This punishment was more severe than any physical punishment to Brittany.“Mom…” She had cried and begged, but it was clear from her parent's attitude that there was no room for negotiation.“Tanny…” Sydney Oakley sighed. She wanted to say something but kept silent when she saw her son’s face when she turned around. She could only look away and cry.Brandon put away his carefree attitude and said sternly, “It’s useless for you to ask for anyone’s help now! Weren’t you fearless when you provoked him? Why hadn’t you considered the consequences you would face now? Stop pampering her, mother. We over-pampered her and ended up harming her instead! Oakley's family business will likely collapse if we don’t send her abroad. It will be the end for us!”Sydney paled and said cautiously, “N-No. it won’t! After all, our family had connections for a long time and I even watched Alexander as he grew up. Tanny made a mistake in a moment of confusion. She had liked Alex since young and he knows ab
“Who are you looking for?" Brandon asked, frowning.…The car slowly drove into the yard and parked. Even before entering the house, conversations from within the living room could be heard. It sounded pleasant, with occasional chuckles. Upon entering the house, Arianna was startled to see her mother sitting on the sofa with Brittany beside her. After a bit of hesitation, Arianna changed out of her shoes and walked over with a smile. "Mom, I'm home. I didn't know Brittany was here!" The way she greeted Brittany was warm and natural, as if nothing was wrong. Eloise nodded with a smile. "Brittany has been here a while. She was just chatting with me. She's such a wonderful girl. Look at you. God knows what you're doing all day that you don't even have time to talk to your own mother." "I've been occupied with all the things happening in the company recently. You know how busy Uncle Derrick has been. I'm just doing what I can to help ease his burden!" She said playfully. "Yeah, yeah.
"Arianna, where were you that night?" Brittany asked calmly."Oh, that night. I drank a little too much and was tired, so I went to rest. Besides, I wanted to make sure you had a good time. I didn't expect to fall asleep." Arianna scratched her head. "I'm sorry about that! What happened that night?" Brittany did not answer straight away. Instead, she studied Ariana's face, trying to see if she would slip up. However, even under Brittany's scrutiny, Arianna was calm and did not falter. She even blinked innocently, looking puzzled. "I wanted to ask why the paparazzi were there at half past nine when they were supposed to come at ten. Now, it seems like I didn't even need to ask," Brittany said lightly after a moment of silence."Huh? What?" Arianna exclaimed as her eyes widened. "Did they come at half past nine? Why were they so early?""Exactly. Why were they so early?" With a slight smile, Brittany lowered her head and said, "Maybe it's providence, or maybe it's a punishment for my i
"Nothing. I think she's just in a bad mood." With a shrug, Arianna turned to grin at Eloise. "Mom, didn't you say that you were preparing desserts?""You're still a little pig, aren't you? Aren’t you worried about gaining weight?" Eloise lectured. However, she still beckoned a housekeeper to bring over the desserts she had prepared. "Speaking of which, didn't you say you have a boyfriend now? Who is it? Why didn't you bring him home for me to see?""We broke up," Arianna replied nonchalantly.Eloise was stunned. "Broke up? Why did you two break up out of nowhere? Didn't you just say that you wanted to bring him—""Oh, you know how we young people are, Mom. It's normal for us to fall in and out of love. If we don't feel like we're fit, we'll break it off," Arianna said with a wave of her hand. "Mom, don't worry. I'll ensure the guy I bring home will be the best son-in-law you'll ever have."Seeing how unconcerned she was, Eloise sighed. "How can I not worry? Your dad is going to marry
Before Eloise could even say anything, Arianna smiled. "It's just a passing thought. Won't it be great if it did happen, mom?"Looking at Arianna, Eloise stayed silent for a while before she said, "Y-Yeah."Although Eloise constantly had sinister thoughts, she would never go to that extent, regardless of the other means she had tried to use. She did not have the guts to kill anyone. However, she began to wonder if Arianna had brought it up unintentionally, or could it be…When Eloise worriedly looked at Arianna and noticed her head lowered, innocently enjoying her dessert, Eloise brushed it off as overthinking.…Although the Perfumers' Society was not that popular, it was regarded highly among people in the perfumery industry.Those who were part of the society would have several awards in their hands. Of course, the perfumers were not young. Therefore, Lily was surprised to receive an invitation from them. After all, she was still relatively new to this industry and did not hav
There were no clues from the handwriting. As Lily read the letter, she felt the organizer had invited her to play detective. 'Is this a test?'She smiled, put the letter down, and picked up the small vials. They were just ordinary perfume bottles. Although the letter mentioned making at least two different scents, six bottles were prepared.They seemed confident that Lily would accept this challenge. However, she began to wonder if those who made it into the Perfumers' Society had also gone through this.Whatever the case was, Lily decided to fully utilize the whole week to take a good look around the yard and familiarize herself with the environment.There were all sorts of plants in the yard. Indeed, it was as the letter had said. However, they all seemed very common. There was a shed in the backyard where the supposed laboratory was. Although it had quite a few pieces of equipment, it still was not the complete set.Indeed, this place was strange at first glance, but now that L
Connaughton Lane in Kingsland had always been notoriously lively at night. There were all sorts of bars with people from all walks of life.However, few knew about a secluded alley a few miles away from Connaughton Lane. There were a few bars, but there were not as many people. The people who went there were niche. Small shops catering to all sorts of hobbies were in that alley, allowing like-minded people to meet.However, because of the small crowd, the alley was also quiet. Few people were around, and only a few signboards had lights, indicating they were still open for business. A slender figure appeared at the store door and looked up at the signboard on the left. 'Underground Perfumery. This is it!'Although Underground Perfumery might be unknown to others, it was an interesting place for perfumers. Anyone who had an interest in fragrances or was into researching scents would gather here. However, this shop was only open at night.One could also find unique and exclusive perf
The fact that the whole place was quiet amplified the noise in the corner. "You're going to lose this time!""Don't speak too soon. That might not be the case!" "We've already had a whiff of Ben's. I don't believe that yours can be better than his."Lily glanced over, and the waiter soon arrived with a few glasses of water and set them all in front of her, one after another. She took the opportunity to ask him, "What are they doing?"She assumed they were drinking shots if this were a regular bar. However, it did not sound like that was the case. The waiter followed Lily's line of sight and smiled before explaining, "It may not be obvious for you since it's your first time here, but I assume you must be a perfumer yourself. Do you not know what scent work is?" "Scent work?" The first thought that came to Lily was, “Isn't that something police dogs do?”"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about a game! They are two different things!" Seeing that there were no customers around,
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