Ch. 411..420

Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 411

"Enough, it’s just the annual perfumery competition.So what if you get disqualified this year? It’s not like you don’t have the next time.What are you so worried about?"

Eloise's brows furrowed in annoyance.

"B-But we’re not going to make it!"

How could Nathaniel not be worried? Even though the competition was only two months away, he had already completed their admission.

If he could make amendments, MN Inc.needed time for research and development to create a whole new product and for it to be successful.

Even if they came up with a new product to make it, Nathaniel could not guarantee it would be good enough to win the competition.

Most importantly, he faced the issue of a criminal’s name attached to his two new products.

It would undoubtedly affect the perfumes and MN Inc"s reputation.

Nathaniel needed damage control to save the perfumes and his company’s reputation.He also had to carefully think up an explanation for this situation for the board of directors.His most significant concern was about the company’s profit margin.

Too many issues coinciding made him feel helpless and unable to take it anymore.

"It’s not entirely impossible.We could still change the list of participants a month before the shortlisting.As for the trouble with your company, I’ll help you with it,"

Eloise added after pausing for a short while.

Nathaniel’s eyes shone brightly with hope after hearing what his mother said, "Do you mean that?"

Eloise had never offered to help.

Her principle was never to expose their relationship as parent and child, so Nathaniel could never use her connections.

Instead, he had to build his business on his own, and if one day he were big enough, Eloise would consider revealing their relationship to the public.

If Nathaniel could not manage to be successful, then she would bury this information and bring it with her to the grave.

That was why Nathaniel never asked for his mother’s help, regardless of the situation, because he knew she would not help him.

So, he felt shocked that Eloise had offered to help with his problem.

"Don’t be too happy yet.Tell me, in the past two seasons, how was your company’s profit margin? How much do your two new perfumes account for in your company’s total profit margin? I heard they’ re doing pretty well in the market now, "Eloise asked thoughtfully.

"About that..."

"There’s another thing I want to know.Are you still profiting from your older products? The ones Lily left behind before joining Rebirth.I also want to know how much they account for in your profit.

Have you ever made a detailed profit comparison between your older and newer products?

"Does your company have a list of regular customers? Do you have a good relationship with them? Is there a possibility they could increase their orders with you? Also, how many perfumers do you currently have? Are there any talented people among your workers?"иσνєℓєвσσк.¢σмEloise bombarded Nathaniel with questions about his company.

"I-I..."

Truthfully, Nathaniel had been slacking off recently as he thought the company was doing well.He was confident that the board of directors was satisfied with the profit outcome and had expected Melanie’s products to obtain an award or two at the competition this year.

Even if Melanie could not win an award as a perfumer, Nathaniel was sure her products could, as they were judged by their quality and market receptivity.He thought he could earn respect and profit in the industry.

The only thing left for him to do was to win Lily back.

If that happened, Nathaniel would not have to worry about his future ventures.

However, it was all a dream since Nathaniel did not expect Lily to be with Alexander.He also never expected Melanie to get into trouble with the police.

Nathaniel thought his world was about to end.

"Why are you stuttering? Look at yourself.What have you been doing all these years? How can you not know about such things? Do you still need me to teach you how to do it properly? How are you not attentive toward your company’s profit margin and customers?"

Eloise reprimanded Nathaniel heatedly.

Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 412

"Mom! I'm sorry, I made a mistake! 1 thought we’d surely succeed, but this happened.I didn’t think that Mel would be dumb enough to kidnap Lily.I had no idea she would do such a thing! Plus..."

Nathaniel remembered something and stole a glance at Eloise.

"I didn’t know that Frank was a drug addict.He has a terrible reputation worldwide!"

Nathaniel only found out everything after he did some investigation upon hearing that Melanie was in trouble.

Everything made sense to him now.He knew the reason he could not get in touch with Melanie and lost contact with Frank—the cops in Westwood had captured them.

"That’s enough.He lied to me, too."

