Ch. 1241..1520

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1241--From the material to the craftsmanship, even the embroidery and stitching looked like the one Anastasia had ordered.

"You're quibbling again!" She threw the dress down angrily.

‘If she can't tell the difference, does she even know which dress she bought?’

Lily picked up a corner of the dress with a smile and said, "Ms. Rollins, don’t worry. I bought this dress from the same store.

Although it looks very similar to the one you reserved, I don't think this is yours."

"What gives you..."

"Yours must still be in the store," Lily interrupted Anastasia.

Anastasia was taken aback by this. She blinked as if she was trying to process what was going on.

Ms. Rollins, did you put down a deposit for the dress that you ordered?"

"Of course!"

How else could she reserve a dress without putting down a deposit? Anastasia paid a 50% deposit for the dress, which the shop had to alter to fit her figure.

Her dresses at home were all beautiful and made from good-quality fabrics. Thus, it was difficult to shop for clothes that fit her.

Finding clothes that could hide her flaws and make her look better was even more difficult. Therefore, Anastasia was a regular customer of that store.

Because of this, she also lost her temper when she heard someone had bought the dress she had reserved.

The salesgirl told her that Lily insisted on buying the dress, even after knowing that Anastasia had reserved it. The salesgirl even told her that Lily said it was a waste for someone of Anastasia’s size to be wearing such a beautiful dress.

That was the last straw for Anastasia; hence, she flew at Lily in a rage. Without her proper upbringing, Anastasia would have lost control of herself and used her fists to talk.

"Exactly. If you've made the deposit, the dress has to be yours. Any store with even a little business ethic would never sell it to someone else.

Therefore, your dress must still be in the store. As for this one, it's just a replica of it," Lily said with a light smile as she poked the dress with her finger.

Now that all the cards were on the table, Anastasia pieced everything together. She felt relieved after holding the dress in her hands, but... She picked up the dress again and carefully checked the underarm and waist area for any signs of wear and tear.

"How do I know if someone else hadn't worn this dress?" She said pointedly. "Although I'm not very particular with my clothes, I'm not comfortable wearing something that someone else has already worn!"

Lily laughed. "You're funny, Ms. Rollins. It's a gift for you. How can it be used? I still have some sense of decency in me."

After a pause, she straightened up, rubbed her stomach, and said, "I'm pregnant. I'm mostly dressed casually at home. This dress isn't suitable for me, but it's perfect for a pretty girl your age."

"Now, you're just mocking me.’ Anatasia frowned when she heard the compliment.

She was a girl, after all. She still cared about beauty.

Anatasia was obese. Although she was from a renowned family, she always felt too ashamed to meet anyone because of her figure. Her pride, coupled with her low self-esteem, kept her at home. She did not like to feel like people were pointing fingers at her, nor did she like to hear praises about her.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1242--Anastasia knew what she looked like, so she found it a mockery to be praised like that. The initial fondness she was starting to have for Lily disappeared in an instant.

However, Lily wasn't surprised by Anastasia's glumness. After all, sensitive people were like this. A simple sentence could either make her happy or hit her nerves.

"It's a genuine compliment." Lily nodded sincerely. "Yes, your figure does not fit the societal beauty standard, and you might have some extra flesh somewhere, but you're still beautiful.

Your skin is so clear. It's rare to be born with such good skin. If you're keen on losing weight, I'm sure you'll fee! Beautiful yourself."

Anastasia listened to Lily's explanation and saw that it was sincere and not empty words. Her eyes gradually lit up before they dimmed again.

"The problem is, I can't seem to lose weight."

She had tried various methods for years, be it exercising, dieting, or other weight loss programs, but nothing seemed to work.

In her worst year, she tried starving herself until she passed out.

Fortunately, she was discovered by the servants at home and sent to the hospital in time. That incident caused her to be scolded by her father. He told her that although it was good to lose weight, her health must come first.

After trying over and over again, she lost faith that she could lose weight and even started to talk badly about herself. Every time she went out, she would wrap herself up so as not to be seen by others. She didn't want anyone to see her body.

This time, if it weren't for the dress and the place that Lily had picked to meet up, she wouldn't have come out at all.

"Maybe you can't lose weight because of how you're doing it." Lily looked at her and suddenly stretched out her hand to offer the blueberry mousse in front of her. "Do you want some?"

Anastasia was surprised as she looked at Lily with widening eyes before quickly shaking her head, flustered.

However, Anastasia's gaze was fixed on the cake. The eagerness in her eyes could not be concealed, even though she had rejected Lily’s offer.

