Susan asked on purpose with the intention of humiliating Luca.
"Dr. Craw is not familiar with Antique Street in A City, so I took her there. She personally chose the gift for Grandpa." Luke knew what Susan had in mind and saved Luca from blushing out of embarrassment.
Susan would feel threatened as long as the matter was related to Luke.
"Oh, no wonder! Luke, items from the antique street that you mentioned should be very expensive, right? Dr. Craw is just a researcher. Her position and salary are decent but those antiques are worth tens of millions. Dr. Craw, wouldn't it be a burden for you to buy something so expensive?" Susan continued. Even if she could tell that Luke wanted to protect Luca, she was unwilling to let it go.
Luca felt powerless. She could tell that Susan was not going to let her off easily.
"It's nothing expensive. I'm happy as long as Old Master Crawford likes it," she said.
"It's not expensive?" Susan smiled and looked at the gift box in the butler's hand. "How can there be antiques that are not expensive? Could it be that you bought a fake and got scammed?"
She deliberately mentioned that because she knew that Old Master Crawford hated it when others fooled him with fakes.
Old Master Crawford absolutely hated counterfeiters, especially when it came to antiques.
Luca knew the kind of person Susan was and felt a headache coming on. When she was about to explain herself, she heard Luke say, "Grandpa will know whether it's genuine or not once he has a look at it,"
She was stunned, but she knew that it would be fine even if Old Master Crawford opened the gift in front of everyone. Luke would never buy fake things to fool his grandfather.
Luke never bothered with Susan unless it came to people or things that he held dear.
Luke looked at Susan with a cold expression and said indifferently, "Since you're worried that Dr. Craw will be deceived by others, let's open the gift while there are not many guests around. Grandpa can also check it so that if Dr. Craw bought a fake, she can hold the seller accountable."
Old Master Crawford did not want to do that but Susan was belligerent. He knew that he would never hear the end of it if he did not do as Luke said.
At the same time, a guest standing by the side said, "That's a great idea! I heard that Old Master Crawford's appraisal of antiques is first-class. Why don't we take this opportunity to learn something?"
Luca was helpless as she listened to their conversation. Susan was making a fuss and the others followed suit. copyrighted © content.
All they wanted was to have a good laugh at her.
It was a pity that they would not have a chance to mock her. Although she knew nothing about antiques, she was confident that the antique in the butler's hands would not be fake.
Luke looked at Luca and asked, "Since the gift is from Dr. Craw, do you agree to open it now, Dr. Craw?"
Luca met his gaze and saw the staunchness in his eyes. She nodded and said. "No problem. Let's open it."
When Old Master Crawford saw that Luca agreed, he got the butler to open the gift.
The waiter brought scissors over, and the butler put the gift on the table before carefully opening the delicate wrapping.
When a sandalwood frame was revealed, Old Master Crawford smiled.
He knew what the gift was the moment he saw the frame.
Luca was not sure what was the gift Luke had prepared for Old Master Crawford, so she watched silently while holding her breath. Susan saw her appearance and interpreted it another way.
She thought that since Luca looked so serious and nervous, there must be something wrong with what was inside.
"The frame looks good but the content inside is uncertain. Counterfeiters put a lot of effort into the packaging so that they can deceive others to buy these fake antiques," Susan said bitterly.
Old Master Crawford glanced at her and cursed at her in his heart for being ignorant.
He could tell the age of the gift from the frame alone.
The butler glanced at Old Master Crawford. After he nodded in agreement, the butler unwrapped the gift completely.
It was an antique painting.
The butler carefully picked up the antique painting and handed it to Old Master Crawford.
Old Master Crawford held it, looked at it carefully, and concluded, "It's real."
"How could it be real? It would cost a fortune!" Susan could not believe it. She thought that Old Master Crawford said that on purpose to give Luca an out.
Old Master Crawford snorted coldly and said, "This is an antique painting from the 1900s. It's old, but back then, the quality of this antique painting was considered average and not high-quality. That is why it's not expensive. You can get it cheap as long as you know how to choose.”
Luca breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the antique painting. After all, antique paintings were expensive.
However, after she heard Old Master Crawford's explanation, she was relieved that Luke had picked a gift as such on her behalf.
Old Master Crawford enjoyed collecting antiques, especially antique paintings.
That was why he deliberately bought an antique painting but one that was not of the highest quality. As such, it would be believable even if she said she had personally chosen it.
After all, she was an ordinary person and could not afford an expensive antique painting.
When Susan heard that it was real but the price was not high, her heart eased a little. She sneered, "It's a substandard product. Dr. Craw, how nice of you."
"Old Master Crawford likes antique paintings, so I bought this for him. The boss knew I was going to give it to Old Master Crawford as a birthday present and gave me a discount so that I could afford it," Luca said. Since Susan wanted to pull her down, she also humiliated her. "This is within my abilities. I hope you'll like it, Old Master Crawford."
"I like it, I like it so much," Old Master Crawford said quickly. He deliberately touched it a few times to show his love for this gift before he carefully put it back into the butler's hands.
"I have several similar antique paintings in my collection. When I put this one up, my shelf will be full. Butler, when we get home, please help me put it away. Be careful not to accidentally hit it on anything,"
Old Master Crawford said.
The butler replied respectfully, "Yes, Old Master Crawford."
Susan was fuming when she heard his words. She wanted to embarrass Luca and make her lose her dignity in front of Old Master Crawford, but Luca was saved by her words.
Luke did not expect that Luca would say such a thing.
In the past, she would often endure Susan's temper even if she deliberately made things difficult for her. However, she now knew how to pretend to be good in front of Old Master Crawford so that he would not care about the quality of the antique painting.
How interesting...
It seemed that in the past three years, she had not only learned medical skills and martial arts but her temperament had also undergone some changes.
More and more guests arrived, so Luke said, "Grandpa, there are more and more guests arriving. Why don't you go and take a seat?"
Old Master Crawford was getting old and could not stand for too long. It was tiring to greet guests, so Luke asked Old Master Crawford to go in and sit.