Art of Deception

erasing my legacy and painting me as incompetent. The online art forums, once filled with praise for my work, were now a c

ic decline." He said he felt responsible, that perhaps he had pushed me too hard, and that my "jealousy" of Chloe

were so big, so bold, that fighting them felt impossible. Who would believe a di

at my old university. I slipped into the back of the crowded auditorium, pulling a

e, I cornered he

canvas?" I demanded, my voic

to see me. She just smiled t

Ava. The pain

," I hissed. "That was my t

She leaned in close, her voice dr

n't there. You think I need your theories? I'm the one

a show for the students who were sta

'm worried about you. This obs

zy ex-mentor, the jealous has-been. She had framed me again, this time in front of a live audience. I backed away, the weight of their judgment pressing down on me.

in my head. As I worked on the intricate details of the broken pocket watch, I thought about the da Vinci case. How could

gas. The spilled solve

of the Opera' score. My priva

ort on the da Vinci, claiming

ey didn't connect. How was she do

the watch face. A flaw. An imperfection. And then it hit me. The bruise on Chloe's arm. It w

she accessing my most private thoughts and theories? It felt like she

ept in a leather-bound journal in my old studio. The ones I thought we

t back into

e that I'd kept on an old keyring. That night, I slipped back into the buildi

looked untouched. But as I flipped through the pages, I felt a strange sense of unease. I r

ormed after I left the studio, the handwriting was... off. It was a masterful forgery of my own scrip

ournal. It was

before I did? The cold dread returned, colder this time. She wasn't just stealing my past work. She was somehow stealing my pre