Chapter3

The top-floor office of the Vance Consortium headquarters occupied an entire floor.

Outside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows was the dazzling night view of the financial center. Holding a glass of aged red wine from the Porto Estate, I sat behind a desk polished from a single block of obsidian, my eyes calmly fixed on the curved screen that took up half the wall.

On the screen, the highly anticipated grand ceremony at the City Hall Square was being broadcast live.

It was the engagement banquet jointly held by Sylvia and Damian, which also served as the global debut launch of the "Illusion" series haute couture perfume. The venue was lit as brightly as day, with hundreds of media reporters packing the red carpet tight, their camera flashes weaving into a blinding white light.

Sylvia, wearing an expensive haute couture gown, clung to Damian's arm as they stood at the very center of the spotlight. The smile on her face was flamboyant and confident, as if she had already trampled all the wealth and power of the world under her feet. Damian wore a well-tailored handmade suit. The amber sachet around his neck, which originally belonged to my mother, shimmered under the spotlight, treated by him as a vintage accessory to show off his taste.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Sylvia spoke to the countless cameras, her voice revealing uncontrollable arrogance and ambition. "Today is not only a brand-new starting point for my personal life, but also a great moment for the global perfume industry. The birth of the 'Illusion' series will completely redefine the boundaries of luxury and art. We will use this as a foundation to build an unparalleled fragrance empire!"

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

A foreign media reporter held up a microphone and asked loudly, "Ms. Sylvia, rumor has it that your company's original chief perfumer suddenly resigned on the eve of the product launch. Will this affect the subsequent production capacity and quality of 'Illusion'?"

On the screen, Sylvia's smile paused for a split second before she lifted her chin in contempt.

"A truly high-class brand relies on core commercial vision and irreplaceable taste, not some bottom-tier technician who can be replaced at any time." She disdained even mentioning my name, as if it would dirty her mouth. "Facts have proven that with Director Damian's intervention, we have optimized the originally lengthy and inefficient purification process. After getting rid of those outdated habits that reek of basement mildew, our production efficiency has actually tripled."

Damian cooperatively wrapped his arm around her waist and added to the cameras, "Exactly. We don't need rigid craftsmen; what we create is a ticket to the upper class. Currently, the global pre-sales of 'Illusion' have exceeded thirty million dollars."

Watching the two of them echo each other in front of the cameras, I leaned back against my leather chair, gently swirling the goblet in my hand. The scarlet wine left a graceful arc on the glass.

There was no ripple of emotion in my heart; I even found it somewhat comical.

"Young Master."

The heavy double doors of the office were pushed open silently. The family's chief assistant, Albert, holding an encrypted tablet, walked briskly to my desk. He was wearing a crisp British butler's tailcoat, his expression solemn.

"The final report from the supply chain." Albert handed the tablet to me and reported in a low voice, "Since you ordered the cut-off of the 'Mystic Orchid' extract supply, Damian tried to offer a high bounty on the black market for substitutes. But the global production areas of 'Mystic Orchid' have long been fully controlled by the Vance Consortium. He can't buy a single drop."

I didn't look at the data on the tablet, just asked lightly, "So, facing a thirty-million-dollar pre-sale gap, what did they use to fill the base note I took away?"

"Damian used a shell company to import a batch of cheap industrial-grade synthetic chemicals from South America—'Code A-73'." Albert pushed his gold-rimmed glasses up his nose, his tone carrying a trace of unconcealed mockery. "To meet tonight's delivery deadline, they directly blended this batch of cheap synthetics into the semi-finished storage tanks of 'Illusion'."

Hearing the name "A-73," a very faint curve finally appeared at the corner of my mouth.

It was an extremely inferior industrial fixative. Because of its low cost and ability to simulate a rich floral scent in a short time, it was often used in cheap indoor air fresheners.

But the semi-finished "Illusion" I left for Sylvia used extremely high concentrations of natural citrus and tuberose extracts. These high-purity extracts were inherently highly volatile and unstable. The reason I had locked myself in the basement day and night for the past five years was to use the astronomically priced "Mystic Orchid" to neutralize this instability, taming the fragrance within a safe threshold like calming a wild beast.

Damian clearly didn't understand any chemical principles. He thought that as long as the perfume smelled fine, it could be bottled in expensive glass to exchange for massive profits.

"Young Master, do you need me to explain in detail the chemical reaction after A-73 is mixed with the advanced extracts?" Albert asked.

"There is no need." I turned my gaze back to the screen, watching Sylvia proudly hold up a luxuriously packaged bottle of "Illusion" perfume. "A-73 can indeed temporarily lock in the scent at room temperature. But once it comes into contact with human skin, catalyzed by the thirty-seven-degree body temperature, it will quickly undergo a violent oxidation reaction with the high-concentration extracts."

This meant it was no longer a bottle of perfume.

But a bottle of high-purity corrosive toxin cloaked in a gorgeous coat.

Sylvia blindly trusted Damian's "commercial operations" far too much, and Damian, driven by greed and ignorance, unhesitatingly pushed both of them into the abyss. Without my original extract, in order to earn that sky-high pre-sale money on time, they personally handed a knife to the necks of their consumers, while also digging a sufficiently deep grave for their own brand.

The grand ceremony on the screen had reached its climax. Golden confetti fluttered down from above the square. Sylvia and Damian kissed passionately under the gaze of countless celebrities, celebrating their moment of reaching the summit to dominate the global market.

Albert looked at the scene on the screen with a slight frown. "Young Master, 'Illusion' is positioned as a top-tier luxury good. The first batch of customers are all celebrities, wealthy wives of tycoons, and superstar actors. If a large-scale outbreak of corrosive burns occurs... this will trigger an unprecedented disaster in the industry. Do we need to notify the International Fragrance Association in advance, or pressure the police to intercept this batch of goods?"

"Intercept?" I put down the wine glass, crossed my hands under my chin, and stared coldly at the large screen. "Why should we intercept?"

Albert bowed slightly, waiting for my next words.

"She was the one who announced in front of everyone that she had eliminated a piece of trash like me who doesn't understand class. They were also the ones who vowed that the new formula is flawless." My voice was so calm it held no temperature, yet it carried an undeniable sense of oppression. "Interrupting someone else's sweet dream is a very impolite thing to do."

"I understand." Albert bowed his head in realization. "We will just watch quietly as they climb high."

"Exactly." I stood up and walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling windows. Overlooking the bustling city beneath my feet, the traffic flowed like tiny specks of light shuttling through vein-like streets. Everything was under control.

"The higher the tower is built, the more thoroughly it shatters when it collapses."

Just then, the communicator in Albert's pocket vibrated. He glanced at the screen and immediately looked up to report, "Young Master, latest news. Right as the press conference concluded, the logistics team under Damian's name was activated. The first batch of one hundred thousand physical copies of 'Illusion' perfume has already been dispatched to high-end customers across the European and American regions via VIP express lines."

"Estimated time of arrival?" I asked.

"The fastest same-city orders will be delivered before eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

I nodded and turned to walk back to the desk.

One hundred thousand ticking time bombs wrapped in disaster had crossed the final line of defense, flowing irreversibly into the "upper echelon" that Sylvia was so proud of.

This once arrogant peacock had not yet realized that the gorgeous feathers she wove with her own hands were actually a raging inferno about to burn her to ashes.

The countdown has already begun.