Chapter Three

Jasmine and Antonio had been together for five years, but in those five years, this was the first time she had stood up to him, or even gone against him.

In the thick of his anger, Antonio smashed the glass he held on the ground, and the shards bounced onto Jasmine's skin. Unable to rein in his anger, Antonio took a step toward her, his eyes mean,

"Jasmine, did you take something?"

She froze.

For a split second, her heart nearly stopped.

Flora had already told him.

Flora who had been sitting quietly looked up at Jasmine and scoffed, "He’s only been worried about you, Jas. You've been MIA. You don't have to be rude."

Jasmine looked at the pair of them and the memory of the two of them naked and entangled had her sneering at them, "Just look at the pair of you. I don't know how I never saw that the two of you were lovers. "

As soon as the words left her lips, both Antonio and Flora's countenance changed.

“What are you talking about?” Antonio asked, his voice suddenly tame.

Jasmine scoffed and rolled her eyes, “That’s right. Act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

"That's not true, Jas. Stop talking nonsense." Antonio said weakly. Blatantly denying the truth. For a moment, Flora actually looked disappointed by Antonio's denial, but she quickly recovered from it,

"Antonio and I are simply friends. More work buddies really. This isn’t my business, but I only feel the need to say right now to prevent the whole matter at hand from escalating. We have greater things to worry about at the moment."

Her eyes deliberately slid toward Jasmine.

“Like the missing formula.”

The room went silent

“What formula?” Antonio asked, his gaze sharp.

Flora sighed dramatically.

“The one Jasmine tried to sneak out of the lab yesterday. Security said they saw her meeting up with a buyer. Antonio… she was going to sell company property.”

Jasmine’s blood boiled.

Sell company property? That was her formula to begin with.

“You’re lying,” Jasmine said coldly.

But Flora only smiled.

“Then why did security catch you copying files? Why are there reports filed already? Jasmine… do you know what happens to employees who steal intellectual property?”

Antonio’s expression hardened.

“You could go to jail for that, Jasmine.” He said flatly and the words struck harder than the broken glass.

Jail.

And while she rotted in a cell… who would pay for her mother’s surgery?

Her fists clenched so tightly her nails dug into her palms.

Jasmine said nothing more. Just eyed them with sour eyes. She had never met two people as twisted as them.

And the worst part was, she actually loved them, actually believed they loved her.

The Perfume competition was in a matter of hours, and Antonio didn't have the energy to argue with Jasmine. He didn't even consider it in his best interest anyway, "Jas, please forget about your petty Jealousy–”

“Wow.” Jasmine breathed out. He was really gaslighting her now.

“ We really do have important things to worry about. Do you have any information about the perfume?"

"I know all you want from me is the perfume information, but.." Jasmine trailed off purposely,

"What? What is it now?" Antonio asked, sounding weary,

"I went out of my way to get a new suit." Jasmine said firmly, not wanting to beat around the bush.

“And how does this affect the competition?” Antonio cut out, clearly frustrated with her.

"I want to attend the competition.”

There. She said it. Now, they could stew over that one.

Flora looked at her, amused by the serious tone with which she spoke, "That's odd. I was under the impression that you did not care much about attending these perfume competitions. What changed?"

What changed was that she had stolen her life’s work.

She had framed her, and was trying to get her locked up.

But Jasmine said none of that. She simply leveled her gaze on her.

Flora wasn’t wrong though. She wasn't a big fan of attending the competitions, but that was because of something that happened a year ago. She had attended the competition and presented her perfumes as the actual creator. But there had been mistakes in the mixtures, and her reputation had taken a big deep hit. Ever since she had chosen to avoid the competitions as much as possible. She had been content with simply being the one who made the perfumes.

And with the decision she had made, Flora had been the one who stepped up whenever there were competitions and perfumers needed to come forward. And just like that, it was Flora who reaped the fruits of Jasmine's hard labor.

Antonio sighed and shook his head, "Jasmine, the competition is in a matter of hours, give me the information," he said in a commanding tone, "In the end, all that we did, was done in the best interest of the company, or does that not concern you anymore?"

Jasmine smiled perfunctorily. There was a time when what he said had been the truth. A time when all she actually cared about was this company. But now she knew better.

Still, she dug into her bag and brought out a brown bag, then handed it to Antonio, "here you got then."

Inside the bag were the documents they thought they needed.

But Jasper had already made copies. He’d secured proof.

And he’d prepared their downfall.

Soon enough, they would learn that every evil deed done had a price.

He took the bag from her, and opened it, looked into it, before handing it over to Flora. "it's all the information, right?" he asked Jasmine, somewhat uneasy.

Flora had knowledge about perfumery, but she was in no way as good as Jasmine. And after she got into Antonio's bed, she had forsaken all thoughts of having more knowledge.

And now, she held another woman's work like a trophy.

"Where are the samples?" Flora asked eagerly.

"Before you leave, go to the lab to get it."

She deceived them with no qualms and the both of them did nothing to hide that they were cunning and scheming when they turned to each other and smiled smugly.

Jasmine endured the nausea the sight of them brought and turned to Antonio, "Can I really not attend the competition tonight?"

Antonio was too caught up with getting what he wanted to even pretend to care about her feelings, "You can't. Your reputation is a bit soiled, remember?

“Especially now that you’re under investigation,” he added coldly.

“Showing your face might embarrass the company.”

Her heart instantly went cold.

They framed her… and now they were using that same lie to silence her.

"You go on home. Rest, have a good time, and don't trouble yourself about this part of the game."

He said and patted her head. She had to fight off the urge to slap his hand away and nodded slowly, "fine then. I hope you have a good time today." she said with false sincerity. And with that, she turned away and left.

"Remember to finish up with the sample. It has to be perfect," he called out, but she didn't respond. Just kept walking.

When she was outside the building, her hands shook.

But not from fear anymore.

Because now she had Jasper D’Angelo behind her.

The only man powerful enough to crush Luigi Inc. overnight.

she called her assistant,

"Maria, remember to add the spices I gave you."

Maria sounded a bit worried when she replied, "We've been working on this for so long. Are you sure you want to make those additions so close to the start of the competition?”

Jasmine thought of Jasper’s cold confident demeanor and his decision to help her.

“Trust me.” She whispered, “Tonight… everything is going to work out.”