The disturbance quickly woke Callie, and she immediately recognized Spencer from his familiar cologne.

Uncle Spencer? Why was he suddenly kissing her?

Callie froze in shock, and before she could react, she heard Spencer murmur in a hoarse voice with heated breath. "Tally…"

At that moment, her entire body stiffened. The overwhelming smell of alcohol told her everything. Spencer had mistaken her for Talulah in his drunken state.

While she was in a trance, Spencer's hands started to wander.

Callie panicked and pressed down on the hand that was exploring her waist. She tried pushing him away and desperately said, "Uncle Spencer, you've got the wrong person! It's me, Callie!"

Whether it was the alcohol clouding his judgment or her resistance sparking his dominance, Spencer's kiss grew more intense, his teeth grazing her soft lips.

Callie could hardly breathe. Tears welled up in her eyes, soaking the bandages on her wounds and causing sharp, stinging pain.

"You're hurting me, Uncle Spencer! My injury... It really hurts..."

Spencer momentarily froze.

Callie couldn't tell if it was because the alcohol was finally wearing off or her plea had broken through. When he released his grip on her, she hurriedly rolled to the side and fled.

She didn't even bother to put on her slippers and sprinted barefoot into the living room, where she wrapped herself in a blanket on the couch and finally dozed off at dawn.

The next afternoon, Callie opened her eyes and found Spencer standing before her with an unreadable expression.

The events of the previous night rushed back to her, and she shrank into the corner of the couch.

Spencer's eyes flickered with coldness at her reaction. "Did you bring me to your room last night?"

Callie was stunned by the accusation. She was about to explain when she saw him frown again.

"Don't ever do that again. Otherwise, you'll have to move out."

His certainty struck her silent, and the words "You were drunk" stayed stuck in her throat.

Given the misunderstanding from a stolen kiss before, Callie knew that no matter how much she explained, he wouldn't believe her anymore.

So, she gave up trying and remained quiet.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Callie noticed his hand was raised slightly. She glanced up, wondering what he was doing.

Spencer's hand stopped just above her head as if he were going to pat her.

Callie's eyes widened in disbelief.

When she was younger, whenever she was sad and crying from missing her parents, Spencer would pat her head and gently comfort her. It had become their unspoken signal.

But ever since she turned 17, they hardly had any physical contact.

Callie held her breath, tense with anticipation. The next second, however, Spencer's hand lifted higher, and he pulled a bottle of red wine from the cabinet behind her.

It turned out she had read too much into it.

Callie smiled bitterly at herself.

Because of her rush to sell her belongings, all her family's assets, including the old mansion, had been sold for less than market value. Nonetheless, everything was finally disposed of.

She managed to gather over 9 million dollars, still short by a few hundred grand of what she needed to repay Spencer.

With little time left before her departure, raising the remaining amount was difficult.

Callie was a painter. Although still a newcomer, she had won numerous awards and gained some recognition in the art field. Thus, she decided to hold an art exhibition to sell her work.

Doing it alone would be hard in such a short period, so she turned to Spencer for help.

When Talulah learned about it, she appeared surprised but then smiled and chimed in, "I'm also preparing for an art exhibition. How about we do it together?"

Callie looked at Spencer. Seeing that he had no objections, she agreed.

Five days later, their joint art exhibition was held at the gallery.

Talulah, who had been learning painting for over ten years, was hosting her first major exhibition, and Spencer was particularly invested in it.

He had secured the gallery's main hall for her and meticulously decorated it by using every resource he had to promote the event.

As a result, on the day of the exhibition, the turnout of social elites and prominent figures shattered the gallery's previous attendance records.

On the other hand, Callie's exhibition, which had been placed in a much smaller side hall, wasn't nearly as fortunate.

The cramped space barely fit her nearly 100 paintings, leaving little room for movement. Hardly anyone entered, let alone purchased anything.

Standing at the entrance, Callie watched the lively scene in the distance with a heart full of sorrow.

A few friends were there to help, and they were just about to console her when a scream suddenly came from inside the room.

"Callie, something's wrong!"

A plagiarism scandal erupted on the Internet, and the accused were none other than Callie and Talulah, who were hosting art exhibitions that day.

When Callie looked at the color comparison charts posted by keen netizens, her heart sank. The two paintings in question were nearly identical in content, composition, and color.

Soon, the hashtag #RookieArtistCallieSuspectedofPlagiarism shot to the top of trending topics and sparked heated debate.

Her friends who had gathered around her were in a frenzy.

"There's no way Callie plagiarized! That uniform in the painting is from our high school. Are they blind?"

"Exactly! The girl in the painting is Callie. We can all vouch for it!"

"Talulah is the one who plagiarized. How shameless can she be?"

Callie, though shaken, tried to stay calm.

She rushed home, hoping to find her original sketches and prove her innocence. Her mind was in turmoil as she recalled the scene when she first painted that piece.

It was when she was 18. Spencer had stopped picking her up from school by then. That day, she had rushed home with her exam paper, excited to show him her excellent results and make him proud.

However, the house had been quiet. Spencer had been asleep at his desk, the golden rays of the setting sun highlighting his face and casting an ethereal glow on him.

In her youthful impulsiveness, Callie had placed her exam paper over his face and softly kissed him.

Spencer had woken with a start and scolded her, but she hadn't cared.

Instead, she had captured that moment on canvas and stored the painting away for years.

Now, after letting go of her feelings for Spencer and in need of money, Callie had included the painting in her exhibition. Who could have known it would now become the focal point of a scandal?

Upon returning home, Callie turned the house upside down in search of the original sketches but came up empty-handed.

Panic started to creep in as she tried to recall any place she hadn't yet checked.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed. A friend had sent her a link, urging her to take a look.

When she clicked on it, Talulah's face appeared on screen, framed by the words "Press Conference" behind her. Callie's heart sank.

In the live broadcast, Talulah wore a serious expression as she addressed the plagiarism accusations, vividly describing her process of creating the painting.

She then produced a set of sketches, displaying them to the gathered reporters and cameras.

"I know Callie personally. She's young, and I believe she didn't mean any harm. She just made a mistake. I don't hold it against her."

With that statement, the online narrative shifted sharply in Talulah's favor. A flood of hate comments surged toward Callie's social media accounts with countless abusive messages.

As if that weren't enough, another headline began trending. "The Mackie Family Heiress and Blair Corporation's CEO in Romantic Embrace: Wedding Bells Soon?"

The accompanying video was on autoplay. Spencer was seen pulling up in a sports car at the press conference. Talulah beamed and ran into his arms.

Then, the two embraced before slipping into the car's back seat. Just before the privacy partition rose, the camera caught a brief but passionate kiss between them.

Their relationship had been public for a while, drawing a large following of devoted fans. Under the video, comments started pouring in.

"Oh my gosh, they're so sweet!!"

"Why the privacy screen? There's nothing we haven't seen."

"Isn't Spencer Callie's uncle? Now that she and Talulah are caught up in this scandal, Spencer immediately backed Talulah up. Doesn't that just confirm Callie's guilt?"

Callie numbly closed the video.

The notification count for new comments on her posts was skyrocketing. She clicked in, only to find that the hate-filled messages had gotten worse. People were attacking her character, her talent, and even her family. One comment in particular made her freeze.

"She's got no morals, no talent, and probably no parents to educate her."

Callie trembled, and tears fell onto her phone screen, blurring the text but not the pain in her heart.

In the end, she dialed Spencer's number.