Eloise rubbed her temples, her head throbbing at the mention of Frank.She was not careful enough back then.

To her knowledge, Frank was smart and talented.

He had also won several awards in the past.

Little did she know his creations were the results of plagiarism, and his reputation was terrible!

"He did it to you too..."

Nathaniel gasped and stared at Eloise in astonishment.His gaze made her uncomfortable, so she shot him a glare.

"What the h*ll are you thinking? I didn’t know he was such a person and got tricked, too."

"Oh..."

Nathaniel breathed a sigh of relief, but his look riled Eloise up even more.

"What in the world is in that head of yours?"

"I-I want to do better and make you proud of me one day, but I seem to have ruined everything,"иσνєℓєвσσк.¢σмhe said, upset.

Eloise's tone softened as she took in his sad expression and words.

After all, she had always felt guilty for being absent all those years, mainly because he was her son.

"It’s okay.You didn’t ruin everything yet.At least this isn't the worst scenario for us.By the way, I heard that you're courting Lily again?"

At the mention of that, Nathaniel became even more distressed.

"It’s not going smoothly?"

Eloise threw him a sideway glance as she did not see it as a huge problem.

"That’s expected of her.Do you remember how you treated her back then? How could she forgive you so easily? The Lodge family is probably still mad at you too.You need to be patient about this."

"No matter how much patience I have, it’s useless! Mom, she’s in a relationship with someone else already!"

Nathaniel interrupted Eloise and said unhappily.

Eloise was stunned.

"With who? I’ve heard nothing about this."

"I-It’s Alexander Russell."

The thought of Alexander made Nathaniel shiver in fear.He still could not believe it.

"Who?"

Eloise raised her voice, astounded.Her reaction was within Nathaniel's expectation.

Hence, he repeated, "You heard it right.It’s Alexander, the CEO of La Beauté Group and the current head of the Russell family."

That stunned Eloise.

After a moment of silence, she managed to calm herself down.

"Who did you hear that from?"

Rumors were everywhere in this era.It was usual for fake news to go around to protect oneself or for any other motives.

Eloise would not believe what Nathaniel said so quickly.

"I saw it myself," he said, sounding broken-hearted.

Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 413

"You saw it?"

Eloise trailed off, frowning because she found it hard to believe Nathaniel's words.

"Alexander Russell? The CEO of La Beauté Group?"

Eloise would know about Alexander.

In fact, the Russell family was well known, not only in Sapphine but in the entire nation of Hyderland as well.

Alexander was widely regarded as the most talented heir to the family and was the source of admiration for many ladies across the country.

‘Why would such a man be in a relationship with Lily?’ It was not entirely impossible, though, after Eloise gave it some thought.

If Lily were any other woman, Eloise might be able to convince herself that Lily was one of Alexander's flings.

However, Lily was a part of the Lodge family.иσνєℓєвσσк.¢σмIf Alexander and Lily got married, their union would unite the Russell and Lodge families, which would have a far-reaching impact.

"Mom, I don’t think Lily has feelings for me anymore.Anything I do would be useless.What should I do now?"

Nathaniel looked disappointed.He knew he had no chance to get back with Lily when his love rival was Alexander instead of Edward.His attitude pissed off Eloise.

"What should you do? Are you asking me that now? I’ve told you many times before to treat her nicely! Now that she’s gone, you’re regretting it?"

"I-I was just blinded back then..."

Nathaniel admitted that he made the wrong choice, but it was pointless to talk about that now.

Eloise understood that as well.Hence, she only reprimanded him a little before sighing.

"Forget it! She’s not the only woman in the entire world, and you have many other choices.I must say this to you now.You can date whoever next time, but you must be smart! You can fool around with women like Melanie, and she shouldn’t be a woman you marry!"

If it were in the past, Nathaniel would retort, but after everything that had happened, he knew better.

Nodding, he said, "You're right, Mom.I'll listen to your advice next time, but what should I do now?"

