Chapter 4

Alexander placed Lily on the sofa and turned to get some ointment and alcohol swabs. He cleaned Lily’s wound and carefully applied some medicine.

The small cut had already stopped bleeding on the way to La Beauté. With the ointment applied now, Lily’s skin felt iced cool.

Lily looked at the man in front of her, lowering his head and focused on applying the ointment. Alexander’s impassive expression made it seem as if it was nothing. However, Nathaniel had never done something like this for Lily over the years because he never cared about Lily.

After applying the ointment, Alexander looked up and saw Lily’s absent-minded expression. "What is it?"

"N-Nothing…" She shook her head and quickly put down her feet. "Thank you."

"You are my wife, so there's no need to say thanks. However, there is one thing I hope you’ll remember,” Alexander said as he screwed the cap onto the ointment tube.

"Please, what is it?" Lily nodded.

"I don’t care about the past, but since we’re married, you can no longer be involved in the indistinct relationship..."

"I won't!" Before Alexander could finish, Lily interrupted, "You don’t have to worry. At least in this marriage, I’ll guarantee my loyalty. I hope you will too."

Alexander raised his eyebrows as he did not expect she would have the courage to ask for any requests.

"I know our marriage is just beneficial to you. Although I do not know your purpose, I hope we can keep some principles in this marriage. If one day you fall in love with someone else, I can accept divorce, but I have zero tolerance for cheating in marriage."

She had already experienced betrayal once. She would never allow it to happen again.

Alexander raised his brow. "What a coincidence, likewise."

Seeing him grinning, Lily got lost in thought for a moment.

‘This man is God's greatest masterpiece,’ she thought, ‘Not only does he have an extraordinary mind for business, but his appearance is also perfect and impeccable.’

At first, Lily only wanted to cooperate with Alexander, but she did not expect to marry him. Maybe she had been so unfortunate for so many years that her fate finally started to change.

At 7 pm sharp, Lily arrived at the venue with Alexander. She did not expect him to go there in person. After all, this competition was just nothing for La Beauté. Their beauty products typically only participated in international competitions.

When the car arrived, coincidently, she saw Nathaniel's car parked at the venue entrance. He was wearing a dark blue suit with his hair styled. He looked handsome, and right after he got out of the car, he immediately turned around to help Melanie get out, full of care.

A sarcastic smile escaped from the corner of Lily’s lips. Lily was laughing at herself. She wondered how she could be so blind before.

"Shall we get out of the car?" Holding her hand, Alexander turned his face and asked.

Lily shook her head.

If Lily got out of the car holding Alexander’s hand and walked in front of the shameless couple, they would be shocked and panicked. Still, it was not the result Lily wanted. It was far from enough.

She wanted to recoup all her hard work for the past few years with interest. Although it was not a grand competition, there was still a particular procedure to follow.

The judges were industry experts from various provinces to ensure fairness and impartiality during the competition. Three hours before the competition started, representatives of each company submitted all perfumes that were participating in the competition in person.

During these three hours, the judges would judge and rate the quality of the fragrance, the top notes, heart notes, and base notes of the scent.

The results were out, but they had not yet announced them.

Lily did not enter the venue. She and Alexander stayed in the exclusive VIP room together. They could see the venue's live situation through the large projection screen in the room. Nathaniel and Melanie rode high as if they had already bagged the awards.

Lily watched quietly. 'Laugh and smile as much as you can. Days like this will soon be over.'

The lights in the hall slightly dimmed, meaning the judges will soon reveal the results. The guests socializing and entertaining others turned their attention toward the stage. As usual, the ceremony started with minor awards.

Nathaniel did not care about them. He was not concerned, even if MN Inc. did not win any. He looked toward the podium confidently while holding Melanie’s hand.

“We will announce the first, second, and third places in the competition,” the host cleared his throat and continued, “Before we announce the winner, I would like to emphasize that this competition is fair, just, and open. There will be no restrictions. No matter how influential a company is, it could sign up for the competition as long as they meet its requirements. We also want to warn everyone that the perfumer's character is more critical than the product’s quality. We will strictly prevent and track down all suspected plagiarism!”

Meanwhile, in the VIP room, Lily tightened her grip on her wine glass. She pursed her lips as she looked at Nathaniel and Melanie on the screen.

Of course, Melanie and Nathaniel did not realize that the host’s remarks had something to do with them. The shameless couple even took the lead in applauding.

“That’s right! Although MN Inc. is a small company, we have always committed to originality and innovation. Plagiarism is shameful in this industry! We disdain such behavior even if the finished product is unsatisfactory,” Nathaniel said righteously.

Melanie, beside him, found the right opportunity and added, "Yes. Although I’m only an intermediate perfumer, even if I can't compare to the masters and predecessors in this industry, I’ve always warned myself to be practical and diligent to make a brand that our country can be proud of."

Applause broke out in the venue, and the reporters also seized the opportunity to take harmonious-looking pictures. However, the host looked stern as he said, “Does that mean MN Inc. guarantees the originality and authenticity of its competition entries?”

"Of course!" Nathaniel said confidently.

Shortly after, he thought something was off about the entire situation. His company had participated in many exhibitions and competitions, but the host had never asked him such questions directly.

He dared not say anything else, even though Lily had developed these perfumes, not Melanie. Despite that, he still had confidence in the products’ originality. By thinking of this, his expression became proud again.

“Hmph.” Lily snorted discreetly, “He sounds righteous.”

The host stared at Nathaniel, looked at the crowd, and said solemnly, "There is a special situation in this competition. Two companies have submitted the same product for the competition, and even the products’ names are similar."

Although the host did not call Nathaniel out directly, the host had directly questioned MN Inc.'s sincerity just a moment ago. Anyone could have figured out who the host suspected of plagiarism. However, no one knew who the other company was.

Nathaniel’s expression changed again.

If his company got caught with plagiarism, it would be even more humiliating than not winning an award. The judges had suspected MN Inc. of being insincere in front of many other companies and industry media. It would ultimately ruin MN Inc.’s reputation as soon as news of their plagiarism was out.