Lily knew she would be rejected but did not expect to be turned down this quickly. Jenny Thorn's office door was shut tight, and her assistant would not let Lily in. She claimed Jenny was currently in a meeting and that non-permanent staff could not enter. Half an hour of waiting later, Lily realized that Jenny's meeting would not end anytime soon. Instead of simply waiting outside, she opted to enter the room unannounced. Jenny's assistant did not expect Lily to barge into the room, so she was helpless in stopping Lily and could only follow behind, yelling, “Ms. Thorn, she…” "Who gave your permission to enter?" Jenny glanced briefly at Lily and commented in a crude tone, "There's a meeting going on here. Unauthorized personnel should get out!" "I've officially joined Rebirth as permanent staff. On that account, I'm allowed to join the meeting as a staff member for this project, not just some unauthorized personnel," Lily elaborated while walking toward an unoccupied chair a
Seeing that Lily agreed so quickly, Jenny smirked in disdain. Even though Rebirth was a newly established company, it was still under the La Beauté Group. The staff members were all the best in the industry, which was why Jenny was unhappy with how Lily was employed. Jenny was relieved that she finally had an excuse to reject Lily from her team and fire her from the company. "You better not back out on our deal! I hate people like that!" Jenny quickly added, in fear of Lily regretting her decision. "Relax, I won't. Just like you, I hate people who do that as well," Lily nodded in agreement. Raising an eyebrow, Jenny turned slightly to her side and pointed at the table. "Come here."Lily stood up and walked toward Jenny. Shortly after entering the room, Lily noticed three fragrance bottles on the table in front of Jenny. All three of them looked the same. The amount of liquid content inside those bottles was probably the same, too. After all, Lily had previously worked
Jenny remained silent as the others in the room were shocked. They turned their heads to each other as if questioning who had leaked the information to Lily. Lily looked at Jenny's composed face. "These three fragrance lines, or should I say they're all from the same line, each contains one distinct ingredient from the other two lines. As a result, they differ just slightly from each another. Of course, you could argue they're from different fragrance lines since they're not identical." "Really?" Jenny smirked wryly, attempting to convince Lily that she was merely embarrassing herself by being wrong.Lily did not falter or question herself. Instead, she continued with determination, "Yes! These three fragrances contain only one different ingredient each, and the average consumer would not be able to tell them apart. However, those that regularly use perfumes would be able to detect it. In time, the distinct differences between these fragrances would be more noticeable."
"All right, you've passed the first challenge," Jenny concluded. Lily had more or less expected this, but she asked, "The first challenge?" Jenny laughed, "You didn't expect this to be the only challenge, did you? If you want the right to join my team, you play by my rules. Joining our company is no simple task." Jenny then questioned Lily crudely, "Those who successfully entered the company had to undergo a series of challenging written tests and interviews. What makes you think you're special?" That was what ticked Jenny off. When she was a recruit, Jenny had to study hard and undergo many interviews before being accepted into the company. Eventually, she became one of the senior managers at Rebirth. Jenny was confident in her abilities and the company's culture of doing things. In her years with the company, she had witnessed no unjust treatment or nepotism, so when she found out about Lily, she was shocked. Jenny could not figure out the deal with Lily. In any case,
On the surface, Lily appeared to be a gentle person and a pushover. However, every word that she had just said was biting. It was true that Jenny wanted to make things difficult for Lily, but after being called out so blatantly by her, Jenny could not do it anymore. “Three challenges!” Jenny bit her lip and yelled, “Since we’re all equals, everyone who joined my project had to go through three challenges, so you’ll do the same.” Lily stood up straight and nodded earnestly. “Okay! Since everyone here has done it, I’ll do it as well. However, I’d like to know what the second challenge is. Wait, or is it the first challenge? Since the one before might just be a trial run.” Lily looked as if she was genuinely curious about the rules of the challenges, but in fact, she was making sure that Jenny could not impose any sudden changes. Initially, Jenny wanted to make the previous challenge a trial run, but after Lily called her out again, she decided against it. “I’ve already
“Work?” Jenny shook her head. “You are not a team member, as you’ve not passed my assessment. Therefore, I won’t arrange any work for you.”Jenny added after a brief pause, “If you insist on doing something, then you can do the chores if you’re willing to.” “I’m not! I’m a perfumer. I know my role and what I should or shouldn’t do.” Lily said bluntly, “Although cleaning isn’t a degrading job, it’s not one I should be doing. Since you need three days to determine the content of my evaluation and there is currently no work arrangement for me, I’ll await your news, Ms. Gray.’Lily smiled faintly before continuing, “Oh, and if you haven’t come up with suitable content for my assessment in three days, I’ll assume I’ve passed your test and can officially begin working.” Jenny did not expect Lily to counter her response, and Lily did not even put on a show. Jenny had assumed that after being suppressed, Lily would try her hardest to impress her, even if it meant doing odd jobs like chor
