The commission was for a hyperrealist portrait of a tech billionaire with skin so smooth it looked like liquid plastic. Lena had painted his face for three weeks, but the eyes were wrong. Dead. She couldn't see the soul of a man who had sold advertising algorithms.

To the art world, Lena was a "traditionalist." Her weapons were charcoal, linseed oil, and stretched Belgian linen. But tonight, alone in her studio as sleet tapped against the Brooklyn window, she had a secret.

She clicked and selected the high-res scan: portrait_final_v7.tif.

She was about to cheat.