up at another painting of her hung on the wall.

"Yeah. Who painted it though? Looks like the person has witnessed you in your embarrassing moments cause what’s that?!" Cyprian laughed out loud. The painting she was staring at was one of Shikera pouting as she stared down at a plate of ice cream. She added,"I find it hard to believe it’s a painting and not a picture."

Away from the two women excited shrieks, Ethan stood in the same spot Shikera had left him, his gaze fixed on Raymond.

"Explain."

Raymond’s hand went to itch the back of his neck as he struggled for words to say.

"Uh...Rian was downcast so I wanted to bring her somewhere that can lift her mood. It worked, as you can see," he stated, smiling cheekily at Ethan.

"And you decided Elovien’s Gallery was the best place to bring her to?" Ethan returned the smile, though his was eerie.

Raymond shook his head vigorously,"No. I just wanted to work extra time while she also enjoys herself. You said you needed the gallery to be perfect so I just came for a final survey."

"Really? That aside, why do I remember asking you to stick with me for two whole weeks? No time for girlfriends," Ethan asked.

Knowing he had no answer to this particular question, Raymond looked around the gallery and yelled out loud.

"Wow! Such a beautiful gallery. It’s a pity that it won’t be open to the public," he yelled out loud, attracting both Shikera and Cyprian’s attention.

Shikera frowned, "Why won’t it be open to the public? Is it because all the paintings here are of me?"

Raymond took the opportunity to escape and hurried over to Shikera’s side.

"That’s partly the reason but also because the painter is kinda anonymous. No one knows him so," he explained.

"How can a painter that no one knows draw all this?" She turned to Ethan, "Did you take pictures of me to send to the person?!"

"Maybe," Ethan replied. He threw a meaningful glance at Raymond and the latter immediately ushered Cyprian out.

"Let’s go check the next hall, Rian. I think we should let them have a private moment."

Cyprian nodded and winked at Shikera. "Don’t leave when you’re done. We should talk," she said, following Raymond out of the gallery.

When the two were left alone, Ethan slipped his hand into hers and led her to the furthermost corner of the gallery where a covered painting hung.

"I’m not done checking the others," Shikera said, as she felt they were walking past a lot of masterpieces.

"Don’t you want to know who the artist is?" Ethan questioned.

"Of course, I do! Will I be able to see him?" The earnest look in her eyes almost made him nod in the affirmative, but Ethan ended up shaking his head.

"Oh..." Shikera mumbled dejectedly.

Ethan chuckled at her expression, "Are you disappointed? I wanted to show you the painting of you that he liked best."

"Isn’t he just an artist you hired? Why do I have to care which of them he liked best?"

Tilting his head as if in deep thought, he replied,"That’s true. You should only care about which one I like best, right?"

"Yeah..."

By this time, they were already standing before the painting and Ethan raised his right hand to remove the covering, while using his left hand to cover Shikera’s eyes.

"Is it a surprise?" she whispered, her heart bursting from anticipation of what the painting would be. It couldn’t be much different from the others, right?

"You should see for yourself," Ethan bent to whisper in her ears, and at the same time removing his hand from her eyes.

Shikera opened her eyes slowly, a pretty smile blooming on her face. This painting was surely different. Her eyes were closed as if she was sleeping, her hair resting on the pillow...As Shikera’s eyes trailed down, it widened suddenly.

"Ethan, what the fuck is this?!"

Her brain worked fast and she snatched the cover cloth from Ethan to throw it over the painting once again, but he refused to release it.

"What are you doing, Ethan?" she whispered, gritting her teeth to stop herself from shouting.

"What do you think? I’m admiring the painting," he whispered back, his voice sending chills down her spine in the empty gallery.

"It’s not a painting, Ethan!" Shikera tried to keep herself from yelling. This... painting was of her, but she was naked in it! How could Ethan bear to look at it?

"Then what is it?" Ethan asked teasingly, "This actually came out better than I imagined."

It took Shikera all of her strength not to hit Ethan at that moment. She could understand that he took the other pictures and handed it over to someone to paint, but not this one! How...just how was he able to summon the courage to send her naked pictures to someone else to paint? Even if it was a birthday surprise.

"Et—Ethan...tell me this is a joke. How secure was the uhm... transaction between you and the artist? And please, is there a way I can contact him," she pleaded.

Ethan shook his head,"No, I was only able to contact him because I was lucky. I don’t think I can ever get the chance again."

Check out Author’s new book: Avery’s Game Of Revenge...

Thanks in advance for your support!