The lawyer did not expect Lily to choose the impossible option without hesitation. He was stunned for a moment before immediately adding, “Ms. Christian. I don’t think you heard me correctly. You may be underestimating the severity and impact on your future. It won’t be just a simple apology if you lose the case. You’ll have to pay a huge compensation and may face jail time. Therefore, I advise you to think clearly because Mr. Hall only asks for an apology…”“Tell Nathaniel to stop daydreaming, or he might turn into an id*ot!” Lily interrupted the lawyer. “You said this is if I lose, but I don't believe I will. See you in court!”Lily hung up after saying her piece. How ridiculous! Was Nathaniel so sure he could bring her down with just those materials and so-called witnesses?She remained in the shadows for so long because she willingly became the stepping stone for him to climb higher. Now that she would stand up for herself, she vowed never to be that pathetic self again.Lily
Twitter was loaded up on the tablet's screen, and it appeared to be some breaking news. Lily recognized a well-known vlogger who frequently appeared on entertainment news.She sarcastically laughed and said, "I never expected Mr. Russell to look at gossip news."Alexander looked at her and did not reply. After seeing that look, Lily had an uneasy feeling. She turned to the screen again to look more closely. The news turned out to be about her. The main content was about Lily's time in college, with no mention of her name. To be precise, the years starting from college to her experience in the working world. The most detailed segment was about her relationship with Nathaniel and Melanie. The title was sensational— ‘Happy Hour With the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.’What?!Lily was stunned, but she was more surprised than angry. She had not expected Nathaniel to do such a thing, believing that he had already used slander to its full extent. Lily had no idea he had more tricks u
Lily tilted her head up to fight back her tears, saying, “There’s something I find strange.”“What is it?” Mike asked after comforting his son.“Instead of detaining Prince Ross, Her Majesty has sent him back to Yudonia. If so, why couldn’t we reach him?”After some thought, Mike answered, “There are two possibilities. It’s probably due to poor signals, or he doesn’t want us to contact him.”The two shared a look, knowing what each other was wondering.‘Why can’t we contact Ross? Is he planning something?’…Three days later, Lily inserted the last needle into the queen’s leg and looked up at her, saying, “You should start feeling your legs tomorrow. Still, it’ll take some time before you can stand.”Suddenly, Lily chuckled.“Why are you laughing?” Yasmin touched her legs. She had begun to regain sensation in her legs over the last two days. She then began to believe that she could get up. However, the queen was hesitant when the queen heard Lily chuckle.Lily shook her head
Lily straightened up and said without resentment, “Of course, you wouldn’t.”“That’s… quite a pity,” the queen murmured thoughtfully.“Well, there’s a price to pay for everything. That’s how the world balances itself,” Lily continued, “I can’t stop you if you must carry on with R10. Still, I won’t witness whether or not it succeeds. I just wish the outcome isn’t something you’ll regret.”Lily smiled and turned to head out the door.Rick heard their conversation as he stood guard outside. After exchanging looks with Lily as she brushed past him, he entered the room and saw the needles in Yasmin’s legs. “Your Majesty, those needles—”The queen waved dismissively. “It’s okay. Lily will remove them later.”Even so, Rick was wary. “You’re being too careless, Your Majesty. What if that woman—”“She wouldn’t,” Yasmin interjected, shaking her head."Why do you trust her so much?" Rick asked despite himself. The queen fell silent. If Rick had not asked her that, she would not have rea
Lily took out a cloth and unfolded it, revealing a row of silver needles inside. Yasmin was surprised she carried the needles with her.“Tell me. What do you want?” The queen took a deep breath to calm herself. She then reminded herself that she could always say no to Lily’s request. Still, Yasmin was cautious about Lily trying to trick her.Lily casually said, "I left because Prince Ross wanted to help me. I hope you don’t punish him.""That's it?" Yasmin thought she had misheard Lily. 'Is she trying to talk terms with me just so that I won't punish my son?' she wondered in disbelief."Ross is my son. I won't harm him. Don't you think you've wasted an opportunity by making such a request?" The queen shook her head. "I wasn’t sure if you’d blame him, but he did rescue me once. If I don't do anything, it would be ungrateful of me," Lily said gently, "Also, didn’t you already lock him up?"Yasmin was puzzled. "No, I only sent him back to Yudonia. He kept trying to get me to sto
