Ch. 681..690
Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 681
Alexander deliberately made himself seem more vicious and pulled Lily closer. He softly spoke as he placed his forehead on Lily’s, “ Since I'm such a terrifying man, aren't you afraid of facing me everyday?"
Seeing him making faces on purpose, Lily laughed even louder. Her sullen heart seemed more at ease. "Why should I be afraid? Should I worry that you'll eat me?"
"So you're not afraid?” Holding her chin, Alexander snorted.
"Nope!" Lily shook her head, quickly kissed her husband's lips, and whispered, "It's not like you've never tried that before!”
Alexander did not reply because he noticed Lily was being provocative with her reddened cheeks. He did want to eat her right now. Suppressing his impulsive thoughts, he kissed her forehead and said, "It's easy to let a person die. Sometimes, living is more painful than dying.”
Hearing his words, Lily fell silent.
What Alexander said was true. If Henry got locked up and prohibited from exiting Sapphine, he could only stay and never get what he wanted. It would be suffering and tormenting to be so close yet far from his goals.
"Okay. You must be tired from the past few days. Rest early, and take good care of yourself. Let's go back to Brown City after your grandfather's burial." After tidying up the bedding, Alexander supported Lily's back with one hand and laid her flat.
"Okay."
The Lodge family had almost settled their affairs. Since Justin was in charge of the family, Henry had no choice but to accept that as a fact. Jonathan had also faded and never returned. Lily no longer had anything to do there.
However, Lily had lingering fears about the two people she fought today. Although she won, she did not know if they would return for revenge. Lily had heard of the Light-Shadow Killers and knew they worked for the family, but she was unsure if it was their personal mission or a mission sent by the Riggs Family.
At that time, it was an assumption on why she let the words out to those two people. It was shocking. As for the Riggs Family, why did they suddenly reappear after disappearing for so many years? She could find time to ask Justin to see if he knew.
Alexander noticed Lily blinking with no intention of falling asleep, so he covered her eyes with a half-threatening voice, "Don't think about it anymore."
Lily did not tell him about the battle at the Lodge family residence, nor did she plan to mention it for the time being. Alexander probably did not know about it either. After all, only the Lodge family was there at the time, and Lily did not want him to worry.
Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 682
"I recently heard the news about the new project department, and you did a good job." Joseph's voice came from the study, laced with satisfaction, "You didn't let me down."
Outside the door, Arianna stopped and held her breath subconsciously, not wanting to alert the people inside.
"Dad, like I said earlier, I won't disappoint you!" Damian's triumphant voice could be heard from inside, and he said confidently, "At least I graduated from business administration. Just wait and see! I'll make achievements that will impress all the company's old-timers!"
Hearing his words, Arianna almost laughed out loud.
This so-called accomplished newbie was just bragging. Joseph paid for his meager college education so he could be sent abroad to be plated with gold. Although he may have graduated as an honors student, he still lacked the skills necessary to manage practical operations. It would require him to face the complexity of the business, which a nerd like him would not be able to pick up in a couple of days.
Needless to say, Joseph was over-confident in his own son. For this reason, he was able to sit through his nonsense without batting an eye.
However, Arianna did not mind at all. If her brother was any dumber, the better she could control him. He was a pawn in her game of chess, at best.
Damian went on to say, "Dad, I'm still a little worried. You know the stubborn old people in the company are still biased towards Uncle Derrick. They won't necessarily accept me in the future.
Besides, he still has a son. Are you sure that the company will be ours in the future?"
Well, he was not completely stupid. At least he knew that there were still competitors.
In fact, Arianna was a little worried about the same thing. She could handle this matter easily, but Uncle Derrick could not be controlled very well. She had made preparations in regard to that. If that day really came, she may have to use some extreme measures.
She was thinking to herself, but Joseph in the room replied, "Don’t worry about this. Your uncle's health is getting worse now. It seems that he is seriously ill, but he’s just hiding it. I guess he won't be able to hang on any longer. As for Benedict... You should never be afraid of someone who has no ambition and no ability!"
His voice was full of contempt and disdain, “You don't have to worry about that. Just do your own thing and make good achievements. I'll help you with the rest!"
