After a few days of hard work in the lab, the result finally arrived. Lily was holding a small bottle of amber-colored essential oil, handling it as if it were a priceless treasure. Olivia was also very excited as she kept saying it smelt so good. The lab was full of this unique fragrance.She had never discovered this fragrance before. To be precise, it was as if several kinds of floral scents were fused, which one could smell precisely. It also had an aroma that herbs had, which smelled relaxed and refreshing.Although Lily only extracted such a small bottle of essential oil, this raw material should be enough to make a themed series, which fit her vision very well."Olivia, please put this in a cool place. We’ll move on to the next step," Lily instructed as she took off her gloves to wash her hands. Then she looked at the experimental data to ensure everything was right.Immediately after, she sat in front of the computer to send an email. She called Lisa, "The thing you want wi
“We suspect you have something to do with a commercial crime. Please come with us!" The officer who asked the question earlier said with a severe expression."Commercial crime?" Lily frowned as she did not understand what was happening. "Why? Did the Perfumers' Society accuse me of a commercial crime?"‘If so, that would be funny.’The officer shook his head. "It's not the Perfumers' Society. The Tanner Corporation accused you of conspiring with their manager, Mr. Damian Tanner, to add prohibited ingredients to their perfumes for personal gain. You must cooperate with us for the investigation."The officers were polite to her. Typically, the police would not tell their suspects the reason and take them away to the station first.Lily was also surprised. "Who? Tanner, who?"She did not even remember the name well. ‘Mr. Tanner? I wonder who that is.’"Please come with us and cooperate with the investigation." The officer showed his credentials and did not intend to say more."Oka
Arianna was much calmer compared to her father. She sat calmly behind her desk full of various documents. Recently, many problems happened in the company. In addition to the recent crisis, besides the higher-ups, she was the one in charge.However, most of the higher-ups were just there for the title of the company's shares. They participated in dividends but did not care much about daily management. In the past, Derrick was in charge, and occasionally Benedict. Now no one could intervene as she was the one with absolute authority.Joseph saw Arianna sitting with delicate makeup, and her aura seemed completely different. He vaguely felt his daughter was not the same, but he did not know what it was. It was an indescribable feeling, making him uneasy."Ari, you have to give me an explanation. What the h*ll is going on?! Why is Damian still involved in this?!" He asked angrily.Arianna raised her head and glanced at him. She did not speak yet—instead, she lowered her head to review t
"Ari, what you told me before was all a lie?" Joseph asked tremblingly, "You helped Damian in the beginning, just to watch him fall... No, you were the one who dug the hole, right?"Arianna smiled mockingly, saying, "That depends on how you look at it. I dug a hole, but I planned to lay the foundation and build a tall building, and Damian insisted on snatching it. He took it, but instead of building towering structures, he continued digging a hole and then leaping into it. What else can I do?”She should not be the one to blame. It was Damian who wanted to jump into the trap. She just... did not stop him."Alright, great!" After hearing the truth, Joseph was completely ashamed, propping himself on the side of the sofa and slowly sitting down. "I didn’t see it coming. My baby girl, how could you be the one to deceive me?""Dad. There‘s more for you to see!" She smiled coldly. "Over the years, I’ve done many things for the company. You ignored my talents and abilities and only focus
After a moment of silence, Joseph suddenly raised his head and broke out in laughter. “Amazing! Oh, dear daughter, I’ve underestimated you!”Arianna just looked at him coldly, not having much of a reaction. She might have had a crushing defeat today if she had not done this.After laughing for some time, his phone rang. He was not in the mood to answer it, so he picked it up after some time. “Hello?”Suddenly, he raised his head after exchanging a few words with the person on the other end. Standing up, he asked anxiously as his gaze averted to Arianna, “What? Are you sure that you searched everywhere?”Puzzled, Arianna looked back at him.“Okay, I got it. Calm down. No, don’t call the cops. Wait first…”Then, he hung up and glared at Arianna. His phone was still in his hand. “What have you done to Damian?”Arianna had no idea what he was talking about.“Is there a need for you to put on an act in front of me at this point?” Joseph scoffed, unable to trust her at all right no
“What’s the point of me doing that?” Arianna scoffed and continued, “Don’t worry too much. I’m sure he’ll show up soon.”“Really?” Joseph’s eyes lit up. After all these years, he was used to depending on this daughter of his, and he trusted her out of habit.“Soon, the cops will come for him because of the issue with the perfume. If he’s missing, the cops will also look for him, so don’t worry too much about it. It doesn’t matter whether you report this or if you looked for him. Just wait and see.” Arianna picked up a document and glanced through it calmly.That was the truth of the situation, but how could Joseph not worry?“Forget it. I’ll look for him if you’re unwilling to do so!” He turned and left the office, looking much more worn than before. When he exited through the door, Nathaniel came in, and the two almost bumped into each other. Turning back, Nathaniel asked, “What’s with him?”“It’s nothing,” Arianna said casually. “Where have you been for the past two days? I do
"As long as you safely do things, it’ll benefit you," Arianna said coldly and glanced at him. She saw him leaning there, playing with a pen, and thought of what happened just now, "By the way, Damian is missing. Do you know about this?"Nathaniel raised his eyebrows. "Oh? I didn’t know about that. How could he be missing? Didn't your old man lock him up?""Dad kept him in and didn’t let him go out, but I heard that he disappeared. My dad suspects I did it," Arianna frowned. If Nathaniel was not behind this, then who was?"He doubted you? Why are you tying that kid up? He is now the police’s key target and of no use to us whatsoever."“I was the first person my father suspected after this happened.” Arianna grabbed a pen and signed the document. "Go send someone to look for him. If you find him, let me know immediately.""Why should we do that? The police will find him anyway," Nathaniel disagreed."Just go and find him!" Arianna was very impatient. "Go! I still have a lot of thin
She also had a lot of debit cards, but not all of them were in use. Lily had not used that specific card for a long time, so she did not know how much money was in it and did not receive any notifications. Therefore, even if someone sent money to that account, she would not know."You’re not aware of such a large sum?" Pointing at the receipt, the officer thought she was lying."This may be a lot of money, but I don't pay much attention to it," with a disdainful smile, Lily continued, "Although I haven't earned so much as a perfumer over the past few years, I still earn quite a lot. With my current ability, it is not difficult to earn this amount.”"Of course, it’s not difficult. All you need to do is add something to the formula, and it’s that easy! Who wouldn't feel tempted?"As far as the current evidence was concerned, it was against her, but there were still holes everywhere in the story. The officer also questioned Lily as he usually would, and the Tanners prioritized this ca
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