In fact, Lily could tell that from the time Anastasia sat down, she was longing to order some food but had been desperately suppressing her appetite and desire. She had constantly been fighting with her inner demons.

Although she ordered a glass of lemonade, she had barely touched it. As the two were talking, Lily caught Anastasia glancing at the cake display on the counter several times.

"You see, you're treating food as an enemy. That is unnecessary."

"You don't understand!" Anastasia lowered her head and mumbled, "You don't understand the pain of being fat. Even a sip of water will make you gain weight, not to mention this dessert. I can't even touch it!"

"This is blueberry mousse," Lily explained as she pushed it closer to Anastasia. "I've seen what they used for this. The yogurt base in this has a relatively low fat and calorie count. This glass of mousse will not add up to even a hundred calories. Based on your height and weight, your daily calorie intake should be at least 1600..."

After a pause, Lily suddenly asked, "Have you eaten anything today?"

"How did you know that?!" Anastasia blurted out. Then she quickly reeled herself in, as if not to embarrass herself. "I'm just not hungry."

"I heard your stomach growling," Lily replied with a slight smile.

Unexpectedly, Anastasia's cheeks turned red. Then anger took over again. ’ Are you laughing at me?"

"No, I'm just letting you know that you should be kinder to yourself" As Lily said this, she pushed the fork toward Anastasia.

"Even if you don't eat today or tomorrow, can you keep it up for your whole life?

"You shouldn't treat food as your enemy. Learn to make peace with them. Trust me, this blueberry mousse won't do you much harm."

Lily's words seemed bewitching to Anastasia's ears, and the dessert in front of her seemed even more alluring. Suddenly, she couldn't help but pick up the fork.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1243--The slight sweetness lingered in her mouth.

This blueberry mousse wasn't as sweet as the cakes she had before. It tasted like yogurt, and the sugar content was very low.

However, it was delicious for someone like her who had not had dessert in a long time.

The first mouthful seemed to have opened up her stomach, and she couldn't help but stuff another spoon into her mouth.

Lily intervened just as she was about to put it in her mouth. "Wait a minute!"

"What's wrong?" Anastasia looked at her, her eyes filled with puzzlement and dissatisfaction.

She would lose it if Lily suddenly stopped her from eating right now.

"You can have this, but promise me you'll eat it slowly! Enjoy the taste of the food, feel each bite, and taste all the flavors."

Anastasia had never done this before. Every time she ate, she was either pampered with food or restricted. She was either pushed to eat a lot very quickly or not allowed to eat all sorts of food.

No one had ever told her to enjoy and savor the food slowly.

However, she listened to Lily's advice and took small mouthfuls of the mousse. The yogurt melted on the tip of her tongue. The food's texture and taste went from her taste buds to her brain, which triggered a good feeling in her.

She ate and ate before staring at the remaining blueberry mousse in a daze.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked when she noticed that Anastasia had stopped eating. "Is it not good?"

Anastasia shook her head before letting out a sigh. "I've never tasted food this way. I've always seen food as a temptation, a trap, and my enemy. It will make me fat, and it's a sign of gluttony. Then I'll go back to struggling with it. I..."

Panting, she stopped mid-sentence. Then she lowered her head and put down the fork quietly.

"Food is a human need. Your body needs nutrition and supplements from food. They're not your enemy," Lily said, lightly patting the back of Anastasia's hand in an attempt to comfort her.

Anastasia nodded, slowly finished the blueberry mousse, and wiped her mouth. When she raised her head again, she was glowing with satisfaction.

She had never eaten so contentedly before. She ate fast because she was afraid that she would have to go on a diet after one meal. She had never properly enjoyed how the food tasted.

This was the first time she had savored the food. The sourness of the yogurt and the sweetness of the blueberries left a taste in her mouth that she couldn't get out.

This feeling was unprecedented and wonderful. She was delighted.

"Thank you!" She was wholeheartedly thankful for Lily.

Anastasia was not an unreasonable person. Although she was unclear about the dress, she made the assumption that Lily was deliberately stealing it from her to embarrass her. That was the reason why she came in with a negative connotation.

Now that she knew Lily wasn't such a person and that the only villain was the salesgirl back in the boutique, who even tried to use her, Anastasia would naturally not let the salesgirl slide.

Putting away the dress, Anastasia picked up the box and said, "Thank you for the dress. I like it very much. If there is a chance, I will surely return the favor."

"You don't have to." Lily smiled.

"All right," Anastasia replied, standing up. "I should go to the store to pick up my dress. Please excuse me."