Damian was very happy, "Then I can rest assured! Thank you, Dad! As you can see, I've contacted Lily, the world's top perfumer.Everything has already been prepared. We're currently waiting for our company’s first perfume to enter the market. It'll be an explosive product, and it will definitely make a lot of money!"
"Well, then I'll wait for your good news!"
Inside, the father and son duo laughed happily. Arianna’s focus was on Uncle Derrick. Was he seriously ill? How long could he stay alive?
She knew Derrick's health was not very good recently, and he rarely came to the company. Most of the affairs were decided remotely. His condition was worse than Arianna had expected. Joseph knew about it but did not tell her.
Since Damian came home, Joseph has given almost all his attention to this brat. Meanwhile, Joseph was treating Arianna like an outsider.
Arianna had always known that Joseph had a very patriarchal outlook. However, it was not as obvious since she was the only daughter at home. Once Damian entered the scene, she immediately felt a significantly different treatment from Joseph. It was hard for her not to feel resentment.
Turning around and looking behind her, Eloise was standing there looking at Arianna. Arianna’s heart skipped a beat, but fortunately she calmed down and did not shout.
She did not see when Eloise came in, and Eloise had kept silent. She gave Arianna a deep look, pointed in the direction upstairs, and then went to the upper floor without saying a word.
Immediately understanding the cue, Arianna followed her mother upstairs lightly without disturbing the two people in the room.
Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 683
"Mom, when did you come back?" She asked after entering the room and closing the door.
“Not too long ago," Eloise said calmly as she walked to the wine cabinet and picked out a bottle.
She took two glasses, then sat down and asked Arianna to take a seat across from her. She then opened the bottle, and filled both glasses with wine.
Arianna sat down, picked up one of the glasses. She did not drink in a hurry, but swirled the glass gently, watching the red liquid flow.
"Mom, I'm sorry you have to go through this," she said.
"Likewise." Contrary to her, Eloise drank the wine in one go, then stared at the glass in a daze, "It's all fault. I'm sorry."
"Mom, don't say things like that!" She patted the back of her mother’s hand, disapproving, "Things are not at its worst. Why would you say such a thing?"
"It's because I'm not good enough. That's why dad brought the kid home!" Holding the glass tightly, her knuckles turned white. She gritted her teeth and continued, “I'm afraid it won't be long before dad brings that woman home too!"
Ever since Eloise retired and stayed home to take care of the family, she had devoted herself to the Tanners for many years. She thought that with her beauty and skills, she would definitely be able to win her husband's heart and enjoy the life of a happy and wealthy wife.
However, Joseph had never been a loyal person. After a few years with her, he began to resume his womanizing days, and even sired an illegitimate child.
She endured again and again, and now he brought his illegitimate child home. Joseph was constantly ignoring her and treated her as an eyesore.
"Mom, didn't we agree to work together? Why are you giving in now?" Arianna comforted her, "Don't worry, that woman and her son won't be arrogant for long."
"I don't want to see them even one more day! Do you know that that woman is openly calling herself Mrs. Tanner in public? I was at the store buying jewelry today..."
After a pause, her voice was a little choked up, "It was like a slap in the face!"
"You're also aware about Nathaniel. For for the sake of your father and this family, 1 don't even dare to acknowledge my own son! Such a pity! He...”
Saying that, she poured herself a full glass of wine again and drank it down fiercely. That was it! Arianna had a feeling her mother was bottling up a lot of feelings, and when she got home, she lost it.
However, considering how favored that little sc*mbag is in Dad's eyes at the moment, it was natural to entertain such a thought.
Everyone could witness it. Even if the family business was not solely his someday, Joseph still intended to train Damian as a successor. At least halving that amount would be a great accomplishment for the mistress.
Of course, if her son inherited the Tanner family in the future, she would be able to rely on him. The mistress knew it was only a matter of time before she moved in, and she was eager to finally introduce herself as Mrs. Tanner.
Even though Arianna had heard about the other woman her whole life, she had never actually seen her. When Arianna saw how angry
Eloise was, she was a little interested in meeting the woman.
Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 684
"Mom, try not to lose your cool. That woman's moment of triumph is fleeting at best. She’s not deserving of the title of Mrs. Tanner," Arianna said, her gaze growing intense. Eloise was startled.
"Arianna, what are you going to do? Don't touch her. You know how your father is.”
