Chapter 4 Zero Tolerance
Dashiell put Seraphina on the sofa and turned to get the ointment and alcohol swabs. Later, he wiped Seraphina’s wound clean and then applied ointment to it carefully.
It was just a minor injury and had stopped bleeding. The ointment felt cool as it was applied to Seraphina’s wound.
Seraphina observed Dashiell who was applying ointment to her wound intently at the moment. She then caught the calm look in Dashiell’s eyes which made her feel like Dashiell was doing a normal thing. It reminded her of Julian, who had never done such a little thing for her over these years.
People often said that men were careless. However, that was only true when a man was facing a person he didn’t care about.
After applying the ointment, Dashiell looked up and happened to see the vacant look in Seraphina’s eyes. “What is wrong?”
“Nothing.” Seraphina shook her head and quickly put down her feet. “Thank you.”
“You’re my wife. You don’t have to say that. But I want you to remember one thing,” Dashiell said while screwing the lid onto the ointment bottle.
“Okay, go ahead.” Seraphina nodded.
“I don’t care about your past. Since you married me, you have to sever all your entanglements with…”
“I will!” Seraphina said before Dashiell could finish his words. “Don’t worry. At least during this marriage, I will guarantee my loyalty. Besides, I want the same from you.”
Dashiell raised his eyebrows slightly, probably not expecting that she would dare to request something from him.
“I know our marriage is a deal. Although I don’t know what you want, I hope we can still keep the principles of marriage. If one day you meet someone you love, we can divorce, but I have zero tolerance for infidelity within marriage.”
Seraphina had already been betrayed once, so she wouldn’t allow it to happen again.
Dashiell smiled and said, “What a coincidence. Me too.”
Seeing Dashiell’s smile, Seraphina was absent-minded for a moment.
Seraphina thought, ‘This man is God’s masterpiece.
‘Not only does he have a great mind for business, but his appearance is perfect.’
Initially, Seraphina just wanted to give it a try when she called Dashiell for cooperation. She didn’t expect to marry him. Seraphina thought, ‘I have been unlucky for years. Looks like luck favors me this time.’
At 7 p.m., Seraphina took Dashiell’s car and arrived at the competition site with Dashiell.
Seraphina didn’t expect Dashiell to go there in person. After all, this competition was just a small event for Apex Corporation. Most of the time, Apex Corporation would only attend some international competitions.
When the car arrived, Seraphina happened to see Julian’s car parked at the gate of the venue.
Julian wore a dark blue suit, and his hair was neatly combed. He looked handsome. After getting out of the car, he immediately turned around to hold the door open with one hand and took Vivian’s hand with the other hand, helping her out.
Seraphina’s lips curved in a sarcastic smile. She was laughing at herself. She thought, ‘How could I be so blind before?’
“Do you want to get out of the car now?” Dashiell turned around, held Seraphina’s hand, and asked.
Seraphina shook her head.
Seraphina knew well that she would throw an uproar in the crowd and astound Julian and Vivian if she got out of Dashiell’s car and walked to them with Dashiell hand-in-hand. But that was not the result she wanted. To be precise, that was far from enough.
Seraphina wanted Julian to pay a price for his betrayal, as compensation for her effort for Julian’s career and her love for him over the years.
Although it was a small competition, it had a strict process.
To ensure fairness and impartiality, the judges were selected from experts from all provinces. All perfumes were handed in by representatives of each company three hours before the competition.
During the three hours, experts would score and rate perfumes based on their appearances, top, middle, and base notes, etc.
In other words, the organizers of the competition had the results, but they had not yet announced them.
Seraphina didn’t enter the venue. She stayed with Dashiell in an exclusive VIP room, where she could see everything clearly through a large screen in the room.
Julian and Vivian were very happy as if they had won the awards.
Seraphina looked at them silently. She thought, ‘Take your time to smile proudly. Soon, you won’t be in the mood to laugh like this.’
The lights in the venue were slightly dimmed, indicating that the results were about to be announced. All the guests who were still socializing turned around and looked at the stage.
It was customary to start with the smallest prize. Obviously, Julian didn’t take those prizes seriously. Even though he didn’t hear Prosperian Company’s name, he did not worry. He held Vivian in one arm and looked at the stage confidently.
“Next, the first, second, and third prizes of this competition will be announced.” The host cleared his throat. “Before I present this award, I want to make it clear again that the competition is based on fairness, impartiality, and openness. There are no restrictions on the size of companies. Anyone who meets the requirements can attend the competition. But we also want to warn you that in addition to the quality of the products itself, the character of perfumers is more important. We strictly prohibit and crack down on all suspected plagiarism!”
In the VIP room, Seraphina clenched her glass and looked at Julian and Vivian on the screen.
Julian and Vivian didn’t realize it had something to do with them. They even took the lead in applauding.
“You’re right! Although our Prosperian Company is just a small company, we have always been committed to originality and R&D. Plagiarism is a shame in the industry. We can accept that the finished products of our company are not perfect sometimes, but we disdain plagiarism,” Julian said in a tone of righteousness.
Vivian added, “Yes. Although I am only a middle-level perfumer and not as professional as the senior perfumers and masters in the industry, I always admonish myself to be honest and diligent and to make the brand we are proud of.”
There came applause. The reporters seized the opportunity to take pictures of Julian and Vivian. It was a harmonious scene.
However, the host on stage changed the topic with a serious look. “So Prosperian Company can guarantee the originality and authenticity of your entries?”
“Yes, of course!” Julian said confidently.
After that, Julian felt something was wrong.
Julian had participated in many exhibitions and competitions before but never had he been asked such questions.
But Julian could say safely that he could guarantee the originality and authenticity of these perfumes as they were made by Seraphina herself. He was confident about that.
Thinking of this, Julian put on an arrogant smile again.
“Humph!” Seraphina snorted.
Seraphina thought, ‘He said that triumphantly as if he was telling the truth.’
The host took a deep look at Julian. He then turned to everyone and said seriously, “There is a special situation in this competition. Two different companies have submitted the same product for the competition, even with the same name.”
Although the host didn’t speak out the names of the two companies directly, he specifically asked Julian a question just now. Everyone was sure that Julian’s company was one of the two companies alluded to by the host just now, but it was not clear which company was the other one that was involved in this incident.
Julian’s face changed.
This was even more embarrassing than not winning the prize. Prosperian Company was suspected of plagiarizing in front of many companies and media in the industry. Once the news came out tomorrow, Prosperian Company’s reputation would be ruined.
