Chapter 15 1/1 Trevor's brow furrowed . He had hoped to let the whole thing slide , but clearly Julia wasn't going to . Julia fixed her gaze on Caroline . A smirk was playing on her lips . " If I can prove that painting is mine and that I never plagiarized , how would you apologize to me ? " Caroline narrowed her eyes , and her smile turned mocking . " You really believe your own lies , don't you ? Fine . If you can prove that the painting is yours , I'll apologize however you want . " But if you can't , you'll break off your engagement to Noah , and never step foot in the Vaughan estate again . Do you dare ? " Noah tensed up . He knew what the truth was , but even so , the idea of losing Julia shook him . He couldn't bear the thought . But Julia agreed without hesitation . " Deal . If I win , I want you to pack your bags and leave the Vaughan estate immediately . You'll never bother Noah again , and you'll apologize to me in front of everyone here . " Julia had only wanted to clear her name , but since Caroline wanted to raise the stakes , she was ready to go all the way . Caroline had already looked into Julia's past . She knew Julia had been treated little better than a maid in the Evans family . How could she have ever learned to paint ? She was certain Julia was a plagiarist . Caroline gave a confident smile . " Fine . I'll add one more thing . If you lose , you'll admit that you're not as good as me right in front of everyone . " Once they'd agreed , Julia just smiled . Noah's gaze was intense as he wrapped his arm around her waist and asked softly , " Aren't you afraid of losing ? " Julia flashed him a bright smile . " I won't lose , and I won't lose you either . " She looked at Noah and said seriously , " I want to be your wife and the lady of the Vaughan family . I don't want to be a delicate woman who depends entirely on you . I can handle this myself . Trust me . Seeing the two of them so close made Caroline clench her fists in frustration . Her voice grew even colder as she urged , " Well , Julia ? Go ahead and prove it . 11 Julia let go of Noah and smiled at the others . " It's not easy to prove myself , but I'll do it . I'll paint all my recent works right here in front of everyone . If I really were a plagiarist , my brushstrokes would be completely different . " Everyone here grew up around art . You know how easy it is to imitate someone's style , but you can never truly copy the way someone uses a brush . " People around the room nodded their agreement . Julia had the butler bring over her painting supplies . She picked up a brush , sat down , and began painting her recent works one by one in front of the entire family . Even a legendary artist couldn't perfectly recreate the same painting , but the brushstrokes would never change . Caroline had started out waiting for Julia to make a fool of herself . But as Julià finished one painting after another , each with exactly the same unique brushstrokes , Caroline turned pale . Her whole body went numb . " No … No way … How is this possible … " With every stroke Julia made , the color drained further from Caroline's face . Half an hour later , Julia finally finished . Anyone with eyes could see she hadn't plagiarized a thing . Those paintings had always been hers . The earlier mockery turned instantly into admiration . " Ms. Yeomans is really impressive . She couldn't have painted that without at least ten years of practice . " " Turns out it was all rumors , With her skill , why would she need to copy anyone ? If anything , other people have been copying her . " Julia was used to people switching sides as soon as the situation changed . She looked straight at Caroline with a bright smile . " Ms. Shaw , you lost . Time to keep your promise . "