Using her own resources, Eloise could have dealt with that woman, but if she touched her, Joseph would find out. She was so kind in front of him for many years, but all her patience was in vain. She did not want to risk losing everything just because of asmall matter. Just like Arianna said, she should bear with the anger for a while. The final victory was to have dominance over the Tanner family. The winner of the battle was still unknown.
"Mom, don't worry. Of course, I won't do anything. However, only fate can decide what happens.” Arianna smiled lightly, took a sip of wine, and then seemed to remember something.
"By the way, Mom, is Uncle Derrick not feeling well recently? You and Aunt Stephanie are relatively close. Have you seen Uncle Derrick lately?"
Shaking her head, Eloise said, "I've been there twice, but Aunt Stephanie kept saying that Uncle Derrick needed to rest. She sent our regards to him, but I haven’t seen him in person. Why?"
"It's nothing. I just heard Dad say that Uncle Derrick doesn’t have much time left."
It seemed that even Eloise did not know about it, proving that what Joseph said was likely true. Why hide it if it was not at least somewhat accurate? “What?!" Eloise was taken aback, "No way! If that’s the case, the Tanner family and company's affairs must be arranged as soon as possible. However, I checked the living room earlier, and it seemed silent!"
“Maybe they’re not ready to make arrangements yet?" Arianna said meaningfully, Mom, is Benedict not back yet? I heard that he disappeared?
" "Is that what your father said again?" Arianna shook her head, "No, I heard it from my friend. He said Benedict was missing, which was why Uncle Derrick became seriously ill. It seemed that he was going south of Middle Valley to find something. After that, they lost contact. Uncle Derrick secretly sent someone to look for him, but there was no news. It's very likely that..."
Rubbing her neck with her hand, she continued, "Maybe that was the reason that triggered Uncle Derrick’s health. Since you went there recently, did you notice anything different with Aunt Stephanie?"
How could her expression and words show any flaws if that was the case? It was impossible to have no emotion at all. After thinking about it carefully, Eloise frowned, "When you put it that way, that does remind me of something. Aunt Stephanie's health hasn't been great. She rarely went out for many years, but it seems she’s been going out more frequently recently. Moreover, I heard she’d occasionally visit the company and meet with directors. As for Benedict, she didn't mention anything..."
"Maybe Derrick is really running out of time?" Eloise’s hands trembled in shock, and the red wine in the glass splashed out.
"If that’s the case, then your father will act faster. Arianna, if Damian gets his hands on the Tanner Corporation, we’re finished! How could we continue to live our lives?”
Arianna took her hand and said, "Mom, that little brat won't be able to make a difference. The most important thing for us now is not to deal with him, but how to win people's hearts in the company. A few of them are already on my side. There are only a few more in the top management that are difficult to handle. However, if Uncle Derrick and Benedict are out of the picture, that’s good news for me!”
That little brat would not be able to stir up a storm! With his experience, who would even bother to sit on his boat? Soon enough, he would learn that the higher he climbed, the harder he would fall!
Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 685
Nathaniel was still in bed when he heard a loud knock and his room door flung open. He got up while yawning and went to get a cup of coffee. His hair was in a mess, looking tired. He started sleepily, “ What do you need to tell me? What's so important that you had to invite yourself here? Can't we just talk at the office?”
Arianna kicked something beside her aside and looked at Nathaniel’s place disapprovingly. “Can't you clean this place up? Better yet, can't you employ someone to do it for you?! Look at this mess!”
“Who would come and clean up? Besides, I'm living here alone, and I don't have to take care of anyone nor need anyone's help.”
Nathaniel lay on the sofa and placed his legs on his coffee table while sipping his coffee. “Feel free to make yourself at home.”
Arianna’s brows furrowed as she looked around the room. She spotted a bar stool and sat on it, “Have you heard? Henry got caught and is being held somewhere.”
“I knew it.” Nathaniel pointed at Arianna with his index finger and replied nonchalantly, “Calm down. Don't worry about it.”
“You're quite calm, aren't you? I wondered who the person was who assured me that everything would work according to plan.”
Arianna sounded calm, but she was annoyed with him. They had done everything to support Henry Lodge and ensure he could secure the head of the family position. They wanted to drag Lily down while at it as well. Unfortunately, nothing went as planned, and they ended up failing.
