"Lily, are you out of your mind? You're acting like a dog with rabies! What do you think you're doing?" Nathaniel started shouting from the other end as soon as Lily picked up the call. Fortunately, Lily had expected him to act that way, so she ensured the phone was away from her ears. Lily was not angry at all at the face of his insults. She smirked and replied coldly, "Mr. Hall, a dog with rabies bites anyone in its path. However, unlike you, I know exactly who I’m going after, so I’ll only attack you!" "You…" Nathaniel inhaled deeply. He would have torn her to pieces if Lily had been in front of him. "Lily Christian, I know what you want. I’ve ensured Olivia Hart won't be your lap dog anymore, so you're coming at me for revenge." "Finally, we've come to an understanding. By the way, you shouldn't insult dogs. They're intelligent and loyal creatures, much better than you could ever be," she added in a frigid tone. She did not care if Nathaniel insulted her, but
"Y-You have no proof!" Nathaniel was stunned for a moment before refuting heatedly. The blood in his body ran cold as his mind went blank. He had no idea how Lily learned about his use of company funds for personal expenses. How was this possible? He made sure not to tell anyone about it, not even Melanie. Lily was a nerd and only cared about her research and data, so how could she have found out? Nathaniel took the risk and assumed she was trying to trick him into a confession. "Enough of your baseless accusations. Where's your proof? If you continue this behavior, I'll have to press charges!" Nathaniel threatened. "Nathaniel Hall, do you think you're above the law? You keep threatening to sue and then eventually drop the lawsuit. You're just wasting everyone's time. Don’t push me too far, or I’ll make sure that when I press charges, you won’t get a chance to settle outside of court, and you can’t win against me, either! Get that into your thick skull. Do you think I’d
Nathaniel hung up the phone and took a cigarette break before entering the house. Inside, Melanie was sitting on the sofa, peeling an orange. Before putting it into her mouth, she ensured the orange was free of all piths. "Something wrong?" Melanie asked as she noticed he had a pained expression. She cleaned up the mess on the table, wiped her hands, and sat up. Nathaniel shook his head, indicating that he rather not talk about it. "Even if you don't tell me, I could guess. I heard a thing or two when you were on the phone. Lily was the one who leaked the information about our perfume, right?" Melanie was good at reading people as if she was filled with wisdom. Since Melanie had overheard his conversation with Lily, he decided not to keep it from her anymore. He heaved a heavy sigh, walked to the fridge to get a can of beer, and downed it. "Why are you so angry when she's the one who leaked the information? She's just asking for trouble. If that’s what she wants,
Nathaniel's mood improved as he listened to Melanie. He was so happy that he lifted her and spun a few circles in joy, "You're right! You're right! Haha, Mel, you're really my lucky star! With you by my side, there's nothing I fear!" "Hey, hey, put me down. I'm pregnant, remember?" Melanie patted his arm and said playfully. "Oh, right, right!" He put her down hurriedly and moved his ear toward her tummy, "Hi baby, are you okay?" "Stop being silly! How could you possibly hear anything?" She poked his forehead and laughed. "Of course, I can hear him! He's even calling me dad! Mel, it must’ve been tough for you. Thank you so much!" He stood up and put his arms around her waist. Their foreheads touched as he thanked her sincerely. "Since you're aware of how tough it’s been for me, treat me better, okay?" She said softly as she leaned into his embrace. Melanie had her ulterior motives as well. Since she was now working with Frank, she saw little reason to worr
It turned out Nathaniel had good crisis management skills since he knew how to use this issue to his advantage. After briefly reading MN Inc.’s announcement, Lily was sure her PR stunt had inadvertently earned MN Inc. good press with the public.Although some questioned MN Inc.’s motives and if the formulas were authentic, they speculated the reason for this stunt was that something big was coming up. These internet discussions were indirectly giving MN Inc. more publicity.“What do you think MN Inc. is trying to achieve? Isn’t this suicidal? Why would they expose their perfume formulas to the public? Unless they’re planning to stop their old production line?” Jenny placed one hand under her chin and spoke her mind.Jenny’s words brought attention to the fact that MN Inc. had decided to abandon its old perfume lines while trying to improve its branding image. However, it was something they got forced to do since Lily released their formulas. Still, Jenny and Lily wondered if MN Inc.
It would be okay if MN Inc. did not care about this matter. If MN Inc. wanted to sue Lily for divulging trade secrets, so be it. Considering Nathaniel’s petty personality, it would be a wonder if he ignored this matter.“Don’t worry. I dared to do this because I already had countermeasures at hand. MN Inc. will not use this to blackmail you anymore. Just come work here.” Lily patted Olivia’s hand gently to comfort her. Lily did not seem like she was saying that just comforted her as her bright eyes were full of confidence.“Lily, don’t tell me you made some deals or promises with that j*rk, Nathaniel?” Olivia asked after some thought. In Olivia’s opinion, Lily had made a deal or some sort of compromise to smoothly settle this matter. Nathaniel was not a generous person, after all.“That’s right. Don’t tell me you made a deal in secret. Please don’t be foolish. You have a bright future ahead of you.” Jenny shared the same concern with Olivia. Lily happily laughed when she felt Jenn
“No company can last long if it has no innovation. It’s also a problem I’ve been thinking about recently. I plan to make the changes before the market demand forces us.” Nathaniel tapped his finger on the table and looked at everyone present.“It may seem like we’re on the losing end since our competitors know our formulas, but don’t forget these old products have been around for a while. Even if we didn’t publicize it, some interested rival companies might have already developed it.“That is to say, even if our old products still sell well now, they will soon lose their competitiveness. We should aim toward developing new products instead of how to protect the older ones. That should be our focus to ensure our sustainability.” Nathaniel stood up and pressed down on the table with both hands.His points were sound and reasonable as he came fully prepared. The board of directors was initially skeptical, but his words were reasonable and made them contemplate further.“You might be c
Lily had always been indifferent to such things, which made him wonder when she noticed him using company funds to take Melanie out on vacation and buy her gifts.Nathaniel did not understand. Why did she wait until now to mention it when she had known about it for a long time? He could only think of two possibilities. The first one was that Lily did not know it before and only found out somehow recently. The second one was that she had known about it for a long time but pretended she was ignorant and unaware.Either possibility was scary to Nathaniel. Their confrontations just reinforced his sense that he had never really understood her. It made him wonder if she was still the Lily that he knew.Nathaniel clenched his fingers tightly one by one. His anger had reached a breaking point. He might have looked calm facing the board of directors, but he had been panicking the day before. He feared he could not reassure the shareholders, and it would be game over for him.Luckily, Nathan