Chapter 180
“That’s ridiculous!” Liana struggled to keep the smile on her face. “I bought this from the Harpers‘ auction house. It can’t be a counterfeit?
After she dragged the Harpers into the mess, Landon snickered. “Ms. Gardner, you are probably unfamiliar with the industry because you haven’t been involved with auctions. Parry’s Auction of the Harper Group Is the biggest auction house in the nation,
“The items we take in have undergone stringent inspection and verification. It Is Impossible to buy counterfeits from us. It’s one thing to be ignorant; it’s another thing to ruin my family’s reputation.”
The look in Jasper’s eyes deepened. He recalled Alice’s smirk when she indirectly led Liana to buy the replica at ten times the starting price at the charity auction. Could she have foreseen that Llana would buy the painting for Newton?
Was it all a coincidence or a trap from the start?
“Ms. Gardner, a counterfeit item is different from a replica,” an expert voiced out his opinion to clear the name of the Harpers. “Some works of paintings are replicas but considered antique. It is hard for a replica to look the same as the original. A top–grade replica can fetch a high price.”
The expert continued, “However, the replica you bought is a little inferior. If not, I wouldn’t have been able to tell it apart right away.”
“It can’t be a replica! I bought it for a million from Parry’s Auction!” Liana blurted out in the heat of the moment.
How could she have bought a counterfeit with one million? She must have been wrong in the head. The people around chuckled at her confession, including Betty, who had to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing loudly.
Oh, how the tables had turned!
“A million? Gosh, this painting is worth at most 100 thousand. I could only say that you have contributed a lot to charity with that winning bid price!”
Liana’s mind went blank. Even Sophia suffered from second–hand embarrassment and looked away, refusing to stand up for her loser
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