Why was Lily so difficult to deal with? If this were two years ago,
Arianna would not even notice such a nobody, but now she had been hearing Lily's name constantly around her. Arianna hated Lily's name even more so than Damian's.
“There’s no such thing as a foolproof plan,” Nathaniel drawled. He continued, “I received information that no one else knows at the Lodge family’s residence the other day. The people Henry brought with him also disappeared. Don't you find this strange?”
“No, I don’t! I only want results! Results! Nathaniel, where's the result you promised?” Arianna yelled and extended her hand toward him, “Now what?"
“Yes, results are important, but you can't say the process wasn't either.” Nathaniel lowered his legs from the table and sat up. He set his coffee cup on the table, took out a pack of cigarettes, and started smoking. “I'm still waiting for my informant. I want to know what happened the other day and where Henry disappeared to. I'm interested in what happened to the people Henry brought. They were all trained in kickboxing! ”
“Does this mean there's another skilled kickboxer in the Lodge family that we don't know of?” Arianna said out loud while she thought about the possibilities.
Nathaniel remained silent. He was also trying to figure out how to explain this. At first, Nathaniel had wondered if Lily was responsible for this, but this possibility was very low. Nathaniel did not know that Henry had hired the infamous Light-Shadow Killers.
However, Henry dared to return to the Lodge family residence, even though he no longer knew kickboxing. It meant the people he hired could deal with the Lodge family.
Henry knew who he was dealing with since he used to be one of them. Aside from the Lodge family apprentices, every member of the Lodge family had more or less a kickboxing background. Henry would not have risked it if he had no confidence in his hired help.
However, he failed to take back his position. It could only mean that a hidden member of the Lodge family was highly skilled in kickboxing.
Who could it be? Could it be Justin?
“Enough of the speculation. We're not even planning to fight. Since Henry has failed, which disrupted our plan, everything might go down the drain,” Arianna commented in annoyance.
Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 686
Unlike Nathaniel, Arianna was more concerned about who could benefit her more in her struggle to gain power within the Tanner family.She did not care about the kickboxing aspect of these families.
“That may not be true,” Nathaniel remarked while shaking his head.
“What do you mean?” Arianna asked.
“I’m saying Henry would not give in to destiny that easily. He would not concede defeat so quickly,” Nathaniel had taken his time to learn about Henry when he conducted his background search on him.
After being banished from the Lodge family, Henry’s hatred grew to the extent that he only wanted to return to the family to regain his authority when his father died. Someone like him would not give up and admit defeat that easily.
Arianna disapprovingly frowned as she remarked in annoyance, “ Why are you so determined to place all your bets on him? Why do you believe in him so much? From my perspective, we should try to mend our relationship with Justin instead of waiting for him to make his grand return.”
“I'm not placing all my bets on Henry. I'm merely waiting for an opportunity,” Nathaniel extinguished his cigarette as his eyes darkened.
“I think we should leave the Lodge family alone for now..“
Now is the best time for us. I've already sent out our people to spread the news about Lily using poisonous content in her perfumes. Very soon, we will destroy her reputation in the perfume industry, and she won't be able to continue. When that time comes, we will have already introduced our new perfume to the public,” He concluded.
“What are you so happy about?” Arianna snapped when she saw Nathaniel smiling.
“Do you wish for other perfumes to sell well or otherwise? The company won't credit you if they're popular amongst the consumers, but you'll take the fall if something bad happens.”
That was why Damian had continued to tolerate Nathaniel as his assistant manager, even though Nathaniel often ticked him off.
Damian needed someone to take the blame if something went wrong.Even though Damian was very confident in himself and that this issue would proceed without difficulties, he was still cautious. If sales turned out to be lackluster, or if anything unintended arose, at least he had a scapegoat.
Nathaniel knew what Damian was planning. He only laughed, “This is child's play.”
“Don't underestimate him, or you might end up sinking alongside him. | honestly don’t care if your ship sank, but make sure you don't mess up my plans along the way,” Arianna told him.
After they confronted each other, Arianna no longer had to pretend to be nice in front of him.
“Don't worry. It won't disrupt our plans.” Nathaniel had intentionally stressed ‘our’ to show Arianna that their interests were similar.
