“Let me make this clear: we have video records of all the top ten finalists. And, for the record, I have met Scarlet Snake before.”
Colton straightened, his face hard as he sneered at Allison. “You hear that? A man like Mack Lloyd won’t let a fraud like you stand here pretending. If I were you, I’d leave before things get worse.”
“Stop it, Colton!” Melany hissed, pulling at his arm. “It’s fine. If Allison has benefited from my perfume, let her have it. Scarlet Snake herself has chosen to live in anonymity. She wouldn’t care about public opinion.” Melany was desperate to end this quickly. If the real Scarlet Snake showed up, she’d have no way to escape the shame.
“Just… learn your lesson and don’t try anything like this again, Allison,” she added.
But Rebecca, standing beside Allison, wasn’t having any of it. She let out a short, mocking laugh and said, “What’s the matter, Melany? Afraid the truth is about to come out? It seems to me like you’re the one with something to hide.”
Mack turned his gaze toward Melany, his expression unreadable. “No. This cannot be brushed under the rug. The truth will come out today.”
With slow, deliberate steps, Mack approached Allison.
“I must say, I thought you’d continue using the name Scarlet Snake, but it seems you’ve switched to ‘Lemonade’ this time. Clever move, but your talent still shines through. What kept you away for so long, our real prodigy?”
His words fell like a bomb.
Because of his stature, what he said mattered. So, Lemonade had won the first Perfumery Competition as Scarlet Snake?
The room erupted into gasps and whispers. Scarlet Snake? Here, among them? Competing under a different name?
Melany’s knees nearly gave out. “No… no, that’s impossible,” she muttered, her vision swimming. Colton, equally stunned, stood frozen, unable to process the bombshell that had just dropped.
Mack’s icy gaze fixed on Melany as he finished speaking. “You claimed your creations echoed the style of the renowned Scarlet Snake, yet you didn’t even recognize her. Then you dared to throw around baseless accusations. This is outrageous!”
Melany’s face went pale, scrambling for a defense. “That’s not what I meant, and besides… how could she possibly be Scarlet Snake?” But what if she was?
The terrifying thought flickered across Melany’s mind, only to be quickly shoved aside. No, it couldn’t be true. She couldn’t bear to imagine how many secrets Allison could be hiding if it were.
“Melany’s only emulating Scarlet Snake’s style. It’s more of a tribute, really. Deciding whether this crosses into plagiarism isn’t something that can be settled in a few words! We’d need concrete evidence.” Colton was the first to regain his composure.
Allison had once claimed she’d met Emanuel on a deserted island, which could explain her knowledge of pottery. But claiming to be Scarlet Snake, the winner of the very first Perfumery Competition? It was beyond absurd.
“Besides, the rules of that first contest were entirely different from the ones today. All participants remained completely anonymous. The organizers guaranteed that from the moment perfumes were submitted to when finalists were selected, no one was privy to the contestants’ identities, only their code names.” The current SVIP channel was set up for the top ten competitors in the first Perfumery Competition, but the staff only had access to the rankings, not any of their detailed information.
Colton’s face hardened as he continued, “Maybe someone’s trying to con the judges into thinking they’re Scarlet Snake. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to pull a stunt like that.”
Whether it was jealousy, disbelief, or something else entirely, Colton was convinced. He couldn’t accept the idea that Allison could possibly be that kind of genius.
His words seemed to reignite Melany’s confidence. She couldn’t back down now. To admit defeat would undo everything. This was now a fight for survival.
“Mr. Lloyd, you’re an expert in the perfume industry with countless proteges. Everyone respects your opinion.” Melany’s eyes reddened as she looked at Mack, feigning a mixture of determination and wounded pride.
“But the first contest’s rules were clear – no one was allowed to know the contestants’ true identities. So, unless you violated those rules, Mr. Lloyd, or were they just for show back then?”
Allison’s cold stare cut through the air. “You really are shameless. You still have the nerve to argue, even now, and you’re dragging others down with you.”
Melany was proving to be even more despicable than Allison had anticipated. Now, Melany was hinting that the judges themselves were part of some cover-up.
“Even if you are from the Lloyd family, you shouldn’t be playing favorites. This is about my reputation too,” Melany said firmly. “Come on, everyone can see how close Allison and Kellan are. If you’re going to defend her, do it differently!”
Melany used the rules from the first contest to challenge Mack. If he tried to protect Allison by saying she was the Scarlet Snake, it would be like breaking the rules. People might get the wrong idea that Allison had cheated. Melany was all in now. She knew that unless Scarlet Snake herself materialized, she could spin this situation however she wanted. Allison and Mack would be dragged down by this mess.
