All I could do was blink rapidly to make sure that I wasn’t just seeing things. No matter what I did, I couldn’t take my eyes off the picture on the front cover of the magazine or calm the racing beat of my heart.


    I stared down at the magazine in my hand while Auntie chatted away proudly about Hayden’s achievements. However, her words were lost to me as my mind zoned in to focus on the picture that was printed on the magazine cover. Hayden stared back at me from the sketch that I had drawn of him. It felt like forever had passed since Ist saw this drawing.


    Back then when our contract wasing to an end, I drew a picture of Hayden as a farewell gift for him. Back then, I honestly thought that we would never see each other again and I never thought that I would see this drawing again either. But how did my drawing end up on the cover of this magazine.


    My eyes narrowed as I suspected that the rapid inflow ofmission requests definitely had something to do with the fact that my drawing was featured on the magazine all along with the appropriate credit for the artist. Yes, that artist was me.


    I wondered when Hayden would make it back; I need to get to the bottom of this and I bet my life that Hayden had a hand in this.


    "I’ve already read his interview over a couple of times. You should read it too, Malissa," Auntie suggested excitedly.


    From how she was acting, I wouldn’t be surprised if she could go on and on about Hayden for days. I thought that Hayden was an amazing person in his own slightly twisted way, but Auntie surely was overreacting. I flipped through the pages to the pages that contained Hayden’s interview.


    My drawing was featured again inside the magazine along with Hayden’s interview and some photos of him looking smart and formal in his business look.


    Seeing this side of him reminded me that Hayden and Torex had a legitimate side as well. Due to the size and prominence of the Torex conglomerate, he was usually in the spotlight as the key family member. I doubted that Hayden liked that though.


    I took a seat at the sofa with the magazine still in my hand as I started reading Hayden’s interview. Overall, it was usual, and nothing was unexpected. I bet he had someone write out his interview script because it probably had toply with some PR regtions or policies of the Torex group. The final part of his interview caught my attention.


    ’The Torex group has started efforts to support fresh talents across various fields of art as a way to give back to society on top of other usual CSR efforts...’


    The interview went on to mention the drawing of Hayden and includedpliments to the artist and the importance of recognizing and support new and aspiring artists. The interview concluded with Hayden encouraging others to do the same.


    Just when I finished reading through the pages of his interview in the magazine, the door opened, and Hayden strode in with such perfect timing. My eyes were immediately drawn to him, and I shot out of my seat.


    "What is this?" I asked as I waved the magazine that I had in my hand around.


    Hayden didn’t look surprised at all as he stared down at me with a look ofplete disinterest.


    "What is what?" he askedzily.


    "This magazine. Why is my drawing on the front cover?" I asked as I tried to shove the magazine in his face.


    "Stop it, Malissa. Why are you overreacting?" Hayden murmured as he pushed the magazine out of his face.


    He walked past me to the dining table like he couldn’t care what I had to say. He was asking me why I was overreacting but isn’t this a big deal. Why was he acting like it was nothing?


    "Hayden!" I called after him.


    I hurried to the dining table and took my usual seat opposite him. This conversation is far from over and I’m not going to just let him blow me off and ignore me.


    Hayden began eating with a cold expression on his face. He didn’t look tired, he just looked in bored as he picked at the food with his fork.


    "You know, my website is now flooded withmission requests for portraits. There are so many requests that I can’t even read it all let alone respond to them. I don’t know what to do…" I reported with mixed feelings.


    Sure, I was happy that people were interested in my work and service but with this many customer requests, I truly didn’t know how to proceed. I’ve never received this much attention for my work before, and I wasn’t sure how to face my potential clients. Most of all, I was nervous about everything. What if my work doesn’t live up to their expectations? What price should I charge for my work?


    Will I be able to finish themissioned work on time?


    So far, I had no idea how many portraits I couldpletely in a week or in a month. This was all getting out of hand that I didn’t dare take any action.


    "Isn’t that a good problem to have?" Hayden replied with a shrug.


    "It might be a good problem to have but it’s still a problem. What have you done?" I shot back.


    He should have told me. Was this part the ’n’ that he mentioned before? I could recall that day when weid in bed together and he was telling me about his n to increase my work’s value by ten folds. I recalled all his strict encouragement for me to create a website and all that. Was this all for this?


    "Did you put my drawing of you on the front page to get me customers?" I asked to confirm the conclusion that I have reached.


    "Not really. I just thought it would look more interesting and artistic than having a real photo of me on the cover. The editors agreed and so there we have it," Hayden replied casually.


    --To be continued…


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