Their Villain, The Mogul's Beloved

Watching the classmates all vie for her drawings, Zinnia readily agreed.

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Ethan’s eyes lit up with anticipation as he glanced at the half–finished sketch in Zinnia’s hands, already featuring about half their classmates. “So, who gets the one with all of us in it?” he asked.

“Hmm…” Zinnia paused, unsure who to give it to.

“How about we hang it in the classroom? Zinnia drew all of us–it’s perfect there,” someone in the crowd suggested.

After a moment’s thought, everyone nodded in agreement. Hanging it in the classroom was perfect- everyone could see it, and no one would feel left out over who got to keep it.

“Zinnia, what do you think?” Lydia asked, ignoring the others. It was Zinnia’s drawing, so the decision should be hers.

Her classmates chimed in, “Yeah, Zinnia, what do you think? If you don’t want to hang it, we won’t. It’s totally your call.”

“Of course I agree,” Zinnia replied, her fair and delicate face lighting up with a beaming smile.

The whole class burst into good–natured laughter.

After settling on where to hang the artwork, everyone scattered to their own business. Still, before leaving, each classmate reminded Zinnia, “Don’t forget our drawings!” Zinnia responded to each with a warm smile and assured them she wouldn’t forget.

Zinnia lowered her head and resumed working on the drawing. Now that it was going to be hung in th classroom, she took extra care with the details.

As Zinnia finished the drawing, a figure approached and cast a shadow over her work. Looking up, she saw it was Maisie. “Maisie?” she said.

Maisie looked at her hesitantly, words caught in her throat. “Zinnia…”

Noticing her hesitation, Zinnia asked gently, “Mm? Is there something I can help?”

casual while eagerly watching their interaction–clearly, they all had something

a performance this

Zinnia playing the zither and was itching to see and hear

would agree. After all, Ethan and a few others who’d seen her perform last time had made the

Fri, Oct

Chapter 463

said, not refusing the request. It wasn’t a big deal to

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)

lit up, sensing an opportunity. Rosalind’s own eyes sparkled as she squeezed through the crowd and dashed over to Zinnia. “I’ve got it,” Rosalind exclaimed excitedly. “I had my butler secretly bring over my mom’s treasured

think of this zither?” Rosalind asked

zither in its protective case. They set it down in the cleared

help but laugh at their antics–everything was already set up, just waiting for her nod.

want to hear you play the zither for us in person–otherwise, Ethan will never stop bragging about being the

chuckle, “Like I

whined, nuzzling against Zinnia’s neck. “Say yes, please. We all want to hear you.” With her shoulder–length curly hair topped with a cute clip and her sugary

against someone acting so sweet and cute with her–especially an adorable, well–behaved girl like Rosalind. Usually the one

the best,” Rosalind

playfully teased each other. With a gentle voice, Lydia said, “Zinnia, you haven’t played this zither before—would you like to

agreed with a

her. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling of a chill creeping up

her, Rosalind complained, “Joseph, can you turn

more this morning, didn’t I? Now you know what cold feels like,” Joseph said, shooting Rosalind a cool stare as she rubbed

his black–and–white baseball jacket and tossed it to her, then strode over to the thermostat and turned

still obediently tugged Joseph’s jacket tighter around herself. Though the classroom heating was on full blast, she couldn’t

15:16 Fri, Oct 10

Chapter 463

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