âMr. Russell and team! Thanks for making your way all the way here!â Anderson Sawyer was clearly familiar with the supervisor from the Department of Quality Inspection. âLet me introduce you to Mr.
Miles Silverton of the Silverton Corporation!âMiles stepped forward to greet Mr. Russell, offering a handshake. âMr. Russell, glad you could make it. Iâm confident weâll get a fair inspection report with you at the helm,â Miles said with a plastic smile.Anderson cast a sideways glance at Skylar Stone, smiling slyly as he watched Miles and Mr. Russell exchange greetings amiably. He knew Skylar could not pull any last-minute tricks out of the bag, given the venue was crowded with reporters as well as his friendly relationship with Mr. Russell. Skylar would have to accept that he made a careless blunder.The smug grins on Anderson and Milesâ faces did not go unnoticed by Skylar. Sensing his opportunity, he turned to Mr. Russell as well. âMr. Russell, I was the one who made the phone call to your department. I have reason to believe the anti-blemish cream developed by Silverton Corporation contains unsafe ingredients and could lead to harmful side effects.ââHmm?â Mr. Russell looked slightly confused.
âAnother blemish cream?âMiles interrupted Skylar before he could respond to Mr. Russell. âMr. Russell, this punk hereâs just jealous that our cream works better than theirs, so heâs stirring trouble at our press conference. I wouldâve invited your team here even if Mr. Stone did not. Iâm counting on you to clear our name, Mr. Russell.Mr. Russell nodded solemnly before he turned to one of his associates. âBring the equipment over,â he instructed.âYes, sir!â The associate, together with another colleague, hurried out of the doors.A moment later, they returned with the clunky-looking testing equipment, setting it up on the podium. Mr. Russell put on a pair of rubber gloves before picking up the anti-blemish cream jar provided by Miles. He opened it up, observing and sniffing the contents of the jar before placing the jar in the designated slot in the equipment. The machine beeped and whirred as the crowd waited for the results with bated breath. âHey, why donât you guys livestream this?â Miles confidently suggested to the press reporters. âHere, look for a good angle to stream it!â Several members of the press quickly rushed onto the podium, pointing their cameras and video recorders at the testing equipment.Anderson looked at Skylar derisively. âSkylar, I think you need to be more creative with your tricks,â he whispered mockingly. âYouâre dreaming if you think you can turn this around because guess what? Youâre right, I sold him the formula. The exact same one Yulia used. If Kareem Fashion passed the inspection yesterday, do you think our results will be any different from yours?â Anderson knew he was rattling Skylar and was relishing every moment of it, simply because he knew Skylar could not stop the imminent doom headed his way.Anderson was gleefully fantasizing about Skylar Stoneâs demise when some commotion on the podium, followed by hushed whispers interrupted his thoughts.âThe test results are out,â Mr. Russellâs surly voice boomed through the microphone.âMr. Russell, please do Silverton Corporation justice and tell the world our products are safe for public use!â Miles sounded like he was addressing the crowd more than Mr. Russell.He had not noticed Mr. Russellâs solemn expression as he made his announcement. âThis product is NOT safe for public use,â he announced gravely.Milesâ smile quickly disappeared from his face. âWh⦠what do you mean, Mr.
Russell?ââSilverton Corporationâs anti-blemish cream contains a harmful ingredient known as butylated hydroxyanisole,â Mr. Russell explained. âThe substance is absorbed into the bloodstream when it is applied onto the skin and can damage the white blood cells in the bloodstream, potentially causing leukemia and other types of cancer. We most certainly cannot call this a safe product.â