Even though he wanted to prove himself to Eloise, he knew she was more perceptive and savvy than he was in many situations.He had no idea how to solve the problem this time, so he could only seek his mother’s help.

"You need to stop selling those two new perfumes," Eloise said after some time.

"What?"

That would be a big hit to his company’s income as they mainly depended on the two perfumes to generate profit.

"What’s with that response? Do you want to see your company being forced to shut down? If that’s the case, then forget about what I said!"

Nathaniel quickly grabbed Eloise’s arm.

"No! Mom, please.I said I would listen to anything you told me.The thing is that we would only have perfumes that were created long ago if we stopped selling the two new ones.That would be impossible for us to expand our market share!"

His words made Eloise scoff before she mocked, "What are you thinking? Do you think you're capable of expanding the company’s shares now? The most important thing for you to do is to retain the current shares you have!"

Eloise paused for a while before adding, "Other than removing those two perfumes from your stores, you must make an announcement immediately.Remember to find someone who’s the best in PR to do this and only publish the statement when it is good enough.Be careful of the usage of words.That’s one thing.

"First, you should apologize to the consumers and mention that your company was also tricked in this case.Demonstrate your principles and that MN Inc.is resolved not to sell creations by problematic perfumers, then pledge to produce a line of better perfumes soon.

"Lastly, express your pity toward what happened to Melanie.Remember that you must show them you’re determined to provide the best.Oh, right, don’t forget to mention that you and Melanie broke up two months ago."

"This is my private matter.I don’t think there’s a need to mention it, right?" Nathaniel asked with hesitation.

Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 414

Eloise raised her hand to knock his head, somewhat annoyed that Nathaniel was not smart enough.

"You’re the company's legal representative, so your stance, in this case, is of extreme importance! You must understand that you cannot get rid of your involvement in this issue no matter what you do.

"If you choose to support her, that means your morals are questionable.If you cut off all ties with her, the public won’t think that you’re fair and selfless, but they'd say that you’re heartless for leaving her alone when things got tough."

"This..."

Upon hearing that, Nathaniel’s expression turned grim.

"No matter what I do, I'd look like the bad guy!"

"What else do you want?"

The mention of this made Eloise mad.

"This is all your fault! This matter could only be dealt with in a low- key manner, and you should not reveal too much because the more you say, the more problems will arise.Also, behave yourself these days.Stop visiting bars and getting drunk! Do you want to tarnish your name even further?"

"I-I’m sorry."

Nathaniel hung his head low, embarrassed to look up after being reprimanded by Eloise.However, she was right, so he could only apologize.

"You must make the public think you were hurt in this relationship.Oh, didn’t you say that Melanie had an affair with Frank? Find some internet trolls and leak that online.Don’t do it yourself.Remember that you should say and do nothing about Melanie’s affair.That way, the public would think you’re a victim in this case too."

Nathaniel suddenly looked up with disbelief written across his face.

"I...need to announce that to the whole world?"иσνєℓєвσσк.¢σмHe had pride and did not want to make a big deal out of this, afraid it might embarrass him even further.

"Which is more important to you? Your pride or your future?"

Eloise rolled her eyes at Nathaniel.

Sometimes, she felt that her son did not inherit her intelligence.

"You must understand that people tend to sympathize with the weak.You'll look like a victim when you don’t say anything regarding the affair, making people pity you more.Sometimes, sympathy could help a lot!"

"I understand it now! I know how to go about it!"

Under Eloise's guidance, Nathaniel finally figured things out.

"Mom, thank you.I wouldn’t have known what to do without you! I thought...that you wouldn’t care about me..."

"You're my son.I couldn’t just stand by and watch you suffer, could I?"

Shaking her head, she added, "Other than these urgent matters, you must recruit a few more talented perfumers.Your company wouldn't be able to function without them, okay? My suggestions might help your company solve its crisis this time, but what about in the future?"

"I tried to recruit a few before, but there wasn't anyone fit for the role."

