SWNOVELS Chapter 448 Trouble
Chapter 448 Trouble
Freya arranged for Brisa to room on the second floor.
That was mainly for the sake of convenience because Freya, Sylvia, and Brisa would be living on the second floor. Meanwhile, Isabella and Braxton had the whole third floor to themselves.
Braxton returned from work around the evening. Once he did, Freya specifically pulled him aside and brought him up to speed.
Braxton had a serious expression on his face as he listened to what she had to say.
Freya sat beside him and said, “Brax, we have confirmation that Jamie is alive. In fact, there’s a high possibility that he has become even more unstable than before. Izzy is in a vulnerable position right now. It’s not very feasible even if we arrange for them to go on a cruise somewhere far away from the eye of the storm. Instead, it’s actually better for us to arrange for reliable people to stand guard when we aren’t home.”
Braxton trodded solemnly before replying, “I understand.”
Just as they were about to wrap things up, Isabella popped in after decimating everyone in chess.
“You’re home!”
Isabella had an orange in her hand as she playfully ran into Braxton’s arms.
Braxton took the orange and peeled it for her. The sweet and affectionate scene made Freya smile.
“Isabella, how you’ve changed! You’re so gentle now.”
Isabella leaned into Braxton’s embrace and winked at Freya before teasing. “Well, are you jealous?”
Freya simply chuckled at her.
Braxton handed Freya half of the orange before joining in on the fun, saying. “Don’t be jealous. I care about you too, Frey.”
“Thank you, but I’m so full after eating so much sugar. Freya giggled.
Since they had already said all that needed to be said, Freya tacitly left the couple to have some alone time.
“I’ll be retiring to my bedroom.”
Once she was done washing up, she followed her usual routine and video-called Radley. Alas, she could no longer hide the drowsiness on her face after chatting for a while.
Radley’s voice was gentle as he said, “Rest early.”
She simply murmured in response but didn’t end the video call.
She thought he would hang up once he noticed she had fallen asleep. Yet, she didn’t expect to see that her phone had run out of battery the next morning when she woke up. She turned on her phone, stared at the call history that had been connected for over ten hours, and fell into deep thought.
Nonetheless, she swiftly got herself ready for work and drove to the Monaghan Group. When she arrived at Wonder Aroma, the department was already bustling with activity.
Wonder Aroma was planning to release a new series of perfumes with a total of five varieties.
Among them was a perfume formula that Freya had previously created. Leah and the perfumers in the department carefully crafted the other four.
By the time the series of perfumes was released to the masses, the renovation of the Wonder Aroma store on Woodside Avenue should be done and dusted. So, Freya and a few others quickly finalized
the type and name of the perfumes before going to the raw materials room.
She picked out a few ingredients she needed, took a piece of agarwood, and held it under her nose, sniffing it carefully. Leah had been very meticulous in selecting the ingredients, ensuring that all the perfume materials and wood were of the highest quality.
Just as Freya was halfway through her selection, there was a commotion outside.
She stood up and glanced outside, where there was soon a hurried knocking on the door of the raw materials room.
“What’s going on?” Freya turned her head and saw Leah entering the room with a worried look on her face.
“Freya, something has happened.”
She frowned and put down the item she had in her hand, following Leah to the office.
Several perfumers in the office were staring at a tablet on the central conference table. Freya approached the crowd to take a look..
Why are they looking at what’s trending on Twitter?
Leah merely tilted her head at the screen with a serious expression.
Freya had already trended on Twitter more than once. Yet, this time, it was about Wonder Aroma.
She furrowed her brow and looked at the headline.
The Monaghan Group’s new brand, Wonder Aroma, plagiarizes the formula of the perfume from Fragrance Lab.
“What’s going on here?”
Freya knew that Fragrance Lab was Helga’s newly minted perfume brand. Since the last competition, Helga had somehow found a big investor. As a result, the controversy about Fragrance Lab using illegal channels for mica gradually disappeared from the internet.
Recently, they started promoting their brand online.
Freya knew Helga’s character far too well. “Did any of you fail to keep your formula sheet safe and let someone from Helga’s side get hold of it?”
Naturally, she wasn’t about to suspect anyone from Wonder Aroma.
The group of people looked at each other before Leah tentatively broached the topic, saying, “Freya, do you remember your Wild Wood series?”
Freya’s brow furrowed upon hearing Leah’s words. That product was the flagship perfume for this release.
She opened the trending topic and glanced at it. The ingredient list for Wild Wood was marked on it, and the time was earlier than the release date.
Her face turned stone-cold. She had formulated Wild Wood long before Helga’s release date. Regardless. the formula had always remained in her mind, and she hadn’t bothered to write it down until she was prepared to release the new product. Once she did so, she remembered that she had passed the recipe to Leah.
“Alright, I understand. I will investigate this matter,” Freya said with a frown. “You all should just continue preparing for the new product launch.”
Leah expressed some concern, interjecting, “The new product launch is scheduled to take place in 10 days. If we can’t clarify this before this, we will be at a disadvantage during the launch event.”
Freya sighed wearily and answered, “Don’t worry. I’m certain that Helga isn’t meticulous enough not to leave any tracks for me to hunt her down now that she has resorted to such underhanded means.”
Then, she reassured the perfumers at Wonder Aroma to keep their heads down and focus on the event. Nonetheless, she had no intention of creating any perfumes now that this had happened. Instead, she turned and left the 17th floor.
The perfumers in the Wonder Aroma department whispered among themselves. In fact, many of them were top contenders in the previous competition.
They had all interacted with Freya and Helga. So, they all naturally knew just what Helga was like.
“This Helga Zander is incredibly persistent.”
“What can we do? I suspect she holds a grudge against Freya because of the competition. But…. Just where did she obtain the recipe for the perfume?”
Leah didn’t join in on the conversation. Instead, her mind was elsewhere as she gazed at the trending topic on Twitter with mixed emotions.
Although they had cut off ties with one another, Helga was her former friend. However, Helga had indeed reached out to her some time ago.
On that day, Helga had initially gone to the hospital to visit her mother. Leah rushed to the hospital when she heard the news, fearing that Helga might harm her mother.
Subsequently, an argument ensued. Helga spoke to her in a friendly manner, but she hadn’t forgotten how this woman had taken advantage of her in the past. So, she promptly kicked Helga out of the ward without any fanfare.
Leah furrowed her brow, carefully recalling the events of that day.
Freya had entrusted her with the ingredient list for Wild Wood. It was such a crucial document that she had placed it in her bag to prevent it from getting lost.
Leah felt her facial muscles turn stiff as her mind considered the possibilities. The commotion that day was so intense that she couldn’t remember if Helga had somehow tampered with her bag.
Nonetheless, given the current situation, it was highly probable that Helga had seen the ingredient list by stealing it from her bag that day.
Leah’s hands trembled slightly at that thought. Freya had rescued her from Helga’s grasp and brought her out of a diflicult situation. Freya had even made her the vice president of Wonder Aroma.
Yet, such a predicament had arisen all because of her rashness.
This was all her fault.
Leah gritted her teeth. She had to confront Helga and ascertain if she had stolen the ingredient list from her!
She felt a bit frightened. If Freya discovered this, would she be expelled from Wonder Aroma?
On the other hand, Freya had proceeded directly to Radley’s office the instant she left the perfume department.
She caught sight of Radley holding a tablet and watching the news just as she stepped foot into the office. The voice emanating from the tablet was reporting on the Monaghan Group’s brand, Wonder Aroma, and their new flagship series, which was accused of plagiarizing Fragrance Lab.