\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 25\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 25\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGen, there\u2019s one more thing,\u201d Hannah said, pressing her lips together. \u201cYou asked me to reopen the investigation into the studio break-in. I found a lead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Genevieve lifted her eyes, her gaze calm and steady. \u201cSay it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had someone dig into the transaction history and communications of the suspects from back then. One of them received a large payment from overseas not long after the incident.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI followed the trail. That foreign company looks spotless on paper, but one of its silent shareholders has ties to a Sloane family business.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Sloanes?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Regina had more pull than Genevieve had expected, and her hostility toward Genevieve went beyond just Zachary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Genevieve\u2019s voice cooled. \u201cIf she dares put her hands on what\u2019s mine, I\u2019ll make her pay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just then, Hannah\u2019s phone pinged.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was an official email from URI Corporation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hannah opened it, and her eyes widened. She grabbed Genevieve\u2019s arm, excitement flashing across her face. \u201cGen, the results are out. URI posted the outcome of that impromptu perfumery challenge at the gala!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the screen, the announcement headline was bolded and highlighted in red.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It read, \u201cURI Corporation Impromptu Perfumery Challenge Results\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In first place was Daybreak, created by perfumer Hannah Brooks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neither Hannah nor Genevieve looked surprised. The moment Genevieve entered the competition, the outcome was already\u00a0<\/p>\n
decided.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The announcement hadn\u2019t even been out for three seconds before the industry perfumer group chat blew up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Someone dropped a screenshot of the post. Right after that, an account verified as \u201cPerfumerReginaSloane\u201d sent a sharp, implied message.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s impressive how a mere assistant can beat so many senior perfumers. Who knows if it\u2019s skill or underhanded tactics?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some people congratulated Hannah, others questioned URI\u2019s judging standards, and more were simply waiting for drama.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Replies flooded in by the dozens.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PerfumerKelvin Linwood: \u201cNo way. Ms. Sloane, do you have any evidence?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
PerfumerAdamWalsh: \u201cI remember you did a similar theme last year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anonymous: \u201cEven if she\u2019s from Blossom Studio, plagiarism is still unacceptable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hannah\u2019s face turned pale. She sprang to her feet, yelling, \u201cShe\u2019s lying! We asked her to prove it, and she wouldn\u2019t. Then she pretended to faint and ran off. Now, she\u2019s in here accusing me of plagiarism. Can she get any more shameless?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Genevieve caught Hannah by the wrist. \u201cDon\u2019t get so worked up. Let them talk. The more people watching, the better.\u201d-\u00a0<\/p>\n
The chat was already turning into a spectacle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PerfumerTrevorMason: \u201cWhy don\u2019t you both post your formulas and compare?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis kind of thing needs evidence. Don\u2019t throw accusations around,\u201d one of the top perfumers messaged.\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 25\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing the <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 Chapter 25\u00a0 1\/2\u00a0 Chapter 25\u00a0 \u201cGen, there\u2019s one more thing,\u201d Hannah said, pressing her lips together. \u201cYou asked me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-you-chose-her-so-i-married-better"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions\/226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}