Chapter 136

That was great. Phillip was hooked.

Jack had thrown out a few compliments, and now Phillip was drunk on praise, actually thinking he could give him pointers.

This put Jack in a tough spot.

If he drew too well, he'd overshadow Phillip.

If he drew too poorly, Phillip might start looking down on him.

After a moment of thought, Jack decided to keep it casual-good enough to be respectable but not so good that it made Phillip look bad.

Yet even with that mindset, his natural skill in painting still shone through.

He smoothly brushed the words "You have great painting skills, Mr. Cole" with a rough sketch of his face onto the paper.

Bella's eyes flickered with surprise. Even she hadn't expected Jack to have such skills.

Phillip studied the words for a moment before nodding approvingly. "It's not too bad. Of course, you're still a bit behind me, but you've got potential."

Jack immediately played along. "Of course! My skills are nowhere near yours, Mr. Cole. Your writing is on par with the greatest artists in the world—I can only dream of reaching such heights."

Phillip beamed, his ego soaring to dangerous levels.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far. But, you know, I wouldn't mind coming behind them. Maybe someone I could even give you some advice on improving."

"Sure, Mr. Cole," Jack thanked Phillip.

The atmosphere was warm and friendly as the two of them exchanged drinks. Even Bella blushed from the flattery. Phillip was very pleased with Jack's performance.

He was a little tipsy as he patted Jack on the shoulder and said, "Jack, you really know how to impress people! I've decided you're a keeper. As far as I'm concerned, you've passed the test. But there's still one more hurdle-Bella's mom. You'd better be prepared."

Jack quickly nodded, but he found it a bit strange. Why weren't both of Bella's parents involved in the evaluation?

The next day was Phoebe's birthday.

Early in the morning, She called Jack to arrange to meet at a hotel by the campus lake for lunch to celebrate. This update is available on find✦novel.net

Later that evening, Jack was also expected at the Eirene Music Academy for a star-studded concert performance. The tickets had sold out almost immediately since news of Soul's appearance at the concert broke. The general manager of Starlight Entertainment, Felix, had also called early to urge Jack to get to the venue for preparation.

Once Soul's performance went smoothly, the stock price of Starlight Entertainment was sure to skyrocket.

However, Jack declined, saying he had something to attend to and wouldn't be able to report to the company until the afternoon. Though Felix was slightly displeased, he didn't dare to offend Jack. After all, Jack was now the golden goose of Starlight Entertainment.

After sending Felix off, Jack was once again in a dilemma. Thinking about Bella's birthday, he knew he had to prepare a gift. But when he checked his balance, he found he only had 80 dollars left.

With that little money, buying a decent gift for Phoebe seemed impossible. Even a gift from an ordinary friend would seem too stingy, let alone for someone who held a special place in Jack's heart like Phoebe.

But that was all the money he had left.

After thinking it over, Jack decided to call Patrick to see if he could borrow some money.

Isaac agreed immediately, offering him a loan of ten thousand dollars without hesitation.

Even though Drakengard Games was going through financial struggles, Patrick figured that as CEO, Jack shouldn't be walking around broke.

With cash in hand, Jack finally felt a little more at ease.

But when he returned to the dorm, he was met with a suffocating cloud of cigarette smoke.

Samuel sat hunched on the floor, chain-smoking. Empty beer bottles were scattered everywhere. His face was streaked with dried tears, and he looked like

a man who had completely given up on life.

Jack frowned and walked over, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "Come on," he said. "You're drinking alone? That's pathetic."