Chapter 75: Who Plagiarized?

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Who Plagiarized?

At the mention of the Lockwood Group, a flicker of disgust crossed Estelle’s face. She hadn’t forgotten how many perfume formulas they had stolen from her, giving all the credit to Noelle.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that every single famous perfume under Noelle’s name actually belonged to her! She just didn’t have the evidence yet. This was a score she would have to settle slowly.

Estelle pulled her thoughts back to the present. "Ignore the Lockwood Group. Our perfume will launch on schedule."

Her assistant’s eyes darted around briefly. "Understood, Miss Lockwood."

One hour later.

The new perfume, co-launched by Star Group and Evernight International, sold out immediately upon release. The results were incredibly promising.

The assistant breathed a sigh of relief, remarking seemingly offhandedly, "Looks like even with the Lockwood Group launching their perfume today, it didn’t affect our sales at all."

After speaking, the assistant nudged Estelle’s phone and handed it to her.

Estelle’s gaze narrowed slightly in confusion. Why was her assistant randomly touching her phone? Still, she didn’t think much of it.

The sales department quickly processed the custom orders and shipped out the perfumes. Every department operated in perfect order.

As the workday neared its end, Estelle was just about to leave when she saw Rose Lowell and Noelle Lockwood walking over, arm in arm.

Noelle stepped forward. "Miss Yara!"

Estelle shot her a sideways glance. "Can I help you?"

"It’s so late. Are you heading back alone, Dr. Lockwood? Would you like my mother and me to give you a ride?" Noelle smiled gently. Her words sounded like a complaint, but they were actually a calculated display of her intimacy with Nathaniel Sloan. "Nathaniel can be so thoughtless sometimes. You’re an esteemed guest of Evernight International, Dr. Lockwood, yet he just left you here all by yourself. I’ll definitely have to give him a piece of my mind next time."

Estelle, of course, knew that Nathaniel had already revoked Noelle’s special privileges.

She picked up her bag, not even bothering to look back. "No need. If you have enough free time to play the bleeding heart here, Miss Lockwood, you’d be better off going to cry in front of Nathaniel again. It might actually do you some good."

Noelle’s face twisted in sheer malice for a split second. Only after Estelle stepped into the elevator did she put on a look of utter dejection.

"Mom, I really want to get along with Dr. Lockwood, but she seems to absolutely despise me..."

Rose rolled her eyes and said deliberately, "Noelle, stop casting your pearls before swine! Yara treats you like a thorn in her side. How could she possibly want to be friends with you?"

Noelle feigned surprise. "How could that be... Does Dr. Lockwood really hate me that much? But, after all, she hasn’t actually done anything to hurt me..."

"You can know a person’s face, but you can never know their heart. Who knows what kind of dirty tricks she’s pulling behind your back? You’ve been shielded too well by your father and me since you were a child. You have no idea how sinister people can be!"

The elevator lobby was bustling with people coming and going, and many turned their heads to look in their direction.

Noelle suppressed the dark gleam in her eyes and offered a gentle smile. "Mom, you’re overthinking things. I believe Dr. Lockwood is a good person. Please don’t say things like that anymore."

Some of the bystanders nodded to themselves. Those who weren’t familiar with Noelle thought she seemed quite kind-hearted.

After the perfume was released, there were two delivery methods available for online orders. Local purchases were delivered on the very same day, while those requiring standard shipping would take no more than three days. Following the 10:00 a.m. launch, a significant number of customers had already received their packages by evening.

Reviews gradually began to pour in online.

[Star’s perfumers are incredible! This perfume is absolutely not a letdown. Highly recommended!]

[It really smells amazing. It’s magical, actually—this fragrance made everyone around me fall in love with it. Regardless of age or gender, they couldn’t stop praising it.]

[Star’s Chief Perfumer already has several massive hits under their belt. So impressive!]

[Star Group is definitely going to make a killing this time, right?]

