Chapter 4

The process was exactly the same as the day before.

After Alvina confirmed that Eden had sprayed the perfume on Wendy, she turned off her phone.

The nausea from yesterday was too awful. She had no desire to go through it again.

…

Inside the study.

Wendy was in the middle of giving Eden her so-called dedicated treatment.

Suddenly, an itch spread over her body, and she could not help scratching.

It felt as though unknown insects had crawled all over her.

The itching grew stronger and stronger.

She could not stop scratching herself.

“Eden, I’m so itchy…”

The man teased, “You’re that desperate for me?”

Wendy stood up and scratched hard at her chest. “No, my body is itching. I’m going to die from it.”

The study lights were off. Only a dim candle lamp was lit, casting a faint glow that created a suggestive atmosphere.

It was exactly the kind of mood Eden liked.

Eden removed the long silk ribbon from his eyes and turned on the main light.

Both of them were immediately startled.

“Eden, what… what is happening?”

Wendy’s delicate, snow-white skin was covered in red, rash-like spots, packed so densely that, at a glance, it looked as though countless red ants were eating away at her skin. It was a horrifying sight.

“Did you eat something you’re allergic to?” Eden asked in alarm.

“No. I didn’t eat anything!”

Wendy thought carefully, then seemed to realize something.

Her gaze shifted toward the bottle of perfume on the table.

“Could there be something wrong with that new perfume? Eden, just think about it. What decent thing could Alvina possibly make? That cheap perfume of hers must have caused my allergic reaction!”

Wendy was almost losing her mind from the itching, scratching herself all over without stopping.

The rash continued spreading from her chest to her neck, then all the way up to her face.

She looked like she had been struck by some horrible disease.

“Come on. I’ll take you to the hospital first.”

Eden did not comment on Alvina’s cheap perfume.

In a panic, he rushed Wendy to the hospital.

…

Alvina slept extremely well that night.

Once her sleep improved, her appetite did as well.

At breakfast the next morning, she even ate more than usual.

Just as Alvina had expected, neither Eden nor Wendy came downstairs for breakfast.

It was not until Alvina finished eating and was about to leave for her studio that Wendy finally came downstairs, trying to hide her face.

Even though she deliberately avoided Alvina’s gaze, Alvina still saw the red rash covering her face clearly.

She pretended to be concerned. “Oh my, Dr. Warren. What happened to your face?”

Wendy stiffly tugged at the corner of her lips. “I…”

“I gave Dr. Warren a bottle of the perfume you made last night. Alvina, I was just about to ask you. What exactly did you put in that perfume? How did it make Dr. Warren this allergic?”

Before Wendy could speak, Eden came downstairs and answered for her.

If he had had any other choice, Eden would naturally not have wanted Alvina to know that he had used her perfume on Wendy.

But when they went to the hospital the night before, the doctor clearly said they needed to know the formula before they could treat the allergy properly.

Otherwise, they could only temporarily relieve the symptoms and would not eliminate the cause.

With the blade already at his throat, he had no choice but to ask.

Alvina tried her best to suppress the urge to laugh.

She put on a confused expression of surprise.

“Eden, did I hear that right? Didn’t you look down on my studio? Didn’t you say my perfumes were obscure and second-rate?

“Yet you gave something you despised so much to Dr. Warren, an award-winning psychologist whose name supposedly commanded admiration at every academic conference?

“Eden, aren’t you humiliating Dr. Warren?”

Eden was left speechless by her words.

It felt as though he was slapped hard across the face, the sting burning fiercely.

Wendy dug her nails into her palm.

At that moment, she had no choice but to step forward and smooth things over.

“Alvina, I smelled the perfume on you yesterday and thought it was lovely, so I asked Eden to get me a bottle. I probably happened to be allergic to one of the ingredients, so I ended up… like this.”

“So that’s what happened…”

Alvina pretended to understand and stepped forward to examine her allergic reaction.

“Oh dear, it really is quite serious. It seems your constitution is rather special, Dr. Warren. You should be more careful in the future. It’s better not to touch things so casually. As for the formula…

“All right. I’ll send it to your phone in a moment. Take it to the doctor and have him check which ingredient caused the reaction.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Alvina patted her shoulder.

“I should be the one thanking you. Thank you for recognizing my perfume, Dr. Warren. Someone of your status doesn’t even use designer perfume, yet you’ve taken such a liking to my niche fragrance.

“It seems that, just as you said, I really am about to make a name for myself.”

With that, she glanced at the embarrassed man beside them.

“Right, honey?”

Under their humiliated gazes, Alvina walked out of the house with light, cheerful steps.

Wendy stood there, her expression dark.

She complained, “Eden, next time, are you still going to spray that unregulated junk of hers all over me?”

