Chapter 316: Chapter 325

Chapter 325 Convicted Melanie and the two policemen exchanged glances before smiling helplessly.

This lady wasn’t only blind, but also mentally disoriented. No wonder she got lost.

Melanie handed her identity card to the policemen, who checked and verified her identity before allowing her to leave the police station.

Before she left, the blind lady clung onto Melanie’s arm, refusing to let go. The tears brimming in her eyes were genuine. Melanie almost couldn’t bear to leave.

“Madam,” Melanie tried to comfort her, “I need to leave right now. I’ll leave my phone number with you, and you can contact me anytime.”

“Give me your number, I’ll memorize it,” the lady said, finally calming down.

Melanie recited her phone number to the old lady, who committed it to memory before finally allowing Melanie to go.

After the interlude, Melanie focused all her attention on the perfume exhibition.

Mr. Smith was actively involved as well. They worked with employees of Morgan Group and Thousand Acre Exhibitions to design and furnish the exhibition hall in two starkly different styles. The exterior of the exhibition hall looked fiery and passionate, while the interior looked cold as ice. The zoomed-in photos that made up the backdrop were thought-provoking.

Positioned at the most eye-catching position in the exhibition hall was the ‘Siberian Butterflies’ perfume that wasn’t yet showcased to the world.

On the first day of the exhibition, Elder Gibson came without any warning. It came as a pleasant surprise to Melanie.

“Don’t bother accompanying me. Go be with your partners. I’ll look around by myself,” Elder Gibson said, trying to make Melanie leave his side by looking as if he couldn’t care less about being left alone.

“Partners aren’t important compared to my mentor,” Melanie said with a smile.

“How are they not important? You pay me dividends every quarter right now. I’m a shareholder of Jones Enterprise too, okay?” Elder Gibson scolded her jokingly.

Melanie nodded, looking as if realization just dawned upon her. “So you do care about the measly dividends I pay you! In that case, I have to work harder.”

She knew Cyrus didn’t want to bother her, so she continued making small talk with guests who were interested in her fragrances.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted Cyrus standing in front of ‘Siberian Butterflies’ for a long time.

They concocted that perfume together, and he should be no stranger to it.

+15 BONUS Melanie quietly walked over; she realized he wasn’t staring at the perfume, but at the photo wall behind the perfume display.

“The photos behind ‘Siberian Butterflies’ were specially selected by Mr. Smith. They feature the hands of the old lady in the mountains as she made potpourri by hand. Her hands are old and wrinkly, yet svelte and lithe, a paradoxical representation of someone seemingly of privilege worn down by the passage of time. There’s a depth to this photo.

“Are you all right?” Melanie asked after standing with him for a while.

He retracted his gaze, as he stuttered, “This h-hand...”

He trailed off with an uncontrollable tremor in his voice.

“It belongs to that old lady who lives in Mount Coloss. She was making potpourri when Mr. Smith took photos of her hands. Is something wrong?” Melanie explained, He shook his head, and turned to leave. When he brushed past her, she seemed to notice tears shining in his eyes.

Did the photo evoke memories of his loved one, who had passed away?

He didn’t seem to want her to pry further, so Melanie didn’t follow him and instead allowed him the space to roam around and look at other exhibits.

Shortly after he left, a commotion broke out at the entrance of the exhibition hall. Jeffrey was here with his employees.

His subordinates blocked off the paparazzi, who started swarming around him as he made a beeline for Melanie.

“John is here with a bunch of reporters and policemen. Seems like he’s here for you,” Jeffrey whispered into her ear by way of reminder.

“I’ve been waiting for him for a while now,” Melanie said with a twinkle in her eyes.

Jeffrey had expected this to happen, but he truly felt at ease when he heard her say that. “Do you need me to do anything?”

“Go backstage. If you’re around, you’ll be the center of everyone’s attention. The effect that John and I both want won’t be achieved,” Melanie said unceremoniously while shoving him away. “Leave, quick. Don’t ruin things for me.”

Ruin things for her?

Jeffrey arched his brows, but did as he was told and walked through the crowd to the backstage of the exhibition.

As Melanie had expected, shortly after the hype that Jeffrey’s arrival created died down, yet another commotion broke out at the entrance.

A junior assistant of the perfume department hurried over.

+15 BONUS “Miss, hordes of people from White Group have come, on top of a bunch of reporters! John White even has the police with him, claiming that they’re here to catch you!”

“Is that something he has the right to decide?” Melanie’s eyes grew cold as she patted the assistant’s shoulders. “Come on, let’s head over and take a look.”

“Miss!”

John made a beeline straight for Melanie the moment he arrived at the exhibition.

“President White, that’s a very peculiar entourage you have there,” Melanie said as she glanced at the reporters and policemen lined up behind him.

There were already quite a number of reporters at the exhibition, who swiftly gathered over and aimed their cameras at Melanie and John.

“I brought along policemen dedicated to serving the citizens and reporters committed to reporting truths. They’re not here just for fun. They’re here to expose your crimes!” John deliberately said loudly before the cameras.

He pointed a finger at Melanie/

“She’s suspected of using prohibited drugs! She should be convicted according to law!”

“President White, is that a joke?” Melanie sneered as her eyes narrowed. “You can’t just make baseless accusations and say that I’m involved in illegal activities. Do you have any proof?”

“Of course, I do!”

John pointed in another direction at the perfume behind Melanie.

“Why did this ‘Siberian Butterflies’ perfume gain the approval of all the bigwigs in the perfume industry? How did it gain such popularity even before it was launched to market? That’s because Melanie Jones hid a secret ingredient inside, and that’s tonka beans!”

He then declared confidently. “Tonka beans are very fragrant and can suppress one’s central nervous system. The addition of tonka beans is bound to make a perfume even more alluring than ordinary perfumes. They’re a prohibited ingredient, yet Melanie Jones used them despite knowing it was against the law!?