Chapter 197
Spoiled by Mr. Russell
Nathaniel hung up the phone and took a cigarette break before entering the house. Inside, Melanie was sitting on the sola, peeling an orange. Before putting it into her mouth, she ensured the orange was free of all pithis. âSomething wrong?â Melanie asked as she noticed he had a pained expression. She cleaned up the mess on the table, wiped her hands, and sat up. Nathaniel shook his head, indicating that he rather not talk about it.
âEven if you donât tell me, I could guess. I heard a thing or two when you were on the phone. Lily was the one who leaked the information about our perfume, right?â Melanie was good at reading people as if she was filled with wisdom.
Since Melanie had overheard his conversation with Lily, he decided not to keep it from her anymore.
He heaved a heavy sigh, walked to the fridge to get a can of beer, and downed it.
âWhy are you so angry when sheâs the one who leaked the information? Sheâs just asking for trouble. If thatâs what she wants, then let her be,â Melanie said nonchalantly.
She did not think it was a huge problem. