Chapter 1514: Chapter 1514: The Painting’s Curse
Gavin Graves entered the house, didn’t see Cherry, and just as he felt puzzled, Cherry, who was hiding behind the door, suddenly hugged him from the back, laughing, “Did I scare you!”
“Up to your antics again.” Gavin Graves smiled, pulled her to the front, and looked her up and down, becoming more and more satisfied with each glance.
Indeed, a pure and lovely young lady.
Just as long as she doesn’t speak, because once she does, she shatters the dream.
“Look, this dress has two layers, and the inside is lace! And it’s shiny!”
She spun around to show Gavin Graves, asking him as she twirled, “Do you see it? Do you see it shining?”
The lace patterns were woven with silver threads, catching the light to shimmer, her slender, straight legs appearing and disappearing under the swirling hem, light as a swallow.
Gavin Graves watched her with a smile, “Alright, stop spinning, be careful not to get dizzy.”
“But did you see it?” Cherry couldn’t stop spinning, “Isn’t it beautiful?… Ah, ah ah ah… Gavin Graves, catch me! I’m dizzy!…”
Gavin Graves caught her, retreating all the way back to the bed, where they both collapsed onto the bed —
And didn’t move.
Gavin Graves held her closer, kissed her lips, her long black hair cascading down the sides of her face, cool as water, smooth as satin, strands softly falling on his chest and shoulders, like a fairy’s net, capturing him.
After a bit of kissing, she rested her head on his chest to recover.
Gavin Graves asked with a smile, “Not planning to get up?”
“Let me rest… feels like the floor is still spinning…” She murmured with her eyes half-closed.
Everything in the room seemed surreal and detached due to the dizziness, even the oil painting on the wall seemed like it was moving, swaying and twisting… swaying and twisting…
“Huh?” Cherry lifted her head slightly, looking fixedly at the painting.
“Does it seem familiar?” Gavin Graves also turned his face, looking at the painting, “I bought this from an auction. It’s said that this painting carries an ancient curse. Do you see the elephants in the painting? The shadows on them are the curse.”
Cherry got up, walked over and took down the oil painting, examined it closely.
“It looks very similar to the thing on your arm…” she reached out to touch it, the surface of the painting was rough and uneven, “Strange, this painting doesn’t have any evil energy, and evil energy doesn’t inhabit dead objects.”
Gavin Graves sat up, remained silent for a moment, and then said to Cherry, “Actually, I’ve seen this painting before.”
Cherry froze slightly, looking at him confused.
“About a year ago, I was doing business abroad, and it so happened that a friend of mine was having an art exhibition there, so I went to support it.”
Gavin Graves’ gaze lingered on the painting, his tone rather wistful, “Then the artist’s husband wanted to exhibit this painting, but she disagreed, they were quarreling endlessly. I said a few words to mediate, and thus saw this painting… Strangely, I saw the black objects entwined around the elephants, hazy as if they were moving, so I reached out and touched it.”
Cherry’s eyes widened slightly, “What happened after? Could it be that because you touched the painting, you were possessed by the evil entity in it?”
“I’m not sure, it’s just a suspicion for now.” Gavin Graves said, “In fact, it’s very impolite to touch an oil painting directly, one should wear gloves to avoid smudging it with sweat or secretions from the skin. I usually wouldn’t make such a rookie mistake, but when I realized it, my fingers had already touched it…”
He lowered his gaze, looking at his right hand, “I still remember, the feeling back then was a bit wet, as if it was freshly painted and hadn’t dried yet. But since they were quarreling fiercely, I didn’t ask much and went to wash the paint off my hands in the bathroom… After that, I forgot about it, didn’t expect to see it again at the Under The Rose auction.”
This is an oil painting with religious and mysterious colors. The overall tone is dark, primarily using yellow, orange, brown, and black. In the foreground are raging elephants, surrounded by many abstract little figures holding spears and wielding weapons. In the distance stands a grand domed building, vaguely ablaze with roaring flames…