“Your brother is very weary of me. He did it all on his own, from contacting those people to communicating and meeting them. He didn’t need me at all, and |’m glad | didn’t have to go through all the hassle.
“However, he’s still young and reckless. Something phony could never be real. What would happen when people found out? That would be interesting.” Nathaniel placed both his hands at the back of his head and leaned into his chair. He was delighted to see what would happen next.
Nathaniel watched Damian's every move. Nathaniel provided the guy he had used as his informant. Of course, Nathaniel was careful in handling this and ensured no evidence would be linked to him.
Yet, that fool, Damian, was celebrating because he thought he had managed to gain resources and a new business partner. Everything was going according to his plan, and soon enough, a huge scene would unfold.
Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 687
The forensic department's autopsy report was final, and there was no more dispute about Wilfred’s death. Soon after, the Lodge family finally buried Wilfred’s body.
After settling his funeral, Lily wanted to discuss the issue about Henry with Justin, but she was astounded when her name once again became a hot topic on the internet. This time it was not good.
The post consisted of her voice recording. The recording only contained a short part of what she had said in the Lodge family meeting, explaining that she could easily mix poisonous content into her perfumes.
The recording created waves of commotion on the internet. Lily’s name was among the most searched on Twitter, which slowed their servers down for a moment. This issue stirred up a considerable ruckus everywhere because it was too controversial.
Who would still dare consume Lily's products if she could add dangerous substances to her fragrances? No one in their right mind would still want to use perfumes, essential oils, or scented candles that were not deemed safe.
The news quickly got out of hand, and Alexander wanted to get his PR team to deal with it, but Lily stopped him.
“This is a conspiracy. Since this issue has blown up, the public will be watching us. If you suppress the news now, it will only lead to more criticism, and the public will think I've done it.””
Lily continued, “Since this has already gotten out of hand, let's just leave it. Besides, if they're willing to spend money to ensure I'm top of the list on Twitter, let them be. It's not every day that I can end up as the most popular topic on the internet.”
Alexander was surprised. Lily was taking this much better than he had expected.
“However…..” Lily paused and looked at Alexander apologetically.
“ Although this news is entirely untrue, this will still affect Rebirth and La Beaute Group's reputation, and I'm truly sorry about that. I promise this will die down very soon,” she guaranteed.
Alexander took her hands and said softly, “Stop being silly. There's no need for apologies. Remember that we're a team. Anyway, do you think I'm scared of such a pathetic scheme?”
His confidence rendered Lily speechless, but she had to admit that he had the right to boast. Alexander was the director and the head of La Beaute Group, and it was only natural that he had faced many challenges and conspiracies to get to where he was today. It was no surprise that he was not at all intimidated by such a minor issue.
“I think I know who's behind this, but I never expected them even to reach the Lodge family members,” Lily remarked. It was not challenging to deduce, even though it looked like Henry was responsible for the family's commotion. However, he could not have done it without external help. Aside from the Light-Shadow Killers assisting Henry, Nathaniel also played an unknown part in this commotion.
Although Lily could take photos of Nathaniel and Henry meeting, because they were too far away, she could not hear what they were saying. Her relationship with Nathaniel had already taken a turn for the worst, so it was not surprising that he wanted revenge.
Firstly, it was evident Henry was not the one who leaked the recording, as he was still being held somewhere. Secondly, since the recording included Henry’s voice, he would not have risked exposing himself.
“Mr. Russell, there’s a phone call for you,” Edward answered a call and walked over to pass it to Alexander after saying a few words into the phone.
Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 688
When Alexander answered the phone, Lily was close enough to hear what was being said even though he did not use the loudspeaker. It was a Call from the headquarters of the La Beaute Group.
Asurge in refund requests came in at the company's mall outlets in the past three days. It did not matter if the item was brand new, secondhand, or had been bought long ago, as customers still brought in their complaints about it.
Management at the malls has warned La Beaute Group that if the issue was not fixed soon, the stores would be shut down.
“Are you serious? Why do you need to consult me about issues like this? Is the PR team that useless?” Alexander replied coldly. It was not because Alexander did not know what to do but because La Beaute Group was a vast global corporation in which everyone had a role. This issue was a nightmare for the public relations team, so they were the ones who had to deal with it.