The internet was flooded with rave reviews, but Estelle didn’t pay much attention to them. Having worked tirelessly for three days and nights, she collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep almost the second she returned to her room.

Because of this, she failed to notice that around 1:00 a.m., the wave of positive feedback was gradually being overtaken by a completely different narrative—

[Do you guys seriously not think that the two perfumes released today smell exactly the same?]

[I’m a fan of Noelle’s. I bought Noelle’s perfume, and I also bought the one from Star. Yes, they are completely identical!]

[What’s going on? Why are they the same? The Lockwood Group stated that their perfume was independently developed by Noelle, while Star Group claimed this one is the latest creation from their Chief Perfumer, Yara.]

[Someone definitely plagiarized. But who copied whom?]

Although some argued that Star’s Chief Perfumer would never resort to plagiarism, Noelle was a massive celebrity with a relentless army of fans. Their sheer online presence was enough to twist the truth and call black white.

Right as the debate reached a stalemate, the Lockwood Group’s official account posted an update at 6:00 a.m. that pushed the controversy to a boiling point. The post detailed Noelle’s entire perfume-making process. From her initial inspiration and handwritten notes to the exact spice ratios, everything was displayed crystal clear!

Meanwhile, Yara’s side hadn’t offered a single response. To the public, it was obvious who had copied whom!

The next morning, Estelle discovered her phone was dead and wouldn’t turn on no matter what she tried. She furrowed her brows. Was it broken? It had been working perfectly fine yesterday... Nathaniel wasn’t at Imperial Crest either. She glanced at her alarm clock and decided to head to Evernight International first.

Upon arriving at the company, she immediately sensed that the way people were looking at her was off. Not far away, several employees were pointing and whispering about her.

"She looks so decent on the outside. How does she have the nerve to plagiarize..."

"And she calls herself a Chief Perfumer? That title was probably stolen too. So shameless."

"Mrs. Lockwood warned Miss Noelle yesterday that you can’t judge a book by its cover. She told Miss Noelle to stay away from this woman, but Miss Noelle even spoke up for her! How malicious..."

"Poor Miss Noelle. This is already the second time she’s been plagiarized!"

"What? She was plagiarized before?"

"Yeah, by that Estelle Lockwood! Miss Noelle’s country bumpkin of an older sister. The moment she returned to the Lockwood family, she tried to compete with Noelle for favor. She stole Noelle’s perfume formula, claimed it as her own, and almost fooled everyone! Thank goodness Mrs. Lockwood put righteousness before family ties and exposed her. That’s the only way we learned the truth."

"Goodness! What did Miss Noelle ever do to deserve running into these two women?"

Estelle’s footsteps faltered, her gaze darkening bit by bit.

Plagiarism...

Heh. Back then, she had developed a specific fragrance to treat Nathaniel’s migraines, only for Noelle to steal it and falsely accuse her of plagiarism. And now, her new perfume had once again become Noelle’s "independent, original" creation?!

Being branded a plagiarist was a massive crisis. Henry Kendrick would have definitely tried to notify her. However, because her phone was broken, she hadn’t received any calls and had completely missed the prime window to defend herself.

Knowing she couldn’t afford to delay, Estelle hurried toward her office, only to find someone already sitting at her desk.

Laura Jennings was arrogantly ordering the other employees to throw Estelle’s belongings out. Spotting Estelle, Laura pointed a finger right at her nose, completely shedding her refined, high-society image. "Yara, you actually have the gall to show your face at this company?"

The surrounding employees also glared at her with anger. After all, once a perfume was labeled as a "plagiarized" product, all their hard work over the past period would go down the drain.

Laura looked immensely smug. "I said from the very beginning that your kind couldn’t be trusted! And look where we are now. If you have even a shred of dignity left, pack up your trash and get out of here!"

SMACK.

A folder was chucked out of the office. Estelle caught it single-handedly and let out a cold sneer.

"Mrs. Sloan, nothing has been definitively proven yet, but you’re already buying into the Lockwood Group’s one-sided story without a second thought?"