Eden ignored her, his expression thoughtful.

A faint suspicion stirred in his heart.

He thought back to what was said at the dining table that day, then compared it with Alvina’s sarcastic tone today. Could all of this really be a coincidence?

It seemed far too coincidental.

Could Alvina have discovered something?

Impossible.

If she had truly discovered anything, she never would have stayed this quiet.

She loved him too much not to be jealous and cause a scene.

He had to be overthinking it.

In his daze, the phone in his hand suddenly rang.

Eden glanced at the number and answered.

“Mr. Gray, bad news. Evercrest Group’s stock crashed at market open this morning!”

…

During the brief fifteen-minute opening call auction, Alvina used several accounts linked to her name to place massive sell orders on Evercrest Group, far exceeding the normal trading volume.

When retail investors saw the huge selling pressure, they mistakenly believed the company suffered a major setback and rushed to sell.

The buy orders were instantly swallowed up, and the stock price plunged in a straight line.

As long as Alvina kept those sell orders in place, the stock would stay pinned at its lower limit, and no one would be able to push it back up.

A man who wronged his wife would never prosper.

Since Eden refused to understand that truth, she would teach him a proper lesson.

After that, Alvina arrived at her studio in a very good mood.

Her studio sat on a historic riverside street, inside a two-story gray-brick building draped in star jasmine vines.

A brass plaque hung by the entrance, engraved with the words—Alvina Atelier.

The space inside was not large. The first floor was her private perfumery lab, while the second floor served as her fragrance storage room.

After changing into a linen apron and loosely tying her long hair at the back of her head, she began working in front of the copper still, extracting the essential oils and hydrosols separated from cooled flower petals.

One month later, she would be taking part in an international perfumery competition called The Scented Trail.

The organizer was Aurelle, a leading domestic luxury group.

Its business empire covered perfume, fashion, jewelry, and leather goods, with fragrance making up the largest part of its portfolio.

Alvina took this competition very seriously.

If she won, she would gain not only the chance to collaborate with Aurelle, but also a certain level of recognition.

She would no longer be the Alvina whom no one knew unless she stood beside Eden.

Although the exposure of her hidden identity as the legendary investor AJ would be enough to make her famous overnight, she did not want to receive flowers and applause through that identity.

She entered finance for Eden.

That was not glory; it was humiliation.

She also hated those cold numbers. They could drive people mad and destroy entire families.

She wanted to shine within her own dream.

Over the past two days, dealing with that shameless pair had already delayed her progress.

Next, she had to devote herself completely to the competition.

One month from now, she would burn away the past and rise again.

It would also be the beginning of her new life.

…

That evening, Alvina returned home from the studio.

The moment she stepped through the door, Lily came skipping over with a drawing in her hands.

The little girl looked up at her with an innocent smile.

If Alvina had not already known what kind of child she was, she really might have been fooled.

“Alvina, I just drew a chicken. Do you think it looks like one?”

Alvina lowered her gaze and looked at it.

The drawing showed a plump old hen crouched in an empty nest, its eyes dull and lifeless.

It seemed to be hinting at something, but before Alvina could speak, Lily giggled and said, “This old hen doesn’t lay eggs. It just takes up the nest, so it’s an old hen that can’t lay eggs.”

Once Alvina understood her intention, the corners of her lips curved.

She had to admit that Wendy was masterful at seducing men.

When it came to coaching children, she was even more accomplished.

Alvina did not get angry.

Instead, she crouched down and met Lily’s eyes.

She took the drawing, studied it seriously for a few seconds, then smiled and said, “It’s a good drawing. I know how to draw chickens too. Why don’t I draw one for you?”

“Okay.”

Lily agreed without hesitation.

Alvina took the crayon from her hand, walked to the coffee table, and drew a similarly plump hen in the blank space of the paper with just a few strokes.

The difference was that an egg had rolled out from beneath this hen.

The eggshell was black, pus-like liquid oozed from the cracks, and several flies crawled over it.

Alvina smiled and pointed at the drawing.

“See? Yours is an old hen that can’t lay eggs. Mine can lay eggs, but it laid a rotten one. So, this is called a hen that laid a rotten egg.”

Although Lily’s understanding was limited, she still knew Alvina’s drawing could not mean anything good.

She was calling her a rotten egg!

Lily was furious.

She grabbed the drawing and ran off.

After that, Alvina went upstairs.

She wanted to take a bath and wash away the fatigue from the day.

Perhaps the water was too comfortable, because as she soaked in the tub, she actually fell asleep.

If not for the urgent knocking that woke her, she had no idea how long she would have slept.

Alvina got dressed and opened the door.

The moment it opened, the housekeeper standing outside said in a panic, “Madam, something terrible happened. Please hurry to the backyard!”