If they called the director for every occurrence, he would be unable to delegate his job properly and would be burnt out very soon. Though Alexander did not sound angry over the phone, it was evident that his tone was cold.
The person on the other end gulped before continuing, “T-The PR team had started handling this issue, but since this involves Ms. Christian, w-we wanted to ask for your opinion...”
“Ask for my opinion?” Alexander laughed coldly, “Since when had the PR team become so lax and hesitant in doing their job? Handle? Tell me how they’re planning to handle this issue?”
It was impossible that the PR team would do nothing, but the person on the phone was so hesitant to report to Alexander because this involved Lily.
“Mr. Russell...” he paused for a while before continuing, “The PR team wished to ask Ms. Christian to take a break for a short time. The criticism about her is at its worst now, and we think it would harm Ms. Christian more if she continued to work. We have dispatched representatives to each shopping center to engage with shoppers and mall management.
““We have also reached out to specific departments that could test our products’ raw materials and publish reliable reports about them. The media had been contacted to hold a press conference once the reports are out to provide the public with an explanation.”
To be fair, the PR team did an excellent job planning their proposed solution. They would have put the responsibility squarely on Lily's shoulders and sacked her if they had not learned of her relationship with Alexander. After all, she was primarily responsible for damaging the company's image through her carelessness.
“Since you're so confident with your team’s solution, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and do it! ” Alexander remarked and hung up the phone.
After obtaining their boss's approval, they could finally set their plan into motion. After hanging up the phone, Alexander noticed that Lily was staring at him.
“I'll leave for Brown City tomorrow. You should use this opportunity to take a break. After so many things that have happened recently, you must be exhausted,” Alexander said to Lily while looking at her lovingly.
“Can I come with you?” She asked suddenly. Alexander was taken aback by her question as Lily explained, “I meant to the press conference. Can I come with you? I'd like to explain the incident with the recording personally.”
“The recording...” Alexander had meant to ask her about it but was side-tracked as he was interrupted by so many things happening at once
“Right, I was meaning to ask, about the raw materials.Js it true that you could add something to it?”
Alexander was not a professional perfumer, so he was unsure if it could be done. He had never heard of anything like this before.
This was why, when her recording was exposed, it caused such a huge controversy.
It was after all, unheard of that people could be poisoned by some raw materials in their perfumes. To the average consumer, this could not only jeopardize their health but also cause danger to society!
“You mean putting poison into the scented candles?” Lily smiled, and her cell phone rang as she was about to continue explaining.
Initially, she wanted to ignore the call, but it kept ringing incessantly, so she frowned and took out her phone from her pocket. Her frown only deepened when she glanced at the caller ID.
Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 689
Even though there was no caller ID, she knew who the number belonged to as they had contacted her frequently just a few months ago. It was from Kingsland. She answered the call but remained silent while waiting for the other side to speak.
“Is this Lily Christian?” The person on the other side asked impatiently.
“Yes,” Lily replied.
“Lily Christian, the Perfumers’ Society has decided to revoke your license as a perfumer, and you'll need to be questioned and checked!” He said crudely. There was an air of arrogance in his tone as well.
Lily smirked and looked at Alexander, then asked, “Who do I have to be questioned by?”
The guy on the phone did not expect Lily to be so calm, so he paused before saying, “By the Society, of course! You've caused controversy and brought shame to the perfume industry, so we're considering suspending your qualification. After some questioning and background check, we'll decide whether to reinstate you.”
To stress that he was not joking and to make Lily realize how serious of an offense this was, he paused and then continued in a severe tone, “We're not joking with you. Your incident has caused harm to our industry. Being a perfumer, how could you have said something so irresponsible? If the results we obtained after the tests were positive, you may very well lose your qualification as a perfumer, which will indefinitely end your career!”
If he were to say the same thing to other perfumers, they would be afraid and give in to the Society. However, Lily was not the same and even laughed into the phone.
“Hey, are you even listening? Ms. Christian! It doesn’t matter what background you have, as you can't escape the surveillance of the Perfumers’ Society. Now, the Society has only chosen to take the first-"
Lily finally interrupted him, “I'm sorry to cut you off, but I just wanted to inform you that I've never sat for the licensing examination. You don't have to worry about revoking my license because I don’t have one.”