Nathaniel had the same thought as Eloise, but it was tough to find the perfect candidate because a profession in this line of business was not a popular choice.

The novice perfumers were not skillful enough, while the better ones would choose to work in a much better company than MN Inc.

"That's why I said you’re really..."

Eloise trailed off, choosing not to finish her words because it would not help with the current situation.

Sighing, she started, "Don’t aim too high.Forget about getting top -tier perfumers.You can recruit those mid-tier ones who are suitable and with some potential to grow in the future.Experience doesn’t matter much.Talent is much more important.Do you understand me?"

"I_.Okay!"

Nathaniel wanted to retort, but he nodded immediately after meeting Eloise’s gaze.

Now, he did not have the right to be picky.

Having someone capable on the team would be good enough for him.

Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 415

Nathaniel moved fast and got his PR team to release a statement the following day while he apologized to the board of directors.He admitted he had failed to supervise his team.He explained to the board of directors how they would suffer more significant losses if they did not take down Melanie’s two perfumes.

Nathaniel also promised to launch a new product soon to compensate for the current losses.

The board of directors was unhappy with the development of the matter.

However, they had no other way to deal with this case.

On top of that, Nathaniel sincerely apologized, and none of them wanted to lose all their investments like this.

Hence, the board of directors agreed to Nathaniel's suggestion since they could not devise a better plan, giving him another chance to make amends.

Nathaniel knew he had succeeded partially after getting the board of directors to understand and approve his plan.

The PR team’s quick response, where they apologized to the citizens before discovering Melanie’s affair, managed to give the public a better impression of MN Inc.It increased the two perfumes’ popularity by attracting those who had never heard of the products.

Some netizens even tried selling their two perfumes at sky-high prices because most considered them limited editions since MN Inc.no longer sold them.

Nathaniel noticed the rising popularity of the company’s old products and wished he could bring the old stocks and profit from them.

Eloise had predicted this before and warned her son that he should never put the old products back on the shelves as it would make MN Inc.lose credibility.

By then, it would genuinely be game over.

Due to Eloise’s warning, Nathaniel resisted the temptation and suppressed his urge to return the old products to stores again.

At that time, he realized that Eloise’s predictions, including the netizens’ reactions, were accurate.

Nathaniel knew that taking advantage of others’ pity toward him could benefit him, and things would not turn out as he imagined.

Many also pitied him for getting tricked.

Some netizens even brought Lily up and commented that Nathaniel had gone through an arduous journey in his love life.

To them, a woman had pestered Nathaniel, who then made his life miserable because she did not love him back.

Others also pitied him so much that they bought MN Inc"s perfumes to show their support for Nathaniel.иσνєℓєвσσк.¢σмThe netizens who bought the perfumes snapped a few photos and posted them on their social media accounts, starting a campaign to support a good man like Nathaniel.

They promised to support him with their actions until he got through this challenging phase.

It was something Nathaniel had not imagined.

Everything happened so suddenly.

Due to this campaign, some netizens purchased more than one perfume bottle to show their support.

Although MN Inc.suffered losses because they removed both of Melanie’s perfumes from their catalog, MN Inc"s sales of past products, which were still available in stores, suddenly shot up.

Even their factories had to operate overtime to deliver the customers’ stocks on time.

This turn of events overjoyed Nathaniel, and he could not wait to share the good news with his mother.

‘You're brilliant, Mom! I thought this was the end for the company, but your strategy saved the company and brought it back to life"

However, a certain someone who got involved unwillingly was not happy.

Lily was scrolling through her Twitter feed on her iPad, getting angrier by the minute.

Lily wondered why the netizens had to bring her into this case, be it the statement from MN Inc.or the announcement of Nathaniel and Melanie’s breakup, which never involved Lily.

Everything was in the past, yet they had twisted the truth.

Pissed off, Lily threw her tablet to one side, no longer wanting to read anything related to them.

Alexander had just finished his video conference in his home office.

He exited his home office to the living room and saw Lily being angry by herself on the couch.