Hearing this, Lily politely gestured to her to let her know she could leave.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1244 --With that, Anastasia turned around and left. After walking two steps, she suddenly turned back and looked at Lily. "By the way, I have a birthday party next week. Please come with Mr. Russell!"

Before this, Lily had no plans to follow Alexander to this party, but after today, she changed her mind. "It'd be an honor!"

Anastasia beamed and finally left.

The Institute of Medicinal Herbs had a laboratory that had just been renovated and cleared out for their new project, Blossom.

Inside, everyone seemed busy at work with solemn yet nervous faces. The numbers on the computers were beeping, and the reagents in the test tubes were being extracted little by little.

Everything was proceeding in an orderly manner. The room was silent, with only the soft beeps from the computer and the trickling of the reagent from the test tubes echoing in the air.

There were three test tubes placed on the experimental table. Once the timer on the computer reached zero, the extraction was deemed complete.

However, everyone did not relax. Instead, they tensed up even more. They were about to find the result, but no one could guarantee it would succeed.

Two older men stepped forward, put on their glasses, and went up to analyze the end product carefully. Then they slowly dipped a test strip into one of the test tubes and sniffed it. Their faces remained stoic with slightly scrunched-up eyebrows.

A few moments later...

"Achoo! Achoo!"

The two shook their heads repeatedly, and their faces dropped.

Needless to say, everyone knew they had failed again.

"You can still smell the medicinal herbs inside. The smell is even stronger once it is mixed with the essence. This finished product is horrible!" One of the men threw away the test strip in disappointment.

"We're not well-versed when it comes to essences. Each herb has its own characteristics. It is difficult for US to achieve a perfect fusion in this manner. After all, we don't specialize in this," one staff member could not help but say.

When this project was first established, everyone was eager to be a part of it. After all, it sounded feasible on paper, but no one had ever tried it. If they succeeded, it would be a significant breakthrough in both industries.

However, after countless failures, they gradually became discouraged. At the same time, Lily proposed ending the experiment and withdrawing from the collaboration.

She had not been to the institute for the past few days. Even so, Professor Thompson said the progress of this project should not be halted because of her absence. Therefore, everyone proceeded according to the previously recorded data and steps.

However, they failed again and again. This was already the 288th time in a few days.

"We must bring Lily back! She’s an expert when it comes to essences. Without her knowledge and guidance, there is no way we can move forward with this!"

"Who said there was no way for US to progress?" The laboratory door was pushed open, and Austin strode in with a lab coat.

He slowly scanned the room and said, "She's an expert in extracting essences; aren't we experts in medicinal herbs as well? Although we don't know much about essences, her understanding of medicinal herbs is superficial. If she can do it, why can't we? Why are we so self-deprecating?"

Everyone fell silent at his speech.

Although what he said made sense, this project was not established yesterday. They had seen what Lily could do before.

Sometimes, when they stumbled onto a weird fusion of scents and could not find the crux of the problem, Lily stepped in and helped.

Even a few milligrams of adjustment could have a completely different effect on the end product. When Austin heard no response, his eyes sank, and he walked inside.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1245--"What's the matter with you guys? Why aren't you answering me?"

After entering the laboratory, Austin asked again, "You're all professionals and have been in this industry for decades. Why are you letting yourself get tangled up in a woman's web? Are you no better than a woman?"

"Mr. Fike, it's not that we're underestimating ourselves. Ms. Christian has the capabilities we don't have in this area. Sometimes we don’t even know why the experiments fail. However, Ms. Christian found the crux immediately. Just a simple sentence from her can change the final results quite drastically," someone answered.

Everyone admired Lily for the skills she had. Her presence convinced them that this project could be a success. Therefore, when they heard that she was pulling out, they took a blow to their morale.

"Hmph!" Austin snorted disapprovingly. ' You can't find the crux because you're incompetent. It's not because of how good she is. If the experiment fails, keep trying! It's not that hard to adjust the steps accordingly. It's obvious you guys are just slackers."

"Mr. Fike, if that's the case, show US what adjustments we can make. After all, we're incompetent. We're running out of options," another person called out with a hint of anger, putting his hands up in surrender.

The people in charge had selected those working on this project to be here. They would feel upset if anyone called them incompetent.

"I don't think any adjustments are needed at all!" Austin glanced lightly at the test tubes on the experiment table and then at the computer screen.

"In my opinion, the unique scent of the medicinal herbs is representative of itself. Mixing it with all sorts of commercial herbs would pollute it. We should keep the medicinal herbs as pure as possible." His face was disdainful as he tried to throw the project out the window.

