Description

The Laughing Portrait: Chapter 1The Debt and the DerisionThe eviction notice on Elara Vance’s door was printed on cheerful, canary-yellow paper. A final, mocking splash of color in her grey, shrinking world. She slammed her apartment door, the sound echoing in the near-empty space, most of her good furniture already sold. The echo was answered by the buzz of her phone. A news alert. There he was: Julian Thorne, her former partner, grinning like a wolf in a tailored suit, standing before the soon-to-open gallery that had been their dream.“Thorne Gallery Set to Revolutionize Modern Curation,” the headline blared.Elara’s fingers