Alexander raised his eyebrows and went over to pick up her tablet.

After taking a look, he knew the exact reason for her anger.

"His strategy was perfect this time around," Alexander commented objectively.

In a business sense, Nathaniel perfectly executed his plan by taking the initiative to show his weak side and gain sympathy.

Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 416

"Everything is perfect for him, but others slandered me so badly!"

Lily whined angrily.

Amidst the comments, she saw a few netizens who tried to explain the truth on her behalf.They said that Nathaniel was only putting up a show to appear heartbroken.

There was someone who even analyzed her fallout with MN Inc.in detail.

Lily did not know the person, but their explanation was close to the truth.

However, most netizens’ criticism had drowned out such an article that outlined the situation’s truth.

The other netizens called the writer a troll, and some even told the writer to shut up because even Lily was staying silent regarding the matter.

"You want to get back at them?"

Alexander asked, leaning down as he placed the tablet down.

"Of course! I don’t care if he wants to put on a show! Nate can pretend he’s sad or whatever he wishes, but dragging me into this mess isn’t the right way to go about it."

Lily puffed her cheeks.

"Besides, I must throw the blame back to him for the few netizens who stood up for me."

Alexander sat down next to Lily and said casually, "That's easy."

"I don’t need your help!"

Lily pressed Alexander’s hand down on the couch and said, "I can handle this myself!"

Sighing, Alexander looked at his hand.

"I'll feel useless if you do this.Why would you need me in your life if you can do everything by yourself?"

"You're not useless.There are a lot of things I need you for."

Lily buried herself in Alexander’s embrace.

"For instance, you can warm me up on a cold day like this.You can even be my blanket and pillow.Don't you see how useful you are?"

Her words made Alexander helplessly chuckle as he hugged her back.

"You don’t need me to do anything?"

Lily’s smile stiffened as she shook her head, saying, "Although this matter may seem complicated, it’s pretty simple to deal with.An eye for an eye.It’s as easy as that."

In this situation, Nathaniel took advantage of the public’s pity toward him as the ‘victim"His plans went smoothly only because Lily focused on creating a new product instead of ending things with him.

Nathaniel even settled their previous lawsuit in private.

Lily had enough evidence to prove her innocence, which would be the best way to get back at Nathaniel.

Alexander said nothing as he noticed Lily’s persistence.иσνєℓєвσσк.¢σмHe trusted that Lily would succeed with her plan.

On the other side of the coin, Nathaniel happily prepared to recruit more talents.He had ordered his HR department to publish a post to announce that MN Inc.was recruiting talented perfumers.

They encouraged anyone passionate about the perfumery industry, regardless of their experience, to attend the interview and prove themselves.

This post caused a huge commotion on the internet as soon as it was released.

As Nathaniel was the hot topic on social media, many went to MN Inc.for the interview.

He sat in his office, watching the interview session’s live stream.

At that moment, Nathaniel felt that everything in his life was moving in a great direction again.

Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 417

Just as Nathaniel thought he had successfully turned the situation around and was on the road to a better future, a newly posted video on the Internet caused considerable commotion.

An anonymous account posted the video with the caption, "I almost believed in love if it weren’t for the time I took the video."

What was in the video, then? It showed Nathaniel standing in front of Rebirth’s office building, holding a bouquet of 99 roses in his hand.He even released many balloons into the air while he waited for Lily.

Lily could easily get this video as the scene had attracted many people’s attention.

Several people recorded what had happened that day.

There was also surveillance footage of it.Of course, Lily had prepared the material and hired someone to post the video online.She did not want to use a low-class method —posting sensational words and leading the netizens’ emotions— back then, but since Nathaniel loved this game, Lily would play with him.

Nathaniel saw the video but paid no mind to it.иσνєℓєвσσк.¢σмHe was even glad that the public discovered his romantic gesture.

However, when the video became increasingly trending, he finally noticed something was not right, especially with part of the caption, "If it weren't for the time I took this video."

