That day, Sabrina returned to work at Johnson Group. She'd been recuperating at home since her suicide attempt.After leaving the perfume laboratory, she passed by the pantry and heard people chatting inside. She didn't know what they were talking about but stopped when she heard them mention Star&Ciel Group."Did you guys see the trending topics?" one employee asked."What's it about this time? I've been busy all day and just managed to squeeze out some time for a break. I haven't checked my phone yet," another answered."Half an hour ago, Star&Ciel Group held a press conference to announce the launch of a reed diffuser called 'Shooting Star'. They're entering the reed diffuser market, and the news went viral almost instantly. It's made it to the trending topics.""Whoa, are you serious? I can't believe they held a press conference and launched a new product without anyone hearing about it. They've done a good job keeping things under wraps!" a third employee said."I know, righ
"My God. Mrs. Layton's really something. Even her company's reed diffusers are more unique than everyone else's." Mack and the other assistants were on their phones, watching the livestream of Star&Ciel Group's press conference to boost the number of viewers.It actually didn't matter whether they were watching—there were already more than 500 thousand people watching the livestream, and the number was steadily increasing.Shooting Star was a line of reed diffusers with the four seasons as its main theme. The products for each season used flowers that corresponded to the seasons as the main ingredients. Different flowers were used for the top, heart, and base notes.That wasn't all. The packaging of the products was based on the galaxy and stars in the sky. It was beautiful and exquisite—that alone made the product worth collecting. One more unique selling point was that each bottle would have a quote engraved on it, which would be different for each bottle.The online community
At 5:30 pm, Lucille received a call from an unknown number. "Hello, who is this?"A woman's voice rang out on the other end of the line. "Hi, Mrs. Layton. My name is Bethany Somner. Mr. Layton sent me to take you back to Sparrow Residence. I'm already outside your office."Only then did Lucille remember Spencer mentioning something about this. She said, "I drove here, so you can just lead the way. I'll follow you."Bethany insisted. "I'll drive you home, Mrs. Layton. I'll have someone take my car back."Lucille didn't continue turning Bethany down when she heard her firm tone. She told Bethany where her car was and told the latter to wait for her in the basement parking lot.When Lucille reached downstairs, she noticed a tall, slender figure standing in front of a black Mercedes-Benz G class with her back straight.Her hair stopped right above her shoulders, and she looked cool. Lucille took in her black leather outfit as she approached her.Bethany greeted her, saying, "Mrs. La
It was 7:00 pm when Lucille, Jonathan, and Bethany arrived at Sparrow Residence. It was actually Lucille's first time there; she'd only heard about it before today. Now that she was seeing it in person, she saw how beautiful and grandiose it was.The butler, Herbert Baker, was already waiting at the entrance with the rest of the household staff. Lucille was taken aback when she saw them. Wasn't this a little too much?Jonathan followed her closely after getting out of the car. With her around, he could keep his emotions steady. He was still shocked by the welcoming entourage, though. There were way too many household staff.Herbert had seen photos of Lucille ages ago, so he recognized her immediately. Her unique bearing of regality and iciness also made her stand out. It was hard for anyone to ignore her.He stepped forward and said respectfully yet amicably, "Welcome home, Mrs. Layton."The household staff behind him repeated in unison, "Welcome home, Mrs. Layton!"Lucille was
Yet, when Lucille went to the window, she didn't see anything outside. She frowned. Had she been hallucinating? Why did she feel like she'd heard a beast's roar?She was about to turn away and return to bed when the bedroom door creaked open. She instantly noticed it and whipped around. Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the huge tiger that had suddenly appeared in the room.His fur was snow-white—there wasn't a single strand that was different or out of place.Lucille stiffened. Why was there a tiger in the manor?Only a thin sheet of glass stood between her and the tiger. The tiger bared his teeth at Lucille and growled fiercely as if she'd intruded on his territory. His eyes were filled with hostility as he looked at her.Lucille didn't move. She watched the tiger for a while before mouthing, "Let's have a nice chat, Mr. Tiger."She was infinitely grateful to Roger Gill, who'd forced her to learn animal taming from him for a month. If not for that, she wouldn't be able
Lucille woke up at 8:00 am. The first thing she did was grab her phone. Finally, there was a message from Spencer, telling her to call him once she was awake.She gave him a video call without even thinking—it turned out that she wanted so badly to see him. Yesterday, she'd finally understood what people meant when they said absence made the heart grow fonder. She'd realized that Spencer's absence in her life scared her.Spencer answered after a few rings, but he changed the call to a regular one instead of a video call."Hi, honey!" Lucille's tone was sweet and gentle, and her voice was a little raspy because she'd just woken up. She had no idea how alluring and seductive she sounded."Are you seducing me with your voice so early in the morning?" Spencer asked.Lucille was taken aback, and her face burned. What was he even talking about? When had she seduced him? She'd spoken normally, hadn't she?"Why didn't you accept my video call?" she asked, switching the subject. Still,
At 11:30 am, Lucille received a call from Spencer. After a few sentences, she realized that he sounded a little weird. "Did you catch a cold? Why do you sound a little hoarse?"Spencer had just woken up and had a low fever because of his injury. So, his voice sounded different. He said, "I'm fine. I just talked a bit too much during a meeting."Afraid that she would worry, he added, "Don't you worry about me. I'm as healthy as can be—nothing will affect your future quality of life."Mack happened to enter the room just then. He'd brought Spencer a glass of water. His lips twitched when he heard the latter's words. He had to applaud Spencer for being able to act like he was fine just so Lucille wouldn't realize he was injured.Marvonia and Whiteloop City were in different timezones—it was 3:30 am for them, and Spencer had gotten up to call Lucille without getting any proper rest.For some reason, Lucille's mind went down the gutter when she heard Spencer's words. She couldn't hel
"Is the Layton family behind this assassination attempt?" Zachary narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp. He looked like the boss of a gang.Spencer had just gotten his dressing changed. His lips were pale, and his deep voice was even hoarser than usual. "Maybe."Maybe? Zachary, Ethan, and Lucas were a little surprised. What was that supposed to mean?"We found the guy, but nothing actually points to him being the mastermind. Everyone and anyone that we can link anything to are only scapegoats," Spencer explained.Ethan snickered. "Not bad. This fellow's pretty good at hiding."Then, Zachary said, "Wait, you shouldn't have gotten injured with your skills."He rubbed his jaw. "Unless… you allowed it to happen. The accident from before didn't work out, so you're using this as a way to lure him out?"Spencer didn't say anything this time, but that was enough of an answer."Then, you had Mack and the others inform your family about this—you told them to report that you were seriously in