The First Heir (First Heir)

chapter 12

Seeing everyone causing a commotion, Wynn felt like he was sitting on a needle. Although he did not know what Philip had prepared, he told him that it was a painting.

Philip was not a fool, so he brought the painting Russell had given him. But unfortunately, Wynn doesn't know. He just thought that Philip had just bought a random decorative painting. Now that Aiden had taken out his famous Chinese painting and received good comments from everyone, the painting in Philip's hands paled in comparison to such a treasure. He would humiliate himself if he took it out.

"It's just a gift. Nothing to see." Wynn chirped to Philip before looking at him ferociously. If he humiliated himself in front of everyone today, he would hate him forever! He would never be able to raise his head again in front of Aiden.

"Sister, you're not polite now. We can't ignore the greetings of cousin-in-law," Lynn giggled as she said. He then walked over and retrieved a long gift box from under the table that Philip had hidden.

"Hey, that's also a long gift box. Could it be a painting too?" Lynn deliberately dragged her tone as she filled it with sarcasm.

Philip didn't know what to say, so he just kept quiet.

"You didn't buy this from the store for two dollars, did you?" Lynn shook the gift box and sneered.

"I bought it from the antiques market" Philip said.

As soon as he said that, the people in the room glanced at Philip strangely. Antique market? How shameful! They looked at Philip with laughter in their eyes.

Charles, however, relaxed a little, changing his view of Philip. This son-in-law at least knew about his hobby, so it was already good enough. But that's all. Compared to the treasure Aiden had given him earlier, something from the antiques market was not worth mentioning.

"Haha! How funny! Did you buy this from the antiques market? Aren't you just disrespecting Uncle?" Lynn sneers. "I've heard that items from the antiques market are all fake, and most are just dirty."

This term 'dirty' attacks the nerves. Charles' expression turned dark. He could understand the use of that word in the inner circle. Indeed many items from the antique market are 'dirty'. If one is not careful while buying, it will bring misfortune. Charles then snorted while the positive outlook he had for Philip earlier disappeared.

Wynn quickly stands up to reclaim the gift box from Lynn's hands. "Then don't look at it."

"That's not gonna work. We should see it. I wonder what he bought." Lynn turned around and hurriedly opened the gift box to take out the painting scroll inside.

A painting? When the crowd saw this, their views alternated between Philip and Aiden. No wonder Philip didn't want to take it out. What painting could compare to that treasure before?

Lynn amusedly looked at the mocking expression on everyone's face and then Wynn's dark eyes. He unrolled the scroll in a quick motion, and the painting appeared before everyone's eyes.

The crowd stuck out their necks to look at it and was first blown away by the beauty of the painting. The depiction of the characters is rich, the colors are bright, and the lines are soft and smooth. That's the good part! But the more they saw it, the more confused they were.

"It... Isn't this the exact same painting as Aiden?" A young boy among the crowd exclaimed with wide eyes.

In an instant, everyone realized that this was the exact same painting, ! Looking back, they looked at Philip.

Is this a joke? He just bought? It's definitely fake!

By the time the painting was exposed, Aiden had already recognized that it was the same painting as his. He was initially stunned, but after that, he laughed coldly. Even heaven is on my side, hahaha! Oh, Philip, you're done! Bringing a fake item for the old man as a birthday present was a bold move!

Lynn deliberately shouted loudly, "Cousin-law's sister, why is your painting exactly the same as Brother Aiden's painting? Could your painting be fake?"

Everyone has the same first thought. Philip's painting came from the antiques market, so it must be a fake!

"How do you know it's fake?" Philip's voice suddenly sounded throughout the room.

The crowd was first dumbfounded, and then they stared in disbelief at Philip. Is this guy crazy? Among these two paintings, one was by Aiden, who had spent several hundred thousand to obtain them, while the other was bought at the antiques market. It's easy to tell which ones are real and which ones are fake.

Wynn nervously kicked Philip under the table, gesturing him to stop saying nonsense. He had already told her before they came here, asking her to be tolerant, so why didn't she listen? He's really embarrassing!

Lynn laughed out loud. "Philip, are you saying that your painting is the real one? That Brother Aiden's painting is a fake?" How funny!

"Maybe," Philip added, completely ignoring Wynn, who pinched him under the table.

"Ha ha ha!" The crowd laughed out loud, shaking their heads helplessly as they increasingly looked down on him.

Charles, at the end of the table, gave a cold snort, completely giving up on this son-in-law of his.

"If that's the case, why don't we ask Uncle Johnston and the uncles here to check it out?" aiden asked, looking very pleased with himself.