He wondered what it meant.

Among the netizens were those inquisitive and attentive ones, who quickly picked up the location where the video was taken — outside Rebirth’s office building.

As for the balloons mid-air, they captured the words "I love you, Lily"printed on ribbons attached to the balloons.

The netizens could be almost sure about the time the video was taken with those few words.

Many had seen Nathaniel's face in the footage, and he had been the hot topic recently, so many quickly linked him to the video, recognizing that he was the main character in it.

Some netizens who had initially taken pity on him switched sides.

"Someone took this video not long after Melanie got into trouble, correct? Goodness! Isn’t he upset and guilty about what happened? Am I missing out on something? Did I lose a part of my memory?"

"You’re not alone on that."

"I pitied him before this and felt sad because a good man like him is troubled by love.Now I feel embarrassed for being on his side!"

"Do you guys remember this b*stard saying Lily was the clingy one who kept pestering him? The video shows us who the real clingy one is."

"Exactly! He calls her clingy but do you guys see what he’s doing? He’s the one bothering her! How disgusting!"

"That b*stard has got to be the most shameless person in history!"

"B*stard! What a b*stard!"

Nathaniel could do nothing but sit by and watch as the netizens labeled him a b*stard.

Until now, he had not understood how the tables had turned again so quickly because of a video.

Still, some of Nathaniel’s supporters were defending him.

"He broke up with Melanie two months ago, and they ended things peacefully, so why can’t he look for a new love? Love is hard to explain.Also, people can easily fabricate videos these days.This video might even be fake!"

Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 418

"Lily isn’t even saying anything about the matter.Why are you guys making a fuss about it?"

Their arguments were invalid because many netizens soon posted their own videos of the scene to prove that the earlier video was real and not fabricated.

Some even suggested that people could visit the office building and ask around, as there were many witnesses that day.

The embarrassing fact that Nathaniel was taken away by the authorities was revealed, and people started making fun of him because of this.

Nathaniel was upset by this turn of events, but he assumed that a random netizen was responsible because he had not seen Lily's response.

Hence, he retweeted the video and even quoted it with "My love is fearless."

Nathaniel managed to come up with that after pondering for a long time, thinking that he sounded pretty cool.

‘What’s the big deal? I broke up with Melanie before pursuing Lily, so I have nothing to hide.Mom taught me that if I want to win people’s favor, I must first show them I’m not guilty of anything.Winning a battle is all about its strategy"

Less than an hour after Nathaniel retweeted the video with the so- called "cool"caption, a verified account quoted him with the text, " How shameless!"

Nathaniel almost exploded in rage.

When he checked out the verified account’s profile, it riled him up even more because it belonged to none other than Olivia! Olivia had used her real name as her username, and her introduction read, "A past research assistant at MN Inc.and a current research assistant at Rebirth."

Olivia enjoyed sharing cosmetics and skincare advice in her free time.

With a couple hundred thousand subscribers, she had the makings of a successful beauty vlogger.иσνєℓєвσσк.¢σмShe was able to escalate this war using her popularity due to the uniqueness of her identity.

It started as a discussion among those who followed developments in the perfume industry, but as word spread, more and more people joined.

Nathaniel’s follower count was growing at an incredible rate.

Many netizens swarmed his page, but most were there to watch the show while others trashed him.

Olivia's statements were so strong that it seemed as if she were lecturing Nathaniel directly.

Many people believed there was an inside story and asked for the truth.

Nathaniel was so mad that he called Olivia immediately, and she answered the call, which he did not expect.

Without beating around the bush, he scolded, "Olivia Hart! What the h*ll are you doing? What are you trying to say? You better explain everything to me now!"

"It is what it is"

Compared to his fury, Olivia appeared to be much calmer.

"Don’t you remember the things you’ve done?"

"What did I do? Tell me then! You wanted to leave the company, and I let you go.You caused all sorts of problems for me after you left, but I let you off the hook.What have I ever done to you that you needed to slander me this way? Did I owe you your salary or bonuses? You tell me!"

