Chapter 10

Charlotte held "Sweet Romance" in her hand, gave it a little spritz on a perfume strip, and took a careful sniff.

"The top notes are spot on; the gardenia is subtle and doesn't overpower the other ingredients. The perfumer at EX Company really knows their stuff."

She then sniffed the strip Taylor had prepped.

"The middle notes are weak,almost nonexistent."

"The base notes don't last long. I can smell thetangerine peel, but it's low quality,probably not even aged for three years."

After her critique, Charlotte put down the strip and picked up the perfume bottle for a closer look.

"EX Company is still using these ancient spray bottles. The gap at the spray head will just get bigger, and the perfume will evaporate right in the bottle."

"Honestly, it's more like a bottle of fragrance than perfume."

Taylor burst out laughing at Charlotte's revew. "Charlotte, your critique is brutal. If I were the boss of EX Company and heard that, they'd be fuming.11

"I'm just being honest; they focus more on marketing than the product."Charlotte shrugged.

Taylor's laughter faded, and she said with concern. "Your nose is sharp, but most people, like me, can't tell the difference.EX Company has really smeared us, and things aren't looking good."

"Is the inspection report done?"

Charlotte felt a bit overwhelmed. She had faith in the product but hadn't been involved in the company's operations for years.

"It's done! But no one believes it!"

Taylor was fuming. "EX Company even put out a document claiming their formula is from the last century and that we copied them. I hope they go bankrupt tomorrow!"

"Calm down."

Charlotte was initially annoyed, but seeing Taylor so angry made her laugh."Are you really not planning to grow your hair out? You look like a sea urchin right now."

"Get lost, I'm pissed."

Taylor wasn't in the mood for jokes.

Charlotte got serious. "Don't get so worked up. We need to focus on an internal investigation."

"Internal investigation?" Taylor gasped. "You think someone inside leaked the formula?" "Yes." Charlotte nodded, her expression serious. "The perfume EX Company copied is something I perfected after countless trials. Without the formula. they couldn't have mimicked it so closely."

Taylor slammed the table in anger.

"If that's true, I won't let them get away with it!"

There weren't many people in the company who knew the formula;they were all senior members. Taylor couldn't believe one of them would do such a thing.

Charlotte felt the weight of the situation too.

Even though she hadn't been hands-on with the company's management since getting married, Charlotte had put a lot of effort into its founding.and she knew everyone there well.

She really didn't want things to get messy.

Charlotte patted Taylor's shoulder. "You handle the internaI investigation,and I'll take care of the external PR."

They split up to tackle the problem.

Charlotte first reached out to her media contacts.

But as soon as she explained why she was calling, they hung up on her.

Charlotte frowned and called back. It rang for a while before someone picked up again. "Don't call me again," the person whispered. "I can't help you. EX Company has powerful connections and already talked to my boss. There's nothing I can do.""Then give me your boss's contact info." "No way. I'd get fired. Don't contact me again. Small companies like yours just have to deal with it. EX Company is an international brand;you can't fight them."

And with that, they hung up.

"Hello?"

Charlotte tried calling back, but she got a busy signal. She'd been blocked.

She hadn't expected EX Company to be so ruthless, hiring trolls to smear her company and silencing the media.

'Fine, if they want to play hardball...'

Since she hadn't divorced Frederick yet, she decided to use the Percy family's power.

No matter how big EX Company was, they had to respect the Percy Family here.

With that in mind, Charlotte headed back to the house she shared with Frederick.

She needed his help, so she decided to show him some respect. Besides,some things couldn't be explained over the phone; she needed to talk to him in person. On the way, she tried calling Frederick to see if he was home from the hospital, but she couldn't get through. "Never mind, I'll wait if I have to." When she arrived at the villa, the butler greeted her respectfully,though he seemed a bit uneasy. In a hurry, Charlotte didn't notice."Is Frederick home?"

"Yes," the butler replied stiffly. Before he could say more, Charlotte rushed upstairs.

The butler watched her go, his heart pounding.

Charlotte reached the bedroom door but hesitated.

She remembered aIl the passionate nights they'd spent there, and her hand paused on the doorknob.

She needed his help, but what if Frederick wanted to take advantage of the situation?

She had a child now and didn't want to have sex with him. It might be better to invite him downstairs to talk.

She knocked, feeling unexpectedly nervous.

Hearing footsteps inside, she frowned. They didn't sound like Frederick's.

The door opened, and there stood Serena,towel-drying her wet hair,water dripping into her cleavage.

She was wearing a silk robe that belonged to Charlotte.

"What are you doing here? Where's Frederick?" Charlotte's emotions were all over the place.