Hearing this, everyone exchanged blank glances in dismay.

At this time, Professor Thompson, who had been in the innermost part of the laboratory, came out. He had probably heard Austin's last sentence. Professor Thompson looked at Austin and said, "Austin! When did you arrive? Perfect timing. I was just about to look for you."

Then Thompson put his arms around Austin’s shoulders, walked him to the door, turned around as if remembering something, and called out, "What are you all doing just standing there? Hurry up and get back to work. Even if it fails, record every failed data. Remember, failure is the mother of success!"

With him stepping in to smooth things over, the others turned around and returned to work.

"Professor Thompson, I feel like this experiment is meaningless. We should sell our medicinal herbs authentically and not let the commercial perfumes oppress US instead of engaging in these elaborate and dubious things!" Austin frowned as he complained.

My boy, science has no limits. Since it is scientific research, how can you say it's elaborate and dubious?" Thompson patted Austin's shoulders. Thompson's hair was already graying, and his glasses were extremely thick.

With a sigh, he continued, "I know you're passionate about medicinal herbs and want the world to know about them. Since that’s the case, that’ll be our attempt to break into the public!

"Look, not many enjoy taking medicinal herbs. You may ask because the treatment takes too long, and the effect is slow. Some just can't accept the smell of the herbs. However, everyone loves perfumes, essential oils, and all sorts of other fragrances. Even men are using colognes. That’s because they smell good and are more acceptable!

"We're now integrating our medicinal herbs into those products so more people can accept them. Then as they spray these perfumes throughout the day, they would easily complete the treatment course without realizing it. It'll be able to maintain the consumers’ health as well. Wouldn't it be an epoch-making product in human history?"

Austin frowned when he heard this and shook his head. "I don't think so, Professor Thompson. There are so many different types of medicinal herbs. It'll be challenging to integrate every single one of them.

"On top of that, people are never satisfied. They may like it this once, but what about the next time? We're wasting countless human resources, materials, and money on this project. It's all a huge waste!"

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1246--"We should work more on our publicity and show everyone the wonders of medicinal herbs, then..."

"Austin," Professor Thompson held Austin's wrist, interjecting, "I Know you're knowledgeable in this field, have done your research on these things, and learned much from a renowned teacher.

"Mr. Dominic is a respected figure regarding medicinal herbs, but some still don’t respect him. Listen to me. It's not easy to make the public accept medicinal herbs by working on its publicity, but what we're doing now can achieve that!"

"You're not publicizing it for their acceptance! You guys are just merely meeting the market’s demands for the sake of your benefits!" Austin was angry.

"Austin!" Professor Thompson frowned, and his voice became sterner, is this how you talk to your superior? Don’t forget you're only a part of this team because I suggested your name to them! If you’re unwilling to cooperate, you can leave the team anytime!"

"Professor Thompson, I just think our project isn't moving in the right direction."

Austin was reluctant to leave the team as he had joined them long ago. He was frustrated about one thing the most.

‘How could Professor Thompson listen to a woman's words over mine? Why doesn’t he take my suggestions into account seriously at all?’

Since joining the institute, he had not met Lily until the seminar.

‘She's just an ordinary woman who knows little about medicinal heros and someone who depends on her husband to make a name for herself in the perfumery industry. How could her words be more reliable than mine when I've learned everything from a reputable teacher? Are all of them idiots?’

‘That's enough. We finalized the direction and plans of this project a few months back, and there's no need for you to raise your objections at this time. I would love it if you could provide any constructive comments on the research data, but there's nothing you should be worried about regarding other things."

Thompson raised his hand, stopping Austin from retorting. After all, Thompson had no intentions of changing his mind.

Austin was helpless and was about to leave when he heard Thompson call out, "Wait, Austin, I told you to discuss something with Lily yesterday. How did it go?"

"She wants to quit the team," Austin said, his lips pursed.

"I know that, and I wanted you to persuade her to stay. You..." Professor Thompson paused and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Did you do that?"

Upon remembering Austin's words earlier, Thompson suddenly regretted asking Austin to be the mediator, thinking that the young man might make the situation worse than it already was.

"I did!" Austin was irritated.

‘She's just a woman who knows nothing and doesn't deserve my time! Yet she was so arrogant and splashed juice all over my face!"

‘What did she say about that?"

"She..." While Austin was thinking of how he should explain the incident, he saw Thompson’s eyes light up as his lips stretched into a bright smile.