After lashing out at Olivia, he seemed to remember something again and continued, "Was it Lily? Did she tell you to do this?"

"Yes, you allowed me to leave MN Inc., but that’s because Lily made a deal with you.In exchange for my freedom, she had to give up on suing you for stealing her creations! You even came to my place and threatened my mother! Are you saying that you did none of those things?"

Olivia sneered.

"Pfft! Do you think I’m afraid of her suing me? Also, I went to your house to talk to your mother.When did I ever threaten her? Just ask your mom if I made her feel threatened if you don’t believe me!"

"Mr.Hall, you don’t need to put on a show for me.You know very well what went down between you and Melanie.Lily and I are crystal clear about it too!"

"You’re admitting that Lily ordered you to do this then, aren’t you?"

Nathaniel pulled his tie, loosening it, and thought bitterly, ‘I knew it was her!’

"It’s all me.I can’t bear this anymore because you're too shameless!"

Glancing at her phone recording everything, she said slowly, "I want to ask you this.Do you have the guts to admit that Lily created the past perfumes of MN Inc.? Do you have the guts to admit that she was your girlfriend while Melanie was your mistress? Are you brave enough to tell everyone that you were the one who cheated on Lily?"

Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 419

"I..." Nathaniel almost blurted something, but a thought hit him.

"Why should I admit that? I’ve never done such things, so how could I admit them? Olivia, don’t spout nonsense just because you have Lily’s support now.I did nothing wrong, so I'm not afraid of anything!"

Then, Nathaniel hung up.

‘Thank God I came back to my senses quickly.It’d be over for me if she were recording the call earlier" he thought, rubbing his chest.

He felt relieved and proud of himself that he did not give Olivia a chance to get any evidence.

On the other hand, Olivia was frustrated because he had hung up the call.She was so close to getting him to admit to his faults.

If she could get the recording and post it online, that would be the best evidence for this case.

However, he had stopped talking at the most crucial moment, refusing to answer her question directly, no matter what.

‘I can’t get any solid proof if he doesn’t admit to the questions.He’s a careful one!’ "I told you he won't get fooled so easily."

Lily disapproved of Olivia’s plan of provoking the answers out of him.If Nathaniel could be tricked easily, he would not have been able to fool Lily for so long.

Lily acknowledged that he was a cunning character.

"I’m so pissed off! He did everything but doesn’t have the guts to admit it.What a coward!"

Olivia fumed, throwing her phone on the desk.

"There are tons of people like that in the world.If everyone dared to admit to their faults, we wouldn’t need cops to solve crimes, would we?"

Since Lily did not have high hopes for Olivia’s strategy in the first place, the outcome did not bother her much.

Calmly, she asked, "Have you sorted out the information I told you about?"

"Yeah.It’s a good thing that we still have the notes."

Olivia nodded, and her spirits lifted again.

"I'll post it online right now."

"Great.Cover up the important sections, but make sure that the time and location are clear to the viewers."

Lily browsed through the material, ensuring everything was good before giving Olivia the green light.

Lily was well-prepared when she left MN Inc.back then.

Nathaniel thought she would no longer have access to the research data after he took them away, but little did he know that she had a habit of keeping backup copies of those things, be it in her laptop or notebooks.

Lily often got inspiration at home, not only when she was in the lab.

Hence, she would need somewhere to jot down her ideas.

How would a copy of her handwritten note be enough for everything? On top of that, Olivia was Lily’s assistant, and Olivia needed to keep her own records of the data and her learnings from the experiments.

These two research data records were the best evidence to prove everything.

As they expected, Olivia’s post caused considerable commotion online as soon as she released it.

The indecisive netizens who wanted to stay neutral regarding the matter had turned to support Lily.

After all, their evidence was solid, showing the truth more than anything else could.

This spoke louder than words.

Olivia uploading only Lily's notes would have given internet skeptics reason to wonder if Lily had plagiarized Melanie's work.

