Chapter 218 Must be a gift from a boyfriend, right?
"This whole thing..." Liam hesitated, then said, "It's not like I started it. She’s the one who’s been gunning for me. Now everyone’s on her side. Playing the sympathy card isn’t working; people are starting to believe Evelyn. The company’s return rates are through the roof. If this keeps up, we’re screwed..."
"You..." Ava was fuming. She found a quiet spot and snapped, "There was no mention of her in the plan I gave you! You know what kind of backing she has, and you still went and poked the bear? Are you out of your mind?!"
"No, seriously, I didn’t provoke her. She’s the one coming after me. Even if I play the victim, no one’s buying it now!" Liam was feeling pretty defeated.
Ava let out a couple of frustrated snorts. "You’re not acting like a victim; you’re acting like an idiot!"
"Alright, let’s drop it for now. I’ll check things out and see what’s up. If it’s not urgent, don’t call me." Just before hanging up, Ava remembered something and added, "Actually, don’t call me at all. I’m swamped. Just text me, and I’ll get back to you when I can."
Listening to the click on the other end, Liam sat there, feeling even more down.
Ava didn’t offer any solutions. Instead, he got an earful. He thought for a moment; he couldn’t just sit around, especially now that he’d managed to salvage a bit of his reputation. Reflecting on the online drama over the past few days, the main points people were fixated on were:
1. Whether the previous perfume series from Liavian Perfumes was created by Evelyn or Vivian, and if Liam and Vivian had stolen Evelyn’s work.
2. Whether Liam had a relationship with Evelyn, who was the mistress, and if Liam had lied about it.
Most of the other questions revolved around these two points. Actually, regarding the question of who the secret lover was, it ultimately pertained to Liam's private life. The key issue at hand remained the ownership of the previous perfume design. Liam and Vivian had both claimed Evelyn was the thief, but now, that might be hard to keep up.
Liam knew who really created the perfume. He hadn’t expected Evelyn to dig up so much evidence. The scariest part was, he had no idea how much more she had.
After some thought, maybe it was better to come clean. If Liam showed some sincerity and played the victim, maybe he’d get another shot.
The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like the best move. As for Ava, he didn’t have time to ask her, and he didn’t dare to bug her again. As for when Ava would come to find Liam, he had no idea how long he would have to wait. Time was ticking, and Liam had to act.
He quickly opened his laptop, sat at his desk, and started typing: [Apology Statement.]
The next day, when Evelyn got to the office, she saw a big box on her desk. It had a wooden frame and was sealed tight, so she couldn’t see what was inside.
"Whose is this?" Evelyn asked.
"Of course, it's yours!" a colleague replied. "The security downstairs delivered it early this morning, saying it’s your package. It’s pretty heavy."
Confused, Evelyn circled the box a couple of times but couldn’t figure out anything unusual. There was no shipping label or contact info, just some words in black ink: [For Evelyn]. A bunch of colleagues were curious and leaned in to take a look, but the wooden strips made it impossible to see inside.
"What’s in such a big package?"
"Yeah, what did you buy that’s so huge?"
"Must be some kind of furniture!"
"It’s not something I bought!" Evelyn shook her head, placing her hand on the wooden box. "Did security say anything else? Like who sent it?"
Her colleagues shook their heads, indicating they had no clue.
Evelyn tapped her fingers on the wooden frame, wondering who sent it and how to even open it. With it being so tightly sealed, she had no idea what was inside.
Evelyn thought, 'I've been the talk of the town online lately. Could someone have sent me something as a prank or worse?'
A sudden thought flashed through her mind, and she quickly pulled her hand back, as if afraid something inside might bite her.
"Such a big box!" Laura walked in munching on corn and immediately noticed the large package. "What a great thing!"
Glancing at Laura, Evelyn casually said, "A bomb!"
Laura reflexively took two steps back, almost dropping her corn. She widened her eyes. "Is it real?"
"Of course not. If it were, we wouldn’t be sitting here!" a colleague teased Laura. "We don’t know what’s inside; we’re all curious. Evelyn, since you didn’t buy it, it must be a gift from your boyfriend, right?"
Hearing the joking remarks, Evelyn actually found it somewhat reasonable.
Evelyn thought, 'Could it really be a gift from Samuel?'
She turned around with her phone to find a quiet spot in the hallway to make a call. After a few rings, Samuel’s magnetic voice came through with a hint of playful banter. "So, you’re thinking of me already after just parting this morning?"
"So, is this why you gave me a gift?" Evelyn asked.
Samuel paused. "Gift? What gift? Do you want a gift?"
"If it’s not from you?" Listening to his tone, it probably wasn’t from him, which surprised Evelyn even more.
"Did someone send you something? What did they send? Flowers, or balloons?" Samuel asked, sounding particularly sensitive to the word "balloons" due to a previous incident.
"No. I’m just asking; it’s fine if it’s not from you!" Evelyn was about to hang up, but his impatient voice came from the other end. "What do you mean it’s fine? You called me on purpose, so this gift must be something significant. Do you like it? What is it? You don’t know who sent it?"
"I don’t know who sent it, and I don’t know what it is. I can’t say whether I like it or not." Evelyn sighed. "It’s a very large wooden box, sealed with wooden strips. I can’t see inside, so I don’t know what it is."
Samuel fell silent. "Then don’t open it yet. Have someone move the box to an open space and then open it."
Evelyn chuckled. "You don’t really think there’s a bomb inside, do you? Rest assured, if there was a bomb, it would have exploded by now."
Samuel said, "Regardless, it’s better to be careful."
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