An Original Perfume

Meanwhile, Mr. Collins had finally made up his mind.

After years of slaving around for Primavera, he finally had the chance to shine. When he did, of course he needed someone to witness his magnificence.

The HR Manager thus dragged one of his subordinates, Barbara Scott-Johnson, with him to the CEO's floor.

Why the CEO's floor?

Well, Mr. Collins had been weighing Damian Henderson against Chris Henderson in his mind for an entire day. As an HR expert, without any bias toward anyone, he could tell that Damian Henderson was worth more than a thousand Chris Henderson.

Chris was stupid.

Chris was unreliable.

Even with that wicked wife by his side, he still proved himself to be incompetent.

Mr. Collins scoffed to himself.

It did not matter. He knew how to talk himself out of a bad situation if Chris ever doubted his loyalty.

First, he needed to make a good impression in front of the CEO.

"Mr. Henderson, Sir," he greeted as soon as he reached the CEO's office. "I have an anonymous report of high importance here. It is closely related to the perfume competition that many of our researchers are joining!"

Damian looked up from his computer desktop.

"Yes?"

Having practiced in front of the mirror last night, Mr. Collins explained everything in one breath. When he was done, he was very proud of himself. Behind him, Barbara was stunned.

She was not close to Laura Higgins, but this report was of heavy consequence. Laura might get disqualified from the competition, which in turn would ruin her chance to become the next R&D Manager.

The worst case would be an employee termination!

Both Barbara and Mr. Collins watched with pounding hearts as Damian silently pored over the report.

"Charpillon Cherry Extract?" he murmured, almost to himself.

He did not know much about the perfume industry. Even if he did, he would not know about every ingredient, be it a legal one or an illegal one.

Damian had never agreed to enter Primavera's top level of management because he knew that this day would come. But his grandfather already appointed him to the position.

He had to make a decision.

Laura Higgins was secretly conducting experiments with a dangerous ingredient and was planning to use it inside a perfume. This perfume was supposed to debut during the International Best Original Perfume Competition 2022, too!

It was pretty clear what to do.

Anyway, Mr. Collins put together a waterproof case file. There was no loophole for Laura Higgins to wriggle through.

"Then..."

"Mr. Henderson, I am back," a voice announced at the door.

Damian looked up. At the same time, Mr. Collins and Barbara swiveled around to look at the person who just arrived.

It was that ugly thing, Irene Gallagher!

Mr. Collins disliked tainting his eyes at any time of the day. His face quickly darkened.

When he turned around to face Damian, though, he maintained his professional facade and revealed nothing.

"You are back at the right time," Damian remarked. "Mr. Collins came with a report about one of our researchers, Laura Higgins. She is also participating in the perfume competition."

Irene nodded.

"I see."

"Why don't you take a look at the report?"

Mr. Collins struggled to prevent a wrinkle from showing up on his face.

Why did the CEO pass the report to this woman, again?

Irene walked toward the table and picked the report up.

She went through the report as if she did not personally put it together.

"Oh, Charpillon Cherry Extract?" she said with an astonished gasp.

Damian steepled his fingers under his chin.

"Do you know this ingredient?"

"Of course!" Irene spoke with enthusiasm. "Mrs. Baker and I were just talking about this wonderful ingredient!"

Wonderful?

Was that sarcasm?

Irene then took out a small, elegant crystal tub of facial cream from her handbag.

"This is a brand new facial cream from Éternelle that just entered the market today. Its most important ingredient is Charpillon Cherry Extract."

Mr. Collins' jaw almost dropped to the ground.

Éternelle?

How did this peasant girl even know the name of the famous French brand?

As if to answer the HR Manager's silent query, Irene added, "Mrs. Baker told me that creative innovation in the perfume industry is very important. Being original doesn't mean that participants should only stick with well-known notes. Sometimes, they should broaden their horizons and look for potential ingredients, too."

Mr. Collins' face turned pale speck by speck. He was so angry and humiliated. All thanks to Irene Gallagher. No, all thanks to those three little demons who passed him this worthless report! See how he was going to deal with them!

Mr. Collins cleared his throat and tried his best to conjure a smile.

"Ms. Gallagher is right. I am sorry for being rash."

"No need to be sorry. Remain discreet. Éternelle is taking a big risk by using Charpillon Cherry Extract as an ingredient for its new facial cream."

"Let's see whether complaints arise in the future. If there is none, I don't see why Laura Higgins must not use it. Her perfume might just be a breakthrough invention at the competition. We should support her."

Irene beamed at Damian. "Yes, Sir."

Mr. Collins smiled at Damian and nodded in agreement, but his fingers were tightened into fists.

"Yes, Sir."