However, Olivia’s notes were part of the evidence too.

Who could she copy from? Lily? Anyone with even some knowledge of the perfume industry could tell that the notes were authentic.It was not something that could be copied overnight.

The records, learnings, reflections, and corrected sections recorded a perfumer’s effort in repeating the experiments to get the targeted results.

Although some of Olivia's records were covered up, it also showed the hard work a research assistant put in.

In an instant, Nathaniel became a lowlife everyone detested.

The netizens were using the hashtags "plagiarism,"

"corporate cheating,"

"Nathaniel is ab*stard,"and "Nathaniel owes Lily an apology"in their posts, resulting in the rising popularity of the topic.

"No! It isn’t like that!"

Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 420

Nathaniel broke out in a cold sweat in his office as he stared at his monitor intensely.

He never imagined that Lily would have such a trick up her sleeve.He did not expect Olivia to have a record of the research data either.

"No! I can still turn this around!"

Nathaniel stumbled to his feet.He remembered getting Melanie to rewrite a copy of the notes when they wanted to sue Lily back then.

It could serve as evidence for him this time around.

After digging around the entire room, he found the new notebook buried deep in one of the drawers.He put it on the table, preparing to take a picture of it, but he froze abruptly.

Nathaniel had forgotten an important detail.

When Lily left, she left problems behind for him, too, because part of the records was incorrect.

They were not glaring mistakes, so Melanie copied everything without making corrections since it was impossible for her to find them in the thick books.

If he published the notes he had now, netizens might find those mistakes, and the situation would become even worse for him.иσνєℓєвσσк.¢σмHe hung up the phone and tousled his hair helplessly, trying to find some positive spin on the situation.

Nathaniel looked at his monitor and saw tons of new notifications and his almost-exploding inbox filled with private messages.He did not need to read them because he already knew what they would say.

What else could they be if not reprimands and criticisms? Nathaniel’s mind was blank, and he slumped back in his chair while staring at the ceiling.It was funny.

Those were just words and comments on the internet, and they were something he could stop seeing if he just switched his computer off.

However, the words seemed like an invisible net trapping him.It made him feel suffocated from not being able to escape.He was aware of the terrifying power of public opinion in the current age.

On the one hand, he could cause a stir, gain prominence, and cash in on the public's pity to boost sales, but on the other, he could find himself on the receiving end of harsh words.

The calls for customer returns and boycotts were warnings of a potentially disastrous start.

After taking a deep breath, he decided to try one last time.

Nathaniel vaguely recalled that Lily had posted a short message to tell everyone that she was innocent and that she did not care what others thought of her.

Her brief words were so well received that they drowned out the scandals surrounding her job hopping and betrayal.It even won her new followers, who thought she was cool.

Nathaniel decided to employ a similar strategy.

Instead of blocking the netizens from commenting on his posts or sending him private messages, he retweeted Olivia's post.

He left a comment, saying, "I did nothing wrong, and I’m not guilty of anything."

After replying to the post, Nathaniel retracted his hands from the keyboard.He called the manager of the customer support department."Create a special helpline for product returns.Tell the customers that we’ll accept their return requests only in the purchase sequence.Slow down the process, but remember to accept some return requests."

The manager was surprised, "Mr.Hall, there are numerous applications for product returns now.Some had already used the products, and it's vicious of them to do this."

"It doesn't matter.Just do as I say.Tell the customers that’s the procedure, and we hope they’ll wait patiently.Remember to emphasize that we’ll try our best to meet their needs."

After telling the manager how to navigate the issue, Nathaniel notified the public relations department to release a statement similar to what he had said to the manager earlier.

Once he settled everything, he walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked over the horizon.

The wind was blowing strongly, making him feel chilly even though the glass separated him and the world outside his office.

It was a gamble to him.He was gambling for the public’s pity and good impression of him, hoping everything could turn out differently.

‘Lily, I’m going to gamble with you this time!'