Once outside, they gathered by the glass windows, watching her every move like hawks. The whispers flared up again.
“Fixing the system? What a circus act!”
“Exactly! She’s supposed to be crafting perfumes, not clacking away at a keyboard. What a joke!”
Thea smirked and chimed in, “What do you suppose her backstory is?”
“Does it matter?” Marc cut in, his voice laced with derision. “The real issue is how she wormed her way in. Pretending to be busy… how ridiculous. She should stick to blending scents instead of playing hero with computers.”
“She’s trying to throw her weight around,” another tech muttered. “If we don’t nip this in the bud, she’ll be calling all the shots soon enough!”
The group exchanged subtle glances, each person silently agreeing. Finally, Marc, the most senior of them, broke the silence, his voice calm but firm. “Aren’t there reps from rival firms coming to inspect the place today? It’d be a real shame if they didn’t get a proper introduction to our new leader.”
A sly grin flickered across the group.
Office politics thrived like weeds in a neglected garden, each faction competing for dominance. To them, a fresh leader was nothing more than the erosion of their carefully established influence. So what if Allison had won the Perfumery Competition? That didn’t mean she could waltz in and disrupt their carefully constructed hierarchy. No one in this room would allow their interests to be trampled without a fight.
Marc wasn’t just a senior technician; he was the unspoken leader of his own loyal faction. And he wasn’t about to let an outsider undermine his power.
Representatives from several perfume companies gathered outside the towering building, visibly awestruck by its splendor.
“Incredible! One glance, and you can tell Charisma Company is under the wing of the renowned Lloyd Group!” one of them remarked, eyes wide in admiration.
As they marveled at the building’s lavish design, their curiosity about the elusive Charisma Company grew. After tirelessly lobbying their respective firms, they had finally secured the rare privilege of visiting this enigmatic place – a coveted opportunity they were eager to explore.
It was customary to exchange insights among peers, but partnering with a major player like Charisma for the first time inevitably left them on edge. Starting at the ground floor, they began their tour of the company, and with each step, their astonishment deepened.
“The equipment in this lab is cutting-edge! It’s leagues ahead of what we have!” one of the representatives exclaimed, impressed by the state-of-the-art technology.
At the back of the group, Colton and Melany strolled hand in hand, unashamedly displaying their affection. While the others marveled at the perfume creations, Melany’s attention was elsewhere. Her eyes sparkled with excitement at the sight of the high-tech lab equipment. She fantasized about the Stevens Group expanding into the perfume industry. If they did, she was determined to secure a few of these top-tier labs for herself.
However, her smile faltered as her gaze landed on Allison. “Colton, is that Allison over there? How is she already working at Charisma Company?” Her voice betrayed a hint of disbelief.
Not far from them, Marc, eager to win favor with Melany after benefiting from her influence, noticed her displeasure and seized the opportunity.
With a sly grin, he spoke up. “Well, well,” he chuckled, his tone dripping with mischief. “That’s our newly appointed leader. Must be quite the talent, right?”
The subtlety in his words wasn’t lost on the others around them. As their eyes turned to Allison, still so young and fresh-faced, skepticism began to stir.
Melany’s expression shifted slightly. “So that’s why she suddenly joined Charisma Company. It must be due to her ‘connections.’ How enviable, right? She’s the Perfumery Competition champion, yet instead of crafting new scents in the lab, she’s lounging around, playing with her computer. Must be nice to have such an ‘easy’ job,” she said, her voice dripping with feigned innocence, but the sharpness in her tone was unmistakable.
“Getting a promotion this fast… It’s really unfair to those who’ve spent years working their way up,” she added, her lips curling into a bitter smile.
Colton, pulling her closer, ran his fingers through her hair in a gesture of comfort. However, his laugh was cold. “What’s there to envy about someone who climbs the ladder through connections? It’s pathetic, really.”
Encouraged by Colton’s jab, Marc and the others grew bolder, eagerly awaiting any opportunity to tarnish Allison’s name further. Thea, never one to miss a chance, joined in with a mocking laugh. “Well, let’s not be too hasty. She must have some remarkable skills, but I do agree that promoting her straight to lab head seems rushed. It doesn’t exactly follow the usual promotion process. Poor Marc, though.”
“Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine. These things happen in the workplace. I’ve grown accustomed to it by now,” Marc replied, feigning grace, though his smirk betrayed his true feelings. “After all, she’s got connections.”
