Chapter 431

Penelope kicked the man away and looked around to see several other paintings torn down and thrown on the floor with a series of crashes.

“Who are you people! Don’t touch those paintings!”

“Someone help me stop them!”

“Get away from there! All of you!”

Donald also ran over to intervene but was shoved to the ground.

Penelope couldn’t stop them all on her own, but thankfully, security guards arrived quickly and subdued the group. Still, the men remained defiant, shouting that Edith was a copycat whose work didn’t belong in the Central Art Gallery, calling it a disgrace to art.

Penelope saw Judy rush in. A flash of triumph crossed Judy’s face at the sight of the chaos before she quickly masked it and ran to help Donald up.

“You’ve all gone too far! Even if Edith’s painting looks a bit like another master’s work, you can’t just call it plagiarism!”

Her words weren’t a defense of Edith; they were a thinly veiled attempt to confirm the plagiarism accusation.

“We’re not blind. It’s obvious plagiarism. Aside from a few minor changes, it’s practically a direct copy.”

“She wasn’t that kind of person,” Judy continued.

“She was capable of seducing another woman’s husband. A woman with such low

morals would have no problem with something like plagiarism.”

“She’s already passed away. Let’s show some compassion.”

“Mrs. Bishop, you may have a kind heart and can forgive her, but we can’t!

Plagiarism must be fiercely condemned in our field!”

Others chimed in, “That’s right! Let’s smash the rest!”

Penelope strode over and grabbed the leader by the collar.

“You touch another one of these paintings, and see what happens!”

“Who… who are you?”

Penelope shoved the man away. Just then, Timothy walked in, accompanied by an elderly gentleman with white hair, dressed in a sharp suit.

The older man was quite famous in the art world, and many people recognized him instantly.

“Isn’t that Professor Lee?”

Professor Lee had been a professor at the Orenth University School of Fine Arts After retiring, he joined an retiring, auction house as an art appraisal expert and had authenticated Edith’s paintings on more than one occasion.

While Edith wasn’t a household name, her paintings sold for a good price. One had recently sold for a hundred million, and the value of her work had been rising ever since.

“You all claim this painting by Edith

is a copy of another artist’s work.

But before you pass judgment on whether it’s plagiarism, shouldn’t you first determine if this painting is even an “authentic work by b

By Edith?

Penelope announced loudly.

Her words made the crowd pause.

That’s right. The style of this piece is so different from her other works. Did she really paint it?

But Donald had collected it, so it couldn’t possibly be a fake.

Donald stepped forward. “A friend gave me this painting. I never had any reason to doubt its authenticity.”

Professor Lee didn’t say anything at first. He walked up to the painting in question, and after just a few

moments of examination, he

declared with certainty “Edith’s style very distinctive. This painting is clearly not her work. The brushwork, composition, use of color-the differences are significant.”

The crowd gasped in surprise. The painting was a fake.

“So Edith didn’t plagiarize anything!”

“Then was the whole online scandal just someone trying to frame her?”

While the crowd was still processing this, Penelope picked up the damaged paintings and asked Professor Lee to appraise them.

“These are all authentic. What a shame. How did they get destroyed?”