Chapter 104 A Favor Done At Little Cost
Liam hung up the phone and entered the room after taking a drag of his cigarette.
Inside, Vivian was lounging on a recliner, peeling an orange meticulously, removing all the white threads from the orange segments before popping them into her mouth.
She raised her eyelids to see his gloomy expression, pushed the trash in front of her aside, wiped her hands, and sat up. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Liam shook his head, not feeling much like talking.
"I understand If you don't want to talk. I overheard a bit when you took several calls just now. Evelyn leaked the formula for the perfume, didn't she?" Vivian seemed to see through everything.
Since Vivian already knew, Liam didn't bother hiding it anymore and let out a heavy sigh.
He grabbed a can of cold beer from the fridge, opened it, and took a gulp.
"If she truly did it, why are you upset? She leaked the company's confidential information. Isn't that asking for trouble? If she wants trouble, let her have it. Why bother yourself here?" Vivian said nonchalantly.
In fact, after the incident, Vivian hadn't paid much attention to Liavian Perfumes' previous perfume formulas.
She had won awards because of those things, but they were all Evelyn's doing. She had hardly been involved from start to finish, and Evelyn became rebundant after Vivian leveraged her formula to win the awards. After that, she received a share of the profitd Evelyn brought to the company. However, she was well aware that once she severed ties with Evelyn, those days of living off past achievements were coming to an end.
She needed to come up with a different approach.
Turning to her, Liam said, "You're taking it lightly, but where's the evidence? We have no proof to show that she leaked the formula. Besides, the formula has already been leaked. The urgent matter is how to make up for the loss."
Otherwise, those shareholders would definitely cause trouble, and he would have to devise a strategy to deal with it.
Just thinking about it gave Liam a headache.
The prior mishap with the formula had disrupted factory production, nearly leading to delivery delays, much to the dissatisfaction of the shareholders. Additionally, the matter between him, Evelyn, and Vivian, though private, was hinted at by the shareholders.
Most of those shareholders were older and conservative. If they were displeased, his position would hang in the balance.
"Aren't we already making new products?" Standing up, Vivian walked towards him, placing her hands on his shoulders and leaning against him. "Just tell the shareholders that new product development may be time-consuming, but once it's on the market, it will sell well. The benefits Liavian Perfumes will garner from winning the annual award again will far outweigh this minor setback."
"Moreover, those previous ones have lost their novelty in the market. Leak of the formulas might be a chance for us to do a favor at little cost and improve the company's image. It's a way to secure goodwill," she added.
Liam furrowed his brow. "A favor done at little cost?"
"If we can't definitively prove Evelyn's guilt, it's better to admit it voluntarily, claiming we released them ourselves. We could claim that the purpose is to promote healthy industry competition and to share resources with peers. First, the loss is irreversible anyway. Second, it's about restoring the company's image and gaining favor. Think of Evelyn as someone who has built a bridge for us," Vivian explained.
Liam was enlightened by her words, nodding repeatedly. "You're right! That's a good idea!"
"So, don't worry. The most important thing now is to develop the new product as soon as possible. Once it's launched and sells well, even if all the formulas are leaked, we don't need to fear Evelyn any more. She is just a perfumer. Does she really think she can turn the tables?" Vivian reassured.
The more Liam listened, the happier he felt, finding her reasoning sound. He lifted her and spun her around, exclaiming, "You're right! You're amazing! With you here, I have nothing to worry about!"
"Put me down, watch the baby!" She patted him and playfully scolded him.
Liam quickly set her down, cautiously placing his head against her abdomen. "Is the baby okay?"
"What can the baby hear right now? You silly!" Vivian poked Liam's forehead with a finger, laughing.
Liam, however, earnestly said, "The baby can hear. I heard him call me 'dad'! Thank you so much, Vivian. You must be tired carring a baby!"
Standing up straight, embracing her waist, and resting their heads together, Vivian said with emotion, "You know I am tired; you must treat me well, you know?"
In fact, she had her thoughts. The reason she could boldly say they could do without the previous formulas was that she felt she had hooked up with the great perfumer, Rosen. As long as he continued to provide new formulas, awards, fame, and status were all within reach, and there was nothing to worry about. Of course, Liam couldn't know about this; she was still in contact with Rosen behind the scenes.
With him away from Lindwood City recently, she could breathe a sigh of relief, but this connection couldn't be severed. Otherwise, all her previous efforts would be in vain.
"Vivian..." Smelling her scent, Liam was excited. "We haven't... for a long time..."
"Annoying!" She pushed him away, but he grabbed her wrist and embraced her from behind, saying, "Can't we do it for the whole pregnancy? Won't that drive me crazy?"
Liam held her tightly, making her feel his restraint.
Vivian's heart throbbed erratically; In Tedia, she wasn't reluctant, but her body simply could not endure.
With no more disturbances from Rosen recently and being well-fed and cared for, Vivian had almost fully recovered.
Turning around, she held his head in her hands and softly said, "Just be gentle."
Hearing this, Liam was overjoyed, as if he had won a prize. He lifted her and said, "Don't worry; I'll be very gentle!"
The next day, as soon as she arrived at the company, Cathy called Evelyn into the office.
"Did you see the posts online yesterday?" Cathy gestured towards her computer. "Is Liavian Perfumes out of their minds? What kind of stunt is this?"
Evelyn was curious.
She walked over and looked at Cathy's computer.
On the official Instagram page of Liavian Perfumes was a post admitting that the perfume formulas that had caused a stir on various forums the day before were from their company's several best-selling products. The reason for posting them was to discuss and progress together with their peers.
Evelyn fell into silence.
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