Then Thompson walked past Austin toward a particular direction. "Lily, you're back!"

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1247--Austin turned and saw Lily approaching.

"Professor Thompson." Lily greeted.

"You came just at the right time. The team just finished a set of experiments, but it's still not right. Come and take a look at what went wrong." Thompson was eager to bring Lily into the lab.

"Professor Thompson," Austin could not help but call out.

"Uh..." That made Thompson tilt his body sideways and raise his hand. " This is Austin Fike. I believe you two met yesterday. You haven't visited the institute recently, so you might not know him. Austin just joined US not long ago, and he's the student of a reputable teacher in this field!"

After a pause, he continued, "You two can chat since one of you is an expert in medicinal herbs while the other is an expert in fragrances. I'm sure the two of you can create sparks and miracles through exchanging ideas."

Lily looked at Austin and nodded lightly as if yesterday's unpleasant incident did not happen. Then she smirked. "I wonder who Austin’s reputable teacher is?"

"Well..." Thompson did not know how to respond to that. Everyone in the industry implicitly understood that Austin was Dominic’s student. However, as it was something Dominic did not publicly announce, no one would mention it even though they all understood it.

After all, Dominic kept his student a secret from the public for now. If he wanted it to stay that way, everyone would pretend they knew nothing about it yet, although it was the opposite.

"His teacher is a respectable man, and he’s one of the pioneer researchers of medicinal herbs. Since he prefers to stay lowkey, I'll not say too much about him," Thompson explained.

Austin, who was by Thompson's side, had his hands placed in front of him as he straightened his back. "My teacher doesn't care about his fame and likes to stay lowkey. I don't like using his name to get certain things for myself when working. After all, we're doctors, and the most important thing is saving lives. We don't care for fame, popularity, and whatnot.

"Oh?" Lily tilted her head and said profoundly. "Mr. Fike, you don't want to talk about it, but everyone seems to know about it already."

"Everyone is kinder to me due to their respect for my teacher."

Austin would always put on airs in front of Lily, acting like a student who only chased knowledge for everyone's benefit. His entire demeanor showed that he looked down on Lily.

Last night, Lily was quite angry, but she no longer felt that way. Getting angry over such a stubborn and old-fashioned hypocrite was not worth it to her.

‘This man is just using Mr. Dominic’s name to fool everyone for his benefit, so how dare he put on airs in front of me? It'd be unfortunate to work with such a hypocrite.’

"Professor Thompson, what did you say went wrong earlier?" Lily asked the man, ignoring Austin and the act he put on.

Upon hearing Lily's question, Thompson suddenly became energetic and motioned with his hands while explaining the situation to Lily as he led her to the lab. "It's about the formula. The experiment was close to success when you were still around, right?

Still, there’s a slight scent of medicinal herbs, so I got them to decrease the amount of it from 3 milliliters, and we've decreased it several times over a few experiments.

"However, the problem now is that if we reduced the dosage used, it would reduce the effects of the medicine, but if we don't do that, the medicinal herbs’ scent would be too potent. Would you advise we make some amendments to the ingredients?"

"We don’t need to change the main ingredient because it’s the only ingredient with the closest scent to the medicinal herbs. Plus, it's the easiest to mix with the other ingredients. We could work on the proportions, though," Lily said with determination.

They headed to the lab, with Austin following behind. He wanted to listen to the nonsense she could come up with as someone who knew nothing about the field.

After washing and disinfecting their hands, they put on their masks and gloves before entering the lab.

There was a mixture of scents inside, which attacked the trio. The stench choked them even with their masks on. Lily could not breathe and had to turn around for some fresh air.

‘What is this mess?" Thompson growled while waving.

"Professor Thompson, we conducted a few more experiments simultaneously because we're running out of time, so the scents kind of got all mixed up," one of the employees stood up and replied nervously.

‘What nonsense is that?" His response made Thompson frown. "How are you going to differentiate the scents that way?"

He waved and motioned for them to stop whatever they were doing while Lily stayed silent. She understood what was going on.

Back then, they were rushing for progress as well. The institute's people kept urging her to return because they feared delaying their process.

She understood they wanted results, but a new project like this would need more time to succeed. It was also usual for them to fail and make mistakes along the way.

However, the institute was in a rush, as if they were chasing after the hands of the clock. Their aggressiveness in pursuing research results differed from Lily’s usual working style. However, she was determined to know what they were up to since she decided to return and would not stop before getting the answers she wanted.

She looked down and glanced at the results, then picked up the ingredients and the medicinal herbs to weigh them before mixing them and adding a few drops of essential oil.

