That night, Bethany went to report the information she'd dug up to Lucille. She handed the latter an envelope and said, "This is the information on Ms. Sage you requested, Mrs. Layton."Lucille sat cross-legged on the couch in the living room. She took the envelope from Bethany but noticed the latter holding another. Bethany continued, "Please go through this one first."She stood there and waited. Soon, Lucille frowned. Bethany asked, "Is anything wrong?""They're half-sisters?" Lucille asked."Yeah. You didn't know that?"Lucille was taken aback. No, she hadn't known about Sage and Eunice being half-sisters. She'd always thought they shared the same parents. The information indicated Sage had only been two years older than Eunice.Sage's mother and Carson had divorced when Sage had only been one. A year later, Carson had remarried and started a new family. It turned out there was a story behind the Lennon family's relationships.The information indicated that Sage had always b
Connor said, "Wait, Lucille's into perfumery, too? Why would she need to join any competitions with her status? She can just—""That's why she's a judge, not a contestant." Spencer sounded proud, and Connor could hear it. The latter was lost for words.…The following day, Spencer told Lucille he would be her driver for the day. What reason did she have to turn down a handsome and considerate man who was offering his services for free?Once they left Sparrow Residence, Herbert got to work and instructed people to do what Spencer had requested.This year's International Perfumery Competition finals were held at Whiteloop City's Golden Troupe Exhibition Center, a large space that could accommodate close to a thousand people.Outside the venue, three entrance and exit pathways had been set up—one for the contestants, one for the judges and VIPs, and one for selected audience members. The audience members could vote for the contestants.In addition to the contestants and judges, 500
Sabrina couldn't get a rise out of Lucille, no matter how nasty she sounded. Lucille merely continued to look at her indifferently, almost as if she were watching a circus act.The International Perfumery Competition would start at 10:30 am. It was now 9:00 am, and people were already starting to enter the venue.Sabrina needed to prepare for the first round of the finals. She decided to give up because Lucille wasn't responding to her taunts. She was sure Lucille wouldn't be able to enter the venue anyway.Lucille watched her. Then, she asked a question she'd already asked in the past. "Do you really want to become Deer's apprentice?"Before Sabrina could say anything, Lucille continued, "Whatever. I already know the answer. Let's hope your wish comes true, then."Sabrina's heart sank when she saw the pointed smile on Lucille's face. Then again, she figured there was no way the latter would know Deer, no matter how capable she was.Deer never accepted favors from anyone—she was
Some of the contestants started whispering among themselves."Why have they changed it to giving a theme on the spot?""I know, right? Didn't they already announce the theme? How can they just change it on the fly?""The formula I've prepared will be useless, then."Some contestants were worried, while some were unaffected."You guys still don't understand the rules of the International Perfumery Competition, do you? Yes, the theme was announced some time ago, but the committee also mentioned they wouldn't rule out a last-minute change." A woman scoffed. She couldn't help speaking up when she saw the chattering contestants."Don't tell me you aren't capable of doing anything now that the theme has been changed," she mocked. "If that's the case, you might as well retire from the perfumery industry. Don't humiliate yourselves."Someone wanted to retort, but they shut up when they saw who she was. They weren't afraid; they'd just been caught off guard.The fact that Deer was prese
Lucille guessed Sabrina had already finalized the best version of her perfume formula for the second section. She wanted to see how Sabrina would deal with this curveball.Sabrina felt like she'd swallowed a fly after she switched stations. She was pissed as hell but couldn't show it. All she could do was go along with the change.She didn't know why the rules for this year's competition had been changed on the spot. Could it be that she had been found out?Sabrina passed the first section in trepidation. She was the fifth to finish, taking 4 minutes and 50 seconds. She'd cut it close.Everyone was familiar with her. After all, she'd been embroiled in trouble arising from her personal life. In fact, she'd been one of the main characters in that scandal with the affluent families.Setting that aside, she'd also always placed in the competition, even becoming the first runner-up once. There was also the fact that she'd always been known as the talented heiress. That naturally made h
The committee didn't set any rules for the contestants' progress throughout the four hours. It was up to them to control their time. If they'd yet to complete the last step and produce a perfume at the end of the four hours, they would have failed.Four hours was long, but time flew when one was engrossed. Lucille watched the competition from her seat on the judge's panel, feeling a burning gaze on her the whole time. She knew who it belonged to.It was just that there were too many eyes and cameras around. So, she felt it was better to maintain a low profile. She forced herself not to turn around.…Meanwhile, the people at Windmere Manor were watching the livestream of the competition."Ms. Lucille is brilliant and talented above all else. To think she's already achieved so much in the perfumery industry at her age," Andrew said with gratification. "Your mother wanted you to learn perfumery back in the day, but you just weren't interested in it."She could only give up on the i
Still, there was no underestimating the power of the Internet. Some people had soon managed to dig up information on Samantha, but they'd been stopped before spreading the information. And so, only few people knew the truth about her.Samantha, who was contestant no. 9, was the first to finish writing her perfume formula. Lucille surreptitiously checked the time and saw that she'd taken 20 minutes. It wasn't considered too fast or too slow—it was a logical amount of time.Just because one wrote quickly didn't mean they would definitely win. The final product was still what would determine who came out on top.Zoe, who was contestant no. 3, was the second to finish her formula. Sabrina and the five other contestants followed. Most of them had finished their formulas within 30 minutes.Lucille kept glancing at Sabrina, so she saw every minute expression that appeared on the latter's face. It looked like she was confident she would win.Lucille smirked underneath the veil again. It
Matilda's mind exploded with expletives upon hearing the news. If not for her remembering that they were in the middle of a competition with a livestream, she would've shot up from her seat in astonishment.She calmed herself before asking in a lowered voice, "When did you get a husband? Why have I never heard about this? Why didn't you tell me?"She was so agitated that she forgot how to form the words in Summerian. Instead, she used Faelisian.Lucille reminded, "This isn't the time and place for gossip, Ms. Dunn. Watch where you are."Matilda looked around. She felt awful now that the flames of gossip had been ignited in her. "You have to tell me everything after the competition, then. Don't try to run away.""Okay, okay."To the audience, Matilda and Lucille's short exchange seemed like a discussion about the competition.The Johnson family only arrived halfway through the competition; it was too late for them to enter. However, due to their identities, the staff stationed at