Rural Belle & Three Heirs
Chapter 64 The Vulgar Ugly Girl

Hearing Chloe's question, Tony jumped right in, "Chloe, this painting is legit. It's by a contemporary artist. My dad knows the guy, and he lent us a few of his pieces to show off at home for a bit. But we gotta return them in perfect shape." The painting showed a huge prairie, with green grass stretching out forever. There was a little girl riding a chestnut horse, racing across the field. The setting sun cast a warm glow over the scene, making it feel peaceful and joyful. Chloe, who grew up in the northwest, was no stranger to this kind of landscape. She loved riding horses and running free on the prairie, but now she was stuck in this concrete jungle of a city.

"This painting is so well done, it makes me homesick," Chloe admitted, feeling silly for missing home after just two months at the Martin Mansion.

She reached out to touch the painting, but a sharp female voice suddenly cut in, startling her. "Ugly girl, don't touch it. If you damage the painting, can you afford to pay for it?"

Chloe looked up and saw Sophia standing a few dozen feet away, her face full of anger and her eyes cold.

"Why is she here? Did your family invite her?" Chloe asked Tony, surprised to see Sophia.

Tony, knowing Chloe and Sophia didn't get along, shook his head. "No, we didn't invite anyone from the Brown family this time."

He remembered Sophia working at the Martin group now and quickly added, "We didn't invite anyone from the Martin group either. I have no idea why this nasty woman is here. Chloe, if you don't want to see her, I'll chase her off right now." Chloe couldn't help but smirk. "I run into her everywhere, it's really bad luck."

Just then, Sophia strutted over, her tall figure making Chloe look small in comparison. Without a word, she used her hip to shove Chloe away from the painting.

"Hey, what are you doing? Why are you pushing her?" Zara, seeing her friend get pushed, immediately stood up for Chloe.

Sophia rolled her eyes at them and sneered, "For those with no taste, pushing you away is already being polite. Such a good painting, do you think you have the right to critique it? Do you deserve it?"

Her words stung.

Tony had enough. "This is our family's art exhibition. Do you think you have the right to decide who deserves to be here?"

But Sophia wasn't fazed at all. She looked at Tony and said calmly, "This painting is my uncle's. He sent me here to make sure his work doesn't get ruined by ordinary people. So what if it's your family's exhibition? If I take these paintings away now, your family won't have anything to show."

Tony was taken aback. He hadn't realized the paintings his dad, Brian, borrowed were from Sophia's uncle. This put them in a tricky spot.

"Even if it's your uncle's painting, you can't be so unreasonable. Chloe was just looking at it. Why did you push her away?" Zara, always ready to defend Chloe, jumped in without hesitation.

They had been friends forever, and Zara always had Chloe's back, even getting into fights to protect her.

"She doesn't understand art, so what's the point of her looking at it?" Sophia sneered, clearly looking down on Chloe. To her, Chloe was just a rich girl with no real appreciation for culture or art.

Chloe wasn't one to back down. She smiled and said, "Just because I don't understand art doesn't mean I can't look at it. There are plenty of guests here who don't get it. What, are you going to put the painting in a box and take it away?" "I just don't want you to look at it. You have no taste and pretend to understand," Sophia shot back, her disdain for Chloe obvious.

"Yeah, I might not have taste, but I have money," Chloe said, flaunting her advantage.

Zara quickly chimed in, "Exactly, Chloe has plenty of money. So what if she has no taste? She could buy this painting and use it as toilet paper if she wanted."

Sophia, who had clashed with Chloe many times and always lost, was furious. With Zara backing Chloe up, she had no chance.

"This painting took my uncle over three months to create, after various field visits. And you want to buy it and use it as toilet paper?" Sophia was livid.

Chloe crossed her arms and nodded. "Yep, as toilet paper. Because I have money."

"You..." Sophia pointed angrily at Chloe.

Chloe slapped her hand away. "Didn't your mom teach you it's rude to point at people?"

Sophia snapped, "Ugly girl, you're too much. No matter how much money you have, my uncle won't sell this painting. Someone like you, who came from the countryside, isn't worthy of appreciating it."

Sophia's constant insults made Zara want to slap her, but she held back, not wanting to cause a scene at their family's art exhibition.

Just then, Brian appeared with an elderly man with graying hair and a group of people. And at that moment, Chloe said something that pushed Sophia over the edge.