Chapter 40
Seeing Harry's face, William frowned and said, "Just say it."
Harry hesitated, then said, "Mr. Scott, we might not need to step in now."
William looked confused. "What do you mean?"
Harry explained, "The trending topics have shifted."
William was taken aback. "Shifted to what?"
Harry handed over his phone and said, "Mr. Thomas is claiming Victoria as his student; turns out Victoria is actually Joshua's student; Shocking: Mr. Thomas's student accused of taking shortcuts; stuff like that."
William grabbed the phone, opened Instagram, and saw that all the nasty posts had been buried.
Joshua, a big shot in the art world, both at home and abroad, never showed up in public.
But now, he had personally set up and verified an Instagram account, which was officially confirmed, just for Victoria's sake.
His first and only post read: [Victoria is my student. Does she need to rely on shady methods to get a gallery job? What a joke!]
With Joshua's backing, the internet went wild.
People were initially shocked by this twist.
It sparked a frenzy in the comments, with many users eagerly sharing the post.
[Oh my God, Joshua's student! That's awesome!]
[Joshua himself got on Instagram to claim her as his student. Unbelievable!]
Some who had previously trashed Victoria now felt pretty embarrassed.
At the same time, some doubted Joshua's words, thinking it might be a publicity stunt.
But soon, others clapped back: [Who is Joshua? He doesn't need cheap tricks for publicity.]
As the debate raged on, more and more people started siding with Victoria. William watched as Joshua completely flipped the script, his lips pressed into a thin line, his face serious.
If Victoria had come to William, he could've fixed everything for her!
But he didn't expect Joshua to swoop in out of nowhere!
He reached for his coffee, but spilled it everywhere, angrily knocking it to the floor.
Harry quickly stepped in to clean up, sneaking a glance at William, who was sitting there radiating cold fury, and muttered, "Mr. Scott, why'd you let such a good chance slip by? If you'd spoken up for Ms. Carter earlier, she'd be grateful and give you her all. Now, someone else beat you to it."
William shot him a cold look and snapped, "Shut up!"
Harry quickly covered his mouth.
William squinted, a dark, complicated look in his eyes, and then said, "Find out who this Joshua really is, why Victoria's suddenly connected to him, and why he's backing her up."
Harry nodded, "Got it, I'll look into it right away."
After Harry left, the big, empty office was just William.
Feeling completely out of the loop, William thought about the close bond between Victoria and Joshua, and a wave of irritation washed over him.
Victoria stared at the Instagram post Samuel had made for her, completely stunned and unable to react for a while.
He actually stood up for her as Joshua!
Wasn't he worried about getting into trouble?
Her heart was a whirlwind of emotions: gratitude, being touched, and a bit of sadness.
The pressure from all the public scrutiny these past days had left her anxious and sleepless. Now, seeing Joshua's statement on Instagram, she finally felt a wave of relief, her heart calming down-only to be replaced by deep worry, afraid of letting him down.
When Samuel walked in with several food boxes, he saw Victoria in a daze.
She looked bewildered, still lost in thought.
Samuel approached, cleared his throat, and said, "Time to eat."
Hearing his familiar voice, Victoria snapped back to reality, realizing Samuel had already come in and the table was filled with delicious dishes.
"When did you come in?" Victoria felt a bit embarrassed. She had been so engrossed in the screen that she hadn't noticed Samuel's entrance.
Samuel smiled and replied, "I've been here for a while. What were you thinking about so deeply?"
"Thank you," she hesitated for a moment and said. "Will saying I'm your student on Instagram affect you?"
Samuel handed her the utensils, smiling slightly. He responded, "Don't you call me Professor Brown every day? It's no problem to say you're my student."
Victoria looked at the food in her bowl, momentarily at a loss for words.
Seeing her still absent-minded, Samuel sighed and said, "If you're really worried, just work hard and achieve something to shut them up!"
When Victoria heard this, her eyes sparkled. Yes, if she were truly excellent, why should she fear those malicious words?
Thinking of this, Victoria solemnly nodded to Samuel and said, "I will work hard."
"That's more like it," Samuel said with satisfaction, "The art association is holding a competition soon. Want to give it a try? I can recommend you."
"Yes!" Victoria immediately nodded excitedly, then hesitated, frowning. "What if I don't win? Wouldn't that embarrass you?" she asked.
"Then I'll expel you from my student list!" Samuel teased her.
Hearing this, Victoria immediately looked distressed. She said, "Don't scare me."
Samuel placed a piece of chicken wing in Victoria's bowl, casually saying, "I've seen your paintings. While there's room for improvement in your technique, your creativity and originality really shine through. With a little guidance from me, winning a place won't be a problem."
Hearing this, Victoria looked up at Samuel happily, just in time to meet his gentle and doting eyes.
His eyes were deep, seemingly capturing her soul, making it hard for her to look away.
Victoria's heart trembled slightly, and she hurriedly lowered her head to avoid Samuel's gaze.
Samuel looked at Victoria's slightly flushed cheeks, feeling a bit moved, and couldn't help but reach out to ruffle her hair.