The person on the other end was so shocked by her words that he did not know how to react.
“As for the questioning or background check, it's up to you. By the way, if the entire perfume industry would be affected just because of me, then I guess the Perfumers’ Society is quite incompetent in handling a crisis,” she concluded and hung up the call.
Lily could finally sigh in relief as she took a look at Alexander. He was still holding her hand while having a calm expression on his face.
After hearing her conversation with the Perfumers’ Society, he did not look surprised at all.
“Aren't you curious?” Lily could not help but ask.
“Curious about what?” He was confused.
“Curious as to why I don’t have a perfumer’s license?” Lily tilted her head and smiled. She mischievously tickled his palm with her finger before continuing, “I’m an employee at your company, yet I don’t own any license to work as a perfumer.”
“That license, is it useful?” Alexander just blinked and glanced at her. His face exposed the fact that he did not care about it.
Spoiled by Mr. Russell Chapter 690
Alexander was not pretending but truly did not care about such a thing. That made Lily’s smile widen because he understood her so well. Back then, she did not take the exam for the perfumer certification because she felt it was too formalized.She decided to take the perfumer's grade exam because, as a newcomer to the field, she was eager to demonstrate her competence but needed more confidence in her ability to create fragrances.
The second reason was that Nathaniel convinced her to. He had just started a business and was looking for a perfumer to head the Research and Development department. No matter how well- known a perfumer was, having a certificate attesting to their proficiency benefited the company.
On the other hand, Nathaniel knew little about the perfumer certificate and did not care much about it. On top of that, Lily discovered via her research that most of the required syllabi for the certification were rigid, theoretical items. In contrast, creating scents was a creative endeavor that called for talent..
She had spent a week perusing the reference books before giving up on studying for the exam because she had discovered numerous errors inside them. Besides, she had no plans to take on the industry's established veterans.
Out of her long career in the perfumery industry, she had only worked in two companies. She started at MN Inc., but after cutting ties with Nathaniel, she moved to Rebirth. No one had asked her for her perfumer certificate, so it was left aside.
If it were not for the case this time around, no one would have known that she had never taken such a test before, even the
Perfumers’ Society. They had never expected that she would not have the most basic type of certificate as she had participated in many international competitions and won several awards. It was just ridiculous for them to want to revoke her achievements now.
“Oh, right, back to the question you asked me earlier. Actually...” Lily paused and thought about it carefully. “It's not impossible to put poison into the perfumes, but it's not too big of a concern for the consumers.”
“Hm?” Alexander raised his brows and said nothing. He was waiting for her to continue.
“Concerning my Grandpa’s issue, didn't I use your company’s lab in Sapphine a few days ago? I did this experiment and tried to add toxins to the ingredients. It’s plausible, and it doesn't even affect the natural scents of the ingredients that much. I would say that it's possible to poison someone without getting noticed. However, there’s a weakness in this type of ingredient. It can’t be stored for a long time.”
She continued to explain, “You know that the ingredients used in perfumes are all volatile substances. It would have a limited shelf life even if it were sealed and stored correctly, not to mention exposure to the outer environment.“
If it were exposed to the air, it would degrade very quickly.
Moreover, the ingredients are unstable in the first place. Just think of how long it would take before the ingredients reached the consumers, from being produced in the factory and manufactured until they're finally in the market.
“The most important thing is that... even if I could do that, I'm only involved in researching and developing the perfumes. The factories are the ones that put the ingredients into production, so if poison was truly present in the ingredients, the workers in the factory should be the first batch of people to get poisoned, no?” Lily stuck out her tongue and smiled helplessly.
“Besides, what good will doing such a thing do for me?”
Initially, Alexander was just curious, and her explanation cleared his doubts.
“The public is always blind and would always base their opinions on the things they see or hear from the internet. This issue would blow up with someone stirring it up from within. However, these lies can’t stand their ground for long, and hence, they'd dissipate as fast as they came. The only thing that needs to be settled is the person stirring up this issue.”
No one in the Russell family would be so shameless as to resort to such a tactic. Recently, however, he had been in Sapphine, and in addition to running his own business, he had been tending to the needs of the Lodge family, which meant he had neglected the rotten apples out there.