Chereads / A Beautiful Creature / Chapter 24 - Artist of the Decade

Chapter 24 - Artist of the Decade

The car halted in front of the high-rise building.

"Akira will call you once we're done. Pick us up in this same spot", Ren said from the backseat. He was talking to Ritsu, one of the official drivers of the Genjis.

"Got it", Ritsu replied as he looked and nodded at the rearview mirror. He could see Ren at the back through the mirror, and Ren could see him through it as well.

Ren straightened his clothing and gave himself and Akira a one last look. He opened the door on his side then went out of the car. He walked outside and made his way to the other side of the car. He opened the door like a gentleman and offered his hand to Akira.

"Let's go, Mrs. Taira", he said with a smile on his face.

Today, they were not Akira and Ren, but Mr. Haruto Taira and Mrs. Mei Taira, a very wealthy married couple who had multiple businesses all around Japan.

Taking a deep breath, Akira took Ren's hand and returned his smile. She pushed aside all the nervousness and fear in her head and set herself in mission and working mode.

"Thank you, honey", she said as Ren gently guided her out of the car. Ren was a little surprised to hear her response. The grin on his face grew wider.

Ren shut the door close, giving the driver a nod, which meant that he was giving him the permission to leave. Ritsu immediately picked up the signal and drove off the car. The couple stood silently as they watched the car disappear from view.

After that, Ren offered his arm to Akira. She eyed his arm that was curved for a second, then she entangled her own arm with it. The two made their way to the entrance of the skyscraper.

It was a forty-story building owned by the Kamei family. In fact, it was only one of their many properties in the city. The towering building was actually a hotel that was being managed and named under the Kamei's oldest child, Aya Kamei.

She did not only own and manage the hotel. She was literally living there. She had a penthouse at the highest floor of the building.

In addition to her job and possessions, she was also a very famous painter. In fact, she had been recently hailed and named as the country's artist of the decade. Her paintings were a mixture of the styles from the past and the modern age, and that was one of the things that made her pieces stand out.

It was also said that it would take her five months in minimum just to finish one painting. That was because of her very intricate attention to detail. Rumors said that when you take a picture of her paintings, even if you zoomed it, it would still be very clear.

Because of the reputation that she had built, wealthy people around the country and even from abroad would line up just to get their hands on one of her paintings. She was the most sought-after artist in the entire country. One would be very lucky if they got even one of her paintings. After all, she could only make two paintings in a year. It was very rare and also very expensive.

If someone was interested in buying one of Aya's paintings, he or she must first set and appointment to meet her in person. It was basically like a business meeting.

When Ren first informed Akira about their plan to investigate Aya, Akira could did not have the slightest idea why Ren would think that Aya was connnected to Tomo Ogawa.

"I know that she is a famous artist, but how is she connected to Tomo Ogawa?" Akira raised one of her eyebrows as she asked the question.

Ren pulled out five photo papers from the brown envelope that he was holding then handed them to Akira, "Do you recognize these paintings? These are displayed in Aya's website, and they are also featured in many magazines in the country. These are some of her most famous expensive paintings that were already sold."

Akira received the pictures. She studied each picture intently. She recognized three of the paintings that were in the pictures. She did see them somewhere before.

"Okay. So, what is with these pictures? How are they related to Tomo Ogawa?"

"I had seen these paintings in Tomo Ogawa's house when we infiltrated it", Ren revealed to her.

Akira's eyes widened at Ren's response. She was astounded that Ren would even notice and realize that the paintings were actually the paintings of Aya. She remembered seeing a few paintings during their mission, but she could not remember at all how they looked, and even if she did remember the exact paintings, she doubted that she would right away realize that they were actually Aya's works.

It dawned on her again just how shockingly intelligent and observant Ren was.

"Tomo Ogawa rarely comes out in the public. We do not even know how he looks. But the fact that he owns that many paintings of Aya means one thing for certain: he has met Aya a couple of times already. Remember that Aya first meets her clients in person before she decides if she wants to sell her paintings to them first or not", Ren leaned closer to Akira across the table as he got more into the deets of the information that he was relaying to her.

"We could assume a few things based on that. First, Aya knows the identity of Tomo Ogawa. Second, she must be quite acquainted with Tomo Ogawa if she was willing to sell that many paintings to him. And third, Tomo Ogawa must trust her if he was also willing to meet her face to face not just once but a couple of times."

Of course, these were only speculations, but if given a proper thought, Ren's deduction had a very high chance to be correct. And that was what led them to their current situation.

Almost two days ago, Ren called and tried to set an appointment to have a private meeting with Aya for the purpose of wanting to buy one of her paintings. Fortunately, Aya was available.

Walking hand in hand, Mr. and Mrs. Taira entered the building. They were greeted by a middle-aged doorman who wore a bright smile on his face.

"Good morning, ma'am and sir. Welcome to Kamei Hotel", he addressed them politely.

Ren nodded and returned the smile while Akira replied, "Thank you. Have a great day mister."

As they made their way to the lobby, the gigantic and luxurious chandelier hanging gorgeously caught their attention. The couple could not help but admire the beautiful centerpiece. Everything about it just screamed 'Aya Kamei'. As expected from someone as artistic, as sophisticated and as wealthy as Aya.

Averting their gazes from the chandelier, the two shifted their eyes to the front desk in the lobby.

"Hello", Akira said in a dignified tone.

"Good morning, ma'am and sir. How may I help you?" the woman wearing a blue and gold uniform with a neatly tied hair said.

Ren untangled his arm from Akira's, earning himself a confused look from her. However, Akira's questioning gaze quickly dissipated when she felt Ren's hand on her waist.

"I am Haruto Taira, and this is my wife Mrs. Mei Taira. We have an appointment today with Ms. Aya Kamei", Ren responded with a grin on his face.

"Please give me a moment sir", the woman replied politely as she searched through her computer. After a few seconds, she said, "Please follow me, ma'am and sir. I will bring you to madam Aya now."