"Three days," Lily replied.“That’s it?!” Yasmin was in disbelief. She thought Lily would try to buy some more time and suspected she would say the process would take several months or even years.‘I haven’t felt my legs for over a decade. I wouldn’t mind waiting for three more days.’“Are you sure I can get up and walk in just three days?” Yasmin pressed her legs hard but felt nothing. She would have treated her legs long ago if it were that easy.The queen had visited many famous doctors from various countries, but they could only stop her legs from getting weaker. However, Lily confidently told Yasmin that she could fix her legs so quickly.Yasmin wanted to believe it.After some consideration, Lily said, “I can’t guarantee that you’ll walk as fast as you once could. After all, you haven’t used your legs for a long time, and your muscles have atrophied. Still, you’ll recover slowly.”Yasmin nodded repeatedly, thinking it was good enough. She never dreamed of walking as well a
“Because only our opinions matter." Lily thought of something and said, "Unless you choose to believe Rhea.""I… don't trust anyone." Yasmin’s expression stiffened as she turned her wheelchair away."Your Majesty, I know you're dedicated to the experiment, but there are other things in life. Have you ever considered letting go of your burden to sightsee? You’ve done enough as a queen over the last few decades. Aren’t you tired of living a lonely life?”Lily gently spoke as she gazed at Yasmin’s back.The older woman caressed her knees with both hands and stared down at her legs, murmuring, “Sightsee, huh? I’ve forgotten what that’s like.”Yasmin had not used her legs for many years. Initially, she could still stand up and sometimes took a few steps. However, she could no longer get to her feet.She had grown accustomed to sitting in a wheelchair, but she felt a pang of sorrow after hearing Lily’s suggestion.Lily asked, “What if I can help you stand again? What if you can walk a
"Yes, I returned not just for him but also for you," Lily said, "I'm sure you were anxious for my return, weren't you?"Yasmin scoffed dismissively. "Why would I be? I have my bargaining chip. Besides, did you honestly think I couldn’t bring you back?""Bargaining chip? Do you mean Nick?" Lily shook her head with a smile. "Don't forget that he's not my son. Do you think he'll be much of a bargaining chip to you if I choose to ignore him for my three children?"She did not wait for Yasmin to reply and continued, "Besides, Nick still has a father who’s willing to die for him. If Mike decides to take drastic action against you— Yes, you're a queen, and you don't care much about an insignificant businessman.“However, don't forget that his business spans worldwide. There's no guarantee what he might do. Who knows, he might spread information that can affect Your Majesty and Yudonia's reputation?""You…" The queen was exasperated but could not retort.Lily noticed it and casually said
Rick could only remain silent at that moment.Yasmin then turned her wheelchair around and blandly said, “Bring Lily over. I’d like to see what excuses that sly woman can come up with.”"Your Majesty?" Rick was puzzled. "You know she'll just lie to you. Why must you—"Yasmin interjected, "I'd like to hear what she has to say."Rick had no choice but to leave and do as she said.As Lily was about to doze off, she heard noises from outside and opened her eyes. Immediately after, the door opened, and Rick appeared. He glared at her and spoke coldly, “Her Majesty wants to see you.”Lily glanced at Rick calmly and stood up as if she had expected his appearance. On the other hand, Mike rose before her and headed out.However, Rick stopped him as he reached the door. “You stay.”"But we came together!" Mike glanced over his shoulder at Lily, signaling her to persuade the man. Rick added, "The queen doesn’t wish to see you. Just stay here!"Lily patted Mike's shoulder and said gentl
Everyone was shocked when Lily returned to the embassy with Mike. One of the staff members quickly left to report the news to Queen Yasmin.Meanwhile, Lily saw people peering at her and Mike from the corner. Afterward, several guarded-looking men appeared. Lilt recognized them as the queen’s attendants. They brought Mike and Lily inside and then gave the duo a thorough search.The men only relaxed after finding nothing suspicious about the duo. Even so, Lily could not see the queen as the men told her to wait in an innermost room instead.After returning to the embassy, Lily felt a sense of strange familiarity. Although she knew the place well, her mindset had changed.She previously hated the embassy and simply wanted to escape. However, she had returned with a critical mission. Not only did she have to complete it, but she also needed to leave the place in one piece.While she was calm, Mike was somewhat anxious. He clasped his hands on his knees and glanced around as he sat dow
"I promise I'll do anything you want, okay?" Mike begged. He was desperate to see his son, so he decided to follow Lily when she insisted on returning to the embassy.Mike continued, “If any of you go with her, they might stop or suspect you. They won’t do that to me. It’s natural for me to want to see and rescue my son. I’m the best candidate because it makes sense for me to sacrifice myself for him.”After a short silence, Lily said, “You’re right.” She then looked at Alexander, who pondered before slowly raising his head and saying, “Me too.”Dominic tapped the table. "So do I."Cameron thought for a moment before saying, "I've no objections."Seeing this, Austin spread his arms and said, "Since you all agree, what else can I say? Let's do it!"It did not matter whether or not he agreed, but he just wanted to support Mike. The latter nodded and became emotional, saying, “Thanks, you guys!”"Why are you thanking us? Just be careful, and don’t be rash like you promised," Aust