Chapter 14 - The Last Plaque Alejandro Tried to Put Over Her Name
The auction house scheduled a formal attribution review.
Not a glamorous hearing.
A conference room.
Conservators.
Counsel.
Provenance staff.
Representatives for affected collectors.
Alejandro had one final opportunity to provide documentation supporting Celeste’s authorship.
Before the meeting, he asked to speak with Mariana alone.
She refused.
Rachel stayed.
Alejandro placed the collaboration agreement on the table again.
“This is the last version.”
Mariana did not touch it.
“You can walk away with enough money to start over.”
“I already started over.”
“Painting in your mother's apartment?”
Rosa had moved into a two-bedroom rental in Bloomfield after selling the house.
Mariana was temporarily using the second bedroom as a studio.
Alejandro smiled faintly.
“You think collectors want this story attached to their walls?”
There it was again.
His oldest weapon.
He decided what the market wanted.
He decided whose name had value.
Mariana looked at him.
“I don't know if anyone will ever buy another painting from me.”
For the first time, Alejandro seemed unsure how to respond.
She continued.
“But if nobody buys them, they'll still be mine.”
His face hardened.
“You'll regret making this personal.”
Mariana almost smiled.
“You married me.”
The review began.
Evidence was presented without theatrical speeches.
Dates.
Images.
Materials.
Signatures.
College records.
Tomas’s conservation photographs.
Registrar records.
Contracts.
The original two-page sale receipt.
The disputed additional inventory sheet.
No single item proved everything.
Together they made Celeste’s claimed authorship of several works increasingly impossible to defend.
Then the auction specialist placed the original penthouse canvas on a padded table.
The gold plaque had been removed.
Mariana’s signature was fully visible.
So was Tomas’s burgundy mark.
May you like
Alejandro watched the conservator expose what he had tried to cover.
This time he could not tell anyone to put it back.