"You..." When Thompson noticed Lily adding essential oil into the mixture, he was stunned and wanted to comment when he came to his senses, but someone beat him to it.

‘You're fooling around here!" Sneering, Austin said disdainfully. However, Lily ignored him, not even sparing him a glance as she focused on the items in her hands.

Apart from those working on their tasks, the other researchers came over and earnestly watched. Since they had failed many times, they had no hopes for it to succeed in just one try but since the research data Lily left behind was helpful, they had expectations for Lily.

In other words, all the lab staff placed their hopes in Lily, except a certain someone.

"Professor Thompson, she’s just wasting the herbs! I think she should stop!" Austin could not help but voice his opinions, hoping to stop Lily again, looking disappointed by her actions.

‘The medicinal herbs are different from those ingredients used in producing fragrances. We use these herbs to save lives instead of being rich people's playthings! Seeing you waste these resources like this goes against how medical practitioners should act!"

"It's inevitable to waste some ingredients while conducting the experiments. We can only get better results and achieve better things by doing so." One of the staff could not help but retort while watching Lily continue with the experiment.

When Austin noticed everyone's attention on Lily-who was doing something pointless and nonsensical, at least that was how it appeared to him-he felt suffocated by anger.

‘Did she brainwash everyone or something? She's just a mere perfumer, someone who plays with fragrances only! How can she compare to people in my field?’

Austin was confident that Lily's experiment would fail, so he gave up and stayed silent. Now, he was observing the changes in the data every second while Lily kept adding essential oil to the mixture.

Time passed, and Lily still stood there tirelessly while everyone waited for the result.

Soon, the mixture produced a small pot of light and the yellow liquid from the condensation process, and the texture appeared crystal clear. The color looked much better than anything they had gotten and no longer looked as cloudy. Next, they were going to test for the most important thing -the smell.

Lily used a dropper to extract a drop of the liquid onto the test paper and pulled down her mask as she moved closer to take a whiff.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1249--When Lily left the lab, Austin followed suit. She walked at a faster pace, but he still managed to catch up with her due to the advantage he had with his height and long legs.

Soon, he was in front of her, blocking her path. "Ms. Christian."

"What is it, Mr. Fike?" Lily stopped in her tracks, although she would rather just ignore him.

She didn't understand how he, who acted all righteous while lying and using someone else's name to become famous, could advance so far in this field.

"You know this experiment can’t succeed, don’t you? Since it’s moving in the wrong direction, why are you continuing? According to what I know, your husband has also invested much money in this project. Aren't you worried that neither of you will benefit from this?"

"How would I know that? I’m just a woman who knows nothing about medicinal herbs. How could I possibly know the outcome of this research? Mr. Fike, don’t you think your question is quite contradictory?" Lily smiled, using Austin's mocking words to reply to him.

That rendered him speechless for a split second before he began. "Fine. I'll tell you if you don't know. The direction of the entire project is wrong, and it can’t succeed! This research is also pointless, and it shouldn't be continued at all!"

There was a hint of fury in his voice. Slowly, Lily looked into his eyes with interest.

‘Fascinating. I've always thought he was just some con man, but it seems like he knows what he’s doing. Plus, he certainly has something to say about the research.’

After a moment of silence, Lily suppressed her dislike toward Austin and asked in a slightly more amicable tone, "Tell me then. Why do you say that it's impossible to succeed?"

Be it to convince Lily or that Austin was in a good mood, he sucked in a deep breath before explaining earnestly, "First of all, you need to know that there are millions of medicinal herbs in the world, and each of them has its uses, scents, and properties. I'll give it to them for being creative, but it's not plausible.

Think about it. We're trying to use the scent of fragrances to cover up the smell of the medicinal heros. However, each of those herbs has its own smell, which means that different scents in different amounts would need to be used to cover up the different medicinal smells.

This needs to be done countless times, and at the end of the day, this is just wasting resources. It’s something pointless to do!"

Lily stayed silent, appearing to be in thought.

"On top of that, each of the herbs has its purposes as well, in the sense that they treat different illnesses. What kind of after- effects will it bring to the consumers once it combines with the fragrances? Will there be any negative effects? We can't be sure about that, so who could bear the consequences if things were to go wrong? Also, who could we possibly test the product on?"

At the start of their conversation, Lily still had a light smile, but it slowly diminished toward the end. Her expression became serious as well as she stared at Austin.

He was right. Those were the questions she had asked Thompson before this. This research was far more complicated than her previous ones.

