Jeffrey gave Melanie no chance to retort as he pulled out a sleeping robe from his luggage case and headed to the bathroom, not even bothering to shut the door.Melanie sighed. She walked to the bathroom, and shut the door.Very soon, Jeffrey was done. Melanie hurriedly grabbed a magazine from the rack, feigning nonchalance. “You better get dressed and leave.”Jeffrey rejected her suggestion. “As usual, you’ll sleep on the bed while I sleep on the couch.” “This isn’t a presidential suite. The couch is tiny,” Melanie insisted.Jeffrey’s eyes turned dark as he said, “I just rushed back from abroad, and I have an international online meeting to attend in four hours. Ah… I’m so tired…”Silence ensued after that.Melanie looked over, and saw him curled up on the couch, his breathing steady. It seemed he was really exhausted. She couldn’t bear to chase him away anymore. In any case, he was sleeping on the couch and not really bothering her.On the second night, he complained about t
“I’ve looked through the portraits you’ve taken. The most popular one is the series with Mr. Lindsey. The theme was The Knight of Fragrance. As for the series you shot for me, you changed the name of the theme to The Genie of Fragrance. Since the masses love them, and you yourself are interested in the tools used in creating fragrances, why don’t you consider doing a fragrance series again?” she proposed.“Will you be my model again?” he asked.That was what Mr. Smith had in mind, but there were some problems in actual implementation.“You just used me as your model. If you do that again, you might tire of it. How about increasing the number of models from one to two? You can invite both the knight and the genie to come together to create a fragrance. I’m sure sparks will fly.”Mr. Smith’s eyes lit up. He admitted what Melanie said was right, but…“I’ve said it before, I’ll never shoot Gabriel Lindsey ever again!” he said stubbornly, brows furrowed.“If Gabriel weren’t as difficu
Two days later, Melanie arrived at the studio using the address Mr. Smith’s assistant gave her. To her surprise, she saw Gabriel already there. He was sitting silently, getting his makeup done and leaving his thinning hair in the mercy of the hair stylist.“How’s everything going?” Melanie asked the assistant in a whisper. He smiled, and said softly, “Mr. Lindsey came bright and early and cooperated well, but he and Mr. Smith are ignoring each other. They didn’t exchange a single word…”“It’s good for them to speak less to each other. The less they talk, the less likely a mistake is going to happen,” Melanie said with a smirk.Keeping their silence was the greatest level of tolerance these two geniuses were extending to each other.After Melanie had her makeup done, she and Gabriel changed out into a new set of office wear. The white and blue attire matched well with the clean and bright perfume studio. Silvery precision equipment and colorful bottles scattered across the table
Melanie agreed with her parents.She behaved just like any other ordinary person, playing games that other children played. She didn’t want others taking extra care with her because of her condition. She knew her body’s limits, and always watched her boundaries.“To think I share the same talent as the Angles. I’m truly a late bloomer,” Melanie said self-derisively.Just then, Mr. Smith put down his camera, satisfied.“Excellent!” he boomed.“You’re done, Mr. Smith?” Melanie asked with a smile.She and Gabriel were done with the first step of creating the fragrance, too.Mr. Smith nodded as he eagerly looked through the fruit of his labor. Melanie held the test tube, and took a deep whiff.“Hmm…”She subconsciously closed her eyes, thoroughly enjoying the light fragrance that was a result of the clash of inspiration between them.“Let me smell it, too.”Gabriel was immersed in the mood, and bent over to sniff the fragrance in her hand.“Whoa!”The crew gushed uncontrollabl
They had encountered a landslide in Northwest Village. Had he not rushed over and protected her with his own body, disregarding his own safety at such a critical moment, she wouldn’t have been lucky enough to survive.“Why didn’t I know about you saving me?” Melanie asked.“I once saved you in my dreams!”Jeffrey couldn’t be bothered to explain to her as he started the engine of the car, his face turning cold as he asked, “Where to?”“Home.”Her voice was crisp and clear, and Jeffrey found it exceptionally pleasing to the senses. His home was hers, and her implicit admittance to that lifted his mood instantly as he drove her back home.However, reality wasn’t as ideal as Melanie thought it to be.One of Mr. Smith’s crew members at the studio recognized Jeffrey after all. In her shock, she scrolled through her contacts and called Grace’s number.“Ms. Grace, I have big news. What price can you offer me?”“What big news can you have? Hmph.”The caller used to be a huge wannabe i
As expected, the banquet reached its climax an hour later.John took the stage to speak, praising himself eloquently before eagerly introducing Gabriel.With Gabriel by his side, John's confidence grew as he announced to the crowd, "I have good news to share with everyone!"Starting today, Mr. Gabriel will be the perfume consultant for White Group! With Mr. Gabriel's guidance, I believe White Group's perfumes will surely make a stunning international breakthrough!"The audience erupted into applause and praise.John scanned the crowd triumphantly, noticing Melanie standing in the front row. He squinted momentarily before decisively saying, "Apart from the elites from various industries present today, my colleague, Miss Melanie, is also here!"Following John's gesture, a spotlight illuminated Melanie, causing everyone's attention to shift toward her."Did anyone pay attention to the recent Fragrance Gathering? Melanie ranked in the top five and stood alongside four renowned perfu
"Because the previous night, the hotel room where I was staying suddenly caught fire," Gabriel continued, causing a stir among the audience. "Miss Melanie rushed into the room to save me at the risk of her own life. However, both of us suffered from smoke inhalation, and it took two days for our sense of smell to fully recover. Hence, we couldn't smell anything at the Fragrance Gathering.""What caused the fire?" Someone from the audience queried."Excellent question!" Gabriel pointed at the individual. "I wondered the same thing. How could such a coincidence occur in a high-end, professional hotel? Such a matter with a low probability of happening couldn't be mere chance, right? Would you like to know the truth?"As he spoke, he signaled for his assistant to come forward.The assistant connected a laptop backstage, and a large LCD screen descended onto the stage. The screen began displaying a photo taken by Mr. Smith. The photo had been enlarged. In the bottom right corner sto
"Let's leave it at that for now," Melanie said with a hint of resignation.She hadn't anticipated Jacob's appearance. Her plan was to exploit John's momentary lapse to pressure him into publicly admitting his involvement. However, Jacob's unexpected arrival threw a wrench in her plans."Just like that?" Gabriel looked at her, disbelief evident in his eyes. "That doesn't sound like something you'd say.""I said, 'for now,'" Melanie emphasized as she pursed her lips. "Besides, even if we didn't completely cripple White Group tonight, they will require a substantial recovery period. Our plan might not have achieved maximum impact, but it's far from a failure. Look over there..."Melanie gestured discreetly. Across the room, the head of White Group's business department was surrounded by a throng of people. Many guests tonight were White Group's partners, and now they were clamoring to terminate their contracts out of fear that White Group's tarnished reputation would affect them