Mack’s eyes widened as he looked at the two standing before him. “You’re just making things up!”
In all his years, no one had dared challenge him like this. She was accusing him of lying – of dishonoring the integrity of the contest and its organizers. The sheer audacity!
Melany felt a wave of guilt deep inside but masked it with a defiant front. After all, the anonymity of that first contest had been ironclad. So many had tried, in vain, to uncover the contestants’ identities. The judges had always sworn they hadn’t looked into anyone’s true background – not even that of the illustrious champion, Scarlet Snake.
So even if Allison was Scarlet Snake, who could prove it?
“Mr. Lloyd, please, take it easy.” A bystander moved to support Mack, fearing he might collapse from the stress. Seeing this, Melany quickly stepped back, putting on a show of regret.
“Let’s just drop it. Maybe there were loopholes in the so-called anonymous contest, and the judges did poke around the champion’s identity behind closed doors.”
She was playing the game of confusion, throwing just enough doubt into the mix to muddy the waters for everyone present.
The crowd was deep in thought, particularly the contestants who hadn’t placed. Whispers spread as doubt began to take root. Maybe the contest wasn’t as fair as they thought.
“Melany’s got a point. Scarlet Snake came out of nowhere years ago, making waves in the perfume world. How could someone who’s been absent for so long be just a young woman?” one person murmured.
“After I lost that year, I did everything I could to track down the finalists. I hired private investigators, spent a fortune, and still couldn’t find a thing.”
“Wasn’t the first contest supposed to be confidential? How could a judge recognize a contestant unless there was a breach in the rules, or worse, intentional cheating?” Another voice added.
It was moments like these that revealed the darker side of human nature. It was easier for them to believe in conspiracies in a competition supposedly rigid and just, rather than admit their own shortcomings. Melany knew exactly how to stir up these feelings, how to twist people’s insecurities.
And now, Allison was stuck in the middle, smeared by association, facing hostility no matter what she did. Especially since she had no hard proof to clear her name.
Rebecca, hearing these baseless accusations, hurled her wine glass to the floor, shattering it into jagged pieces. “Spreading lies with no shred of evidence? Let’s see if you’re so bold when you’re slapped with a lawyer’s letter!” she shouted.
How could Melany still have the gall to argue after such a brazen display? Rebecca had seen plenty of foolishness in her time, but to face such audacity lit a fire in her chest.
Beside her, Mack, visibly bristling from Melany’s accusations, clenched his fists, his face flushed with anger.
“I’m far too old to be protecting anyone who doesn’t deserve it. If someone’s got talent, I’d take them on as a direct apprentice myself. Does anyone dare to question my integrity?”
It was rare to see Mack this riled up. “I met this girl by chance. After that contest, I gave her a lower score than the others. According to the rules, we judges aren’t supposed to know anything about the contestants. But she approached me, eager to learn.”
Mack had taken notice of Scarlet Snake because of her relentless curiosity and hunger for knowledge. She was one of those rare, once-in-a-lifetime talents who only needed a nudge to grasp something completely. Such brilliance was hard to find, and when he saw Allison’s…
The game this year had been thrilling, but who could have predicted that a minor incident would spiral into such a mess? Mack’s words struck a chord with the audience. Surely, a man of his stature wouldn’t risk his reputation with a lie, especially when there were other, more honorable ways to mentor a rising star.
With both sides standing firm, the crowd wavered, caught between the conflicting narratives. Allison gently calmed Rebecca’s anger before turning to Mack, offering a slight bow. “I’m sorry, sir, that you’ve been dragged into this because of me.”
She then straightened up, her gaze locking onto Melany with an intensity that sent a chill down everyone’s spine. “Whether I’m Scarlet Snake or not doesn’t change the fact that your perfume isn’t a tribute – it’s a blatant copy. And conveniently, I have proof.”
Melany scoffed, her voice stubborn. “That’s impossible…”
Yet Allison’s unwavering stare made her instinctively take a step back. It might have been her imagination, but for the first time, Melany saw Allison in a different light. No longer just a homemaker, Allison appeared as someone far more dangerous, someone who had faced life-or-death situations. That stare, sharp as a dagger, seemed ready to cut her apart.
Kellan’s voice cut through the tension, cold and commanding. “Accusing the Lloyd family of lying and cheating? Who do you think you are?” His dark eyes flashed with cold fury, and his presence felt suffocating. “Melany, you’ve got some nerve, dragging my family’s name through the mud. Did you really think the Lloyds wouldn’t defend their honor?”
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.