He's confident. He had spent about two million to buy it from a friend. Thinking of Philip trying to steal his attention with a fake item that cost him about ten dollars from the antiques market! Dream on!

Lynn immediately brought Philip's painting to Charles and several uncles who were all collectors. "Uncle, please look."

Charles accepted it reluctantly. After a few glances, his eyes widened! His other friends too quickly took a magnifying glass to take a closer look after glancing at it a few times. The more they looked, the more they felt surprised.

Charles and his friends exchanged glances and then leaned over the table to study it again carefully, not letting go of a single detail.

In this scene, everyone was shocked. Could it be that Philip's useless painting was really real?

Aiden also started to panic. Uncle Charles' expression looked like he saw the real thing. But that's impossible! He has spent two million dollars. It can't be fake!

Wynn's heart had already jumped down his throat. He looked at Philip to see that he was sitting there quietly, looking calm like there was nothing to worry about.

"Philip, where did you buy this? These counterfeits are very well made, almost as genuine," Charles said with narrowed eyes.

"This fake stuff is very well made. If we're not here, this could be totally genuine" Charles' other friends chimed in.

To be honest, they themselves were unsure, but they impulsively leaned towards Aiden's painting because it was expensive.

After hearing this, everyone let out a sigh of relief as they increasingly looked down on Philip. It's fake anyway!

Aiden also felt relieved as he looked at Philip mischievously.

Philip frowned, his expression looking a bit strange. Is the painting Russell gave her a fake? But it's not possible. Does he consider fake as genuine?

Philip soon realized that the old men must have noticed that the two paintings were too similar, but they were leaning towards Aiden's work. The reason was probably because Aiden came from a wealthy family while he was a bankrupt son-in-law, so how could he give the real one?

Hearing this, Philip shook his head helplessly and gave up.

Lynn, however, laughed out loud and mocked, "Philip, you really are something. Who are you trying to cheat with a fake?" He then mocked his cousin, "Sister, your husband is really something. He thinks he's really getting the real one."

This was the first time, but Charles spoke for Philip. "Enough, Lynnie. Philip is not to blame for this. He just bought it. He doesn't know how to check the authenticity."

The group of people did not continue, but they began to further distance themselves from Philip, thinking that having dinner with such a person was embarrassing.

Wynn can't bite anymore. He immediately pulled Philip away. "Of all things, why should you give a fake painting? I was really humiliated by you!" Wynn charged him angrily.

Philip could only lower his head. "I'm sorry."

"It's very frustrating! I get upset every time I see you. Go back and take care of Mila!" Wynn shouted with clenched teeth before returning to the private room.

Philip stared at his disappointing silhouette and sighed silently. Oh, Wynn, my original painting. But unfortunately, these people don't know.

When Wynn returned to the room, everyone noticed that Philip was not following him. Martha asked, "Where is Philip?"

Wynn forced a smile and replied, "Mila's still in the hospital, so she's back first."

Ha ha! Must have escaped because he was too embarrassed.

Just then, the door was pushed open, and Javier Morris led several maids who brought various delicious food and quality wine.

"You must be Mr. Johnston." Javier walked up to Charles and politely shook his hand.

"You are?" Charles dumbfounded. He doesn't know this guy.

"I'm the owner of Virtuous Court, Javier Morris. Today is Mr.'s birthday. Johnston, so I specifically brought some special dishes prepared by our French, German, and English chefs. It's eight bottles of Lafite from 1982 and two bottles of Chinese National Treasure Liquor" Javier said with a smile.

The crowd looked at the plates of delicious food and quality wine placed on the table and were too shocked to speak!

Virtuous Court owners personally came to give gifts! This is too shocking. Lafit in 1982 is very rare. There are even two bottles of nationally valuable liquor in China! It was the most expensive liquor available on the market, and one bottle could reach two million in auctions! It was a drink suitable for a king!

"This is a platinum membership card as a small sign of my respect for Mr. Johnston. You'll get a specially booked room when you eat here again and a five percent discount." Javier took out a membership card and ceremonially handed it over to Charles.

Now, Charles was already too shocked to speak. He could only reach out his hand trembling and ask, "Mr.-Mr Morris, thank you very much, but we don't really know each other. Who sent you here?"

"Is Mr Clarke not here?" javier asked while observing the room. He didn't see Philip anywhere.

Mr Clarke? Charles dumbfounded. Nobody in this whole room had 'Clarke' as a last name, and nobody thought of Philip.

Wynn. He immediately thought of Philip, but that was impossible.