Mixing the fragrances, identifying the fragrances and essential oil scents, and testing their scents at different periods were all she had to do. The product would also not endanger consumers.

However, it was different this time because they added medicinal herbs to their experiments, which had their own effects. If they did not try the product themselves and there was no research data or results from testing it, how could they put it on the market for use?

It was because of those reasons that Lily wanted to stop the experiment.

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1248--Lily looked like she was reminiscing about something from the past, or perhaps she was trying to figure something out.

Thompson, who was by her side, was eager to know the answer. "How is it? Is it okay?"

He took the smelling test strip from Lily and took a whiff himself.

"Smells great. I can't even tell that medicinal herbs were used in making this. Since you didn’t reduce the number of medicinal herbs used, their effect remains. We just need to make it into a scented candle now and find its effect on users when inhaled. If there's no problem with that, then..."

Suddenly, he paused as his expression changed. "This..."

Seeing the expression change on Thompson's face, Austin eagerly took the test strip from him and sniffed it. First, he waved the paper in front of his face before he put it closer to his nose and inhaled deeply.

Frowning, he thought for a moment before suddenly smiling. "I told you guys that it's impossible for her to succeed! Professor Thompson, look! I was right!"

The other researchers were puzzled. They smelled it, too, but did not notice anything off about it. Meanwhile, Thompson just looked at Lily in silence.

"I said it earlier! She's just wasting the materials. Medicinal herbs have unique properties in nature. Their smells could be covered up slightly, but how could they go undetected by consumers? We can still smell them even after adding all those things. Listen to me. It's impossible to cover the scent. What do you have to say for yourself now?"

Austin looked at Lily with a relaxed expression, as if he were waiting for her to explain why she failed after bragging about her skills.

On the contrary, Lily was a lot calmer. She was not surprised or disappointed and removed her mask to ask, "What should I say?"

"Now that you failed the experiment, what else do you have to brag about?"

"When did I ever brag about anything?" Lily threw him a sideways glance and said seriously, "It's usual for an experiment to fail. I'm sure that the people here have failed hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of times when conducting experiments in the past. Have I ever said that I would succeed on the first try?"

"You..." Austin was taken aback, not expecting that she would retort this way.

"Now that I think about it, she never said such a thing. I just assumed she'd succeed, seeing that so many trusted her blindly. It seems to be a common thing for an experiment to fail. Wait, that doesn't seem right. Since she failed, why are they still trusting her so much?"

"Since you can't guarantee success, you shouldn't act like you're the only one who can do this."

Austin was dissatisfied with her. Everyone respected him as Dominic's secret student wherever he went, and many would seek his medical advice. When the institute invited him to join the team, he thought he would be the most important and respected member.

After joining the team and conducting a few experiments, he realized that it would not work, but to his surprise, none of them listened to his opinion. They had even assigned him a task-to find Lily and convince her to stay on the team.

At that moment, he realized that he was just Lily's replacement when she was not around, and it was obvious that Thompson was not satisfied with him being her replacement. Everyone in the lab believed Lily was better than Austin, but why? He could not understand that.

‘Iam Mr. Dominic’s secret disciple, or at least that’s how the outsiders see it! No matter what, I'm a student of a reputable teacher, and I received proper training for this. How could that woman, who knows nothing about the field, compare to me?

Adding essential oil to medicinal herbs was already ridiculous, but these people let her keep doing it. Are they crazy?’

Furious, Austin glared at Lily as if she had done something heinous. Lily did not avoid his gaze and met his eyes calmly as she approached him.

Austin was taken aback and puzzled, and without knowing why, he took a few steps back.

Whenever Lily got closer to him, he would back away, and after a few times, he realized something was wrong and stood still in his spot, his back erect. "What are you doing?"

Lily's red lips curled into a smile. "Mr. Fike, you seem confident. Why don't you do it if you're so good?"

Austin was stunned for a moment before scowling. "What makes you think you can do it while I can’t? I think that the direction of the entire project is wrong. Now is not the time to change the proportions of the ingredients used. What we should do is correct the direction of our plan instead."

Upon hearing that, Thompson rubbed his temples and went forward to pull the two apart. "That’s enough. It’s useless to argue about these pointless things now. Science and society can only progress with different points of view and arguments from their practitioners, not with such pointless competitions.

"Lily, we need to pick up the pace for this project. You’ve delayed the progress for quite some time before this, so you must work harder for it to succeed. We've spent way too many resources and effort on this, and as Austin said, we spent a lot of money on it, too."

He turned around and was about to address Austin when Lily interrupted, saying, "If you think that too much money has already been spent on this and it's not worth doing so, you can stop right now to prevent further losses."

‘That's right! stop it now!" Austin added.

That gave Thompson a headache, and he was beginning to regret listening to his superior and bringing Austin on board. At first, he thought Austin would know a lot about medicinal herbs or that he and Lily would make a great team because they were both experts in different fields, which could help their project go faster.

However, the two were surprisingly similar regarding their thoughts on the project.

"Cut that out. We're already this far down the road, so how could we stop now? What do you guys take the institute for? Do you even care about how much effort everyone has put into the project?" Thompson reprimanded them sternly.

"You should do your work well and reflect on why the experiments keep failing. Stop waiting for others to get the job done! Remember that all of you here are experts in this field, and that's why you were recruited into the institute. No ordinary person would've made it into this place!"

"Yes, Professor Thompson!" The others said in unison, and Lily raised a brow at that.

She had known how serious they were about this research since she joined the project. She was just saying it casually when she asked them to stop earlier.

Then Thompson turned to say to Austin, "Austin, I know you're young, and you achieved the fame many people could never achieve in their lives. It's normal for you to have your own ideas and all, but many experienced researchers and experts in this field have discussed the project and concluded that it was feasible, so I'd like you to stop doubting it. What we need to do now is persevere and succeed. Do you understand me?"

Austin just pursed his lips and looked at Lily with narrowed eyes. "I got it, Professor Thompson!"

Spoiled by mr. russell chapter 1250--Thompson did not answer her questions directly. He only reassured her that she shouldn't worry. According to him, the institute was ready because the project had been approved and established. They just needed her to produce the results they wanted. As for the testing of the product, she did not need to be involved.

However, Lily was responsible for her creations. How could she not be concerned about the results or effects her product would have on its consumers?

Seeing that Lily had been silent for a long time and appeared to be in a daze, Austin thought that she was not listening to him or that she did not understand what he was saying. Suddenly, he became irritated and lost interest in talking to her.

Waving, he said, "Forget it! You don't understand it anyway! This isn't as simple as what you do for your perfumes. This is about medicines, and they might cause death if not dealt with appropriately! Here's some advice for you, stop with the experiment and stop coming here too!"

Lily returned to her senses and raised her brow to look at him. "Mr. Fike, what's the real reason you want me to stop with the experiment? Is it honestly because you think I know nothing about medicinal herbs? Is it genuinely because you want this experiment to stop, or..."

She stepped forward with her lips curled into a smirk, but her gaze turned cold. "Or is it just because I'm a woman?"

Austin said nothing and just looked at the woman before him. She was smaller and shorter than he was, and her belly was a little round. With her head raised, she stood before him and looked into his eyes, her gaze clear and sharp. Under her gaze, he somewhat panicked for no reason.

In that instant, he wanted to hide from her.

However, that was just his thought for a split second. He collected himself and straightened his back. "Ms. Christian, it’s pointless for you to argue with me. You understand none of the things I just said to you. You're a woman, and it's a fact that men are better than women at certain things.

"Moreover, you’re pregnant now. I’m doing this for your benefit. You don’t lack money, and I heard you’re quite popular in the perfumery industry, so what are you doing here? I'm saying this with good intentions. Not everything is as simple as what your perfumers do in the lab. There's a lot to learn about medicinal herbs, and if it's not handled carefully, it will..."

Suddenly, he stopped and called out. "Hey! I’m not done yet. Where are you going?"

Austin did not expect her to leave while he was talking. She said nothing and just walked away.

He was stunned before he raised his voice. "I’m telling you this seriously! You should consider what I just said! It will only benefit you and won't harm you in any way. Hey! Hey!"

He wanted to say more, but Lily was already out of sight.

Lily was not in the mood to listen to Austin’s nagging or argue with him.’ He's stubborn, arrogant, and holds prejudices against women. I don’t want to have anything to do with someone like that. Still, he knows about medicinal herbs, I'll give him that.

‘He's not entirely the conman that I assumed him to be, and I need to agree with those things he said about the experiment. It can't be continued! The direction of the experiment is problematic, and its goal probably is as well.

She could confirm her thoughts after adding the two drops of essential oil to the mixture earlier. As expected, it would suppress the scent of the medicinal herbs for some time. She would try that again, and perhaps she could find out what they wanted to do by then.

Without realizing it, she made a turn at the intersection and stopped. She turned her head to look in the direction of the institute, and to her surprise, she saw a familiar figure there.

‘Mike? What is he doing here?’