"Are you that worried about the painting?" Grace asked as she put her arm around Leon who was sitting on a car as they both watched the long crowd wait their turn to enter the gallery.
"That's the thing, I don't even know why I have to be worried but I am" Leon replied
So far he had painted a lot of things and used every medium he could think of.. Sculpting, pencil work, murals, graffiti and even pottery but never once had he outright fainted after making a painting.
However the Cosmic map in there had sent him directly to dream land as soon as he made the last stroke and not just that… he found himself completely unable to move the next day simply because he was too weak to do so.
That alone meant that the Cosmic Map was too special so he had to worry about it and worse, if the painting he made for Edward felt like a chained tiger trapped in a cage.
This was a dismembered dragon.. It didn't feel trapped, just not complete. That amount of power was unleashed and just wasting because of the wrong medium.
No matter how he thought about it, the painting was proof that his ability was too dangerous for his identity to be exposed now.
Mutants were already discriminated against and even persecuted in some parts of the world… yes, the Four fold paintings had brought about changes in some anti-mutant organizations but still there were many that all they did was to make them better organized.
"Then focus on something else, oh and do you think you will get the verdict today?" Grace asked excitedly
With her words, a smile appeared on Leon's face as he truly actually stopped thinking about the painting for a second.
"Mr. Webar and Miss Diana said that it would be easier since I'm nearly eighteen and I earn a lot" Leon replied with a smile.
Its only being four months but a lot had changed in his life… one major one was that with the backing of both Mr. Webar and the Orphanage he was able to petition for independence at the family court.
Apparently his income and the fact that the Orphanage vouched for him was more than enough to make the grant him the independence… His age was another reason.
"So do you have any plans?" Grace asked
"Of course, open a tattoo shop… the trust can continue to grow the money from the paintings when I eventually sell it and I'll manage a small tattoo shop, and when you're old enough, we get married, get a small house… No a big house" Leon rambled on and on… He truly had no future plans
Hearing him, Grace immediately began to chuckle as he talked. Due to Leon's financial standing now, her father gave her more freedom hence why they were all the way here in another city.
Ring ring
His cellphone rang out interrupting them as Leon hurried tried to answer. The Caller ID, said Mr. Webar and immediately he hesitated a bit.
"Answer" Grace said as Leon turned to look at her.
"I don't know, what if they reject it" Leon asked anxious
"You said it yourself, it's impossible that they would reject you" Grace replied as she collected the phone from his hand and immediately answered the call then passed it to him
She had known him long enough to know that he would keep making excuses nit to answer the call.
Forced to collect the phone, Leon answered the man who immediately confirmed what he had known all along. His anxiousness and all nervousness vanished as he put down the phone.
"So?" Grace asked as she held his hand
Immediately a large smile appeared on Leon's face, confirming the news even before he could say anything.
"You're looking at Mr. Independent" Leon said as they both began jumping around in happiness.
They both expected it but hearing the news was different from anticipating it. Besides it opened a whole new door for Leon as he stood there.
The smile on his face never leaving as he envisioned a whole new life before him.
His income that once used to be around $5000 per day… that is if he found enough customers and even continued drawing without rest
Now he had a monthly income of over $8 million per month after taxes, he was now financially independent meaning he could invest or use his money as he pleases
"Hey, so what do you plan to do now?" Grace asked again but this time, things felt different
"I want to… huh? I don't know" Leon said as he chuckled at himself.
He truly had no idea what to do at this point, he had achieved his goal of financial freedom, now he could live a very comfortable life… no this was beyond comfortable.
With just his income alone, he is just shy of the being a billionaire but even so he was still amongst the top 1% of millionaires in the state
However, he had no idea what to do now, he really had no plan beyond getting rich
"Then we can finally get married" Grace suddenly said as Leon suddenly turned to her deadpanned.
For the first time, that didn't sound like a bad idea… however, marriage limited a lot of things, Grace was a very smart lady.
Adding her Telepathy and she was bound to be successful in life… as for him, he was for sure bound to not really grow further unless he began an investment firm.
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