Their voices mingled in shared sarcasm, creating an atmosphere thick with snide undertones. The others exchanged uncertain glances, and soon, someone hesitantly spoke up. “But Ms. Clarke isn’t just anybody – she’s the Perfumery Competition champion and the renowned Scarlet Snake. I doubt she needs connections. Mr. Lloyd probably invited her personally.”
“Please,” another scoffed. “Even a genius has to make a living. Wouldn’t be surprising if she pulled some strings.”
Though they tried to mask it, their disdain for those who relied on connections was evident in their expressions.
Just then, Melany’s delicate voice rang out as she pushed the door open, filling the lab with her presence. “Hello, Allison. I didn’t expect to find you here.”
Her words dripped with mocking concern. “This is stepping way over the line. Being appointed lab head – against protocol, I might add – and instead of developing perfumes, you’re just sitting here, tinkering with your computer. What do you think people will say? This certainly isn’t good for your reputation.”
Colton’s voice, thick with sarcasm, echoed hers. “And here you are, Melany, so thoughtful. She pulls stunts like this, and yet you still care so much about her reputation.”
The two of them played off each other, their words laced with thinly veiled jealousy. Their wedding had become a public mockery, and deep down, they feared that Allison would take pleasure in their humiliation. So, they chose to strike first.
Kellan appeared at the lab entrance, his expression as sharp as a blade.
“When did this company become a playground for uninvited guests? And remind me, haven’t I blacklisted the two of you? How did your names even find their way onto the observation group list?”
Colton and Melany froze, their bravado evaporating in an instant. Not a word escaped their lips.
They knew full well their names weren’t on the list – they had merely tagged along with the group, hoping to use the opportunity to repair their frayed relationship with Kellan. But in their overconfidence, they had overstepped, momentarily forgetting the precarious position they were in.
Kellan, eyes cold, addressed the murmurs around him, coming to Allison’s defense with swift decisiveness. “Ms. Clarke is not just a leader here; she’s a shareholder. One of the bosses. Does she really need your permission to act?”
He let out a harsh laugh and continued, “And not only that, she’s the head of the fragrance department. She can make any changes she sees fit – no one in this company would dare object!”
As his words echoed through the room, the technicians’ faces drained of color.
Up until now, they had seen Allison as merely a leader appointed by someone higher up, never imagining she held ownership stakes. Disobeying a leader’s orders could be overlooked, but crossing a shareholder? That was a different matter. A shareholder could have their heads rolling in no time.
“Scarlet Snake is a shareholder of Charisma Company?” someone muttered, half in disbelief. “Even so, she can’t just go around bending the rules.”
The attendees were perfume industry insiders, typically friendly, but self-preservation kicked in when conflicts of interest arose. Another voice piped up deliberately, “This doesn’t seem to follow protocol.”
Allison’s response was as icy as it was swift. “Since when did Buggins start running the fragrance industry? You may be older than me, but remind me – where did you place in the Perfumery Competition?”
The man’s face flushed, then turned pale. He hadn’t even been qualified to enter the contest.
Allison’s lips curled into a sneer. “Some are born with talent, while others spend their lives clinging to tradition. You can spend your entire life following the rules, but you’ll never match the spark of inspiration in someone with true ability. So instead of whining about what’s unfair, why not accept that maybe it’s your own limits holding you back?”
She tapped in a final line on the computer before rising slowly, her gaze colder than the winter wind sweeping across the room. Everyone, especially the lab technicians, felt the weight of her eyes upon them, sending an involuntary shudder down their spines. Until now, they had underestimated how formidable she could be.
Sensing an opening, Marc, nudged by Melany, stepped forward to challenge her. “Ms. Clarke, even as a shareholder, you really shouldn’t be sitting idle at the lab’s central control station. What if someone with ill intent hacked into the system while you were being careless?”
Thea, wearing her usual look of innocence, chimed in, “Oh, but I think Ms. Clarke mentioned she was ‘fixing’ the computer because the core system had been attacked.”
This only spurred others on, their words dripping with mockery. “Isn’t she a perfumer? Even if there was a breach, why would she be fooling around with the computer? And she didn’t even let us see what she was doing.”
“Charisma’s firewall is one of the strongest in Ontdale. There’s no way it could have been hacked so easily. We’ve never had any issues for years.”
A ripple of doubt spread across the room, with most people now convinced that Allison had been neglecting her duties. Kellan’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t waver in his belief in Allison. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, a staff member came barreling into the room, clutching a stack of documents.
“Mr. Lloyd, our company website was just under a major cyberattack. The entire database was almost wiped out! But it was restored just in time. I thought the main office had intervened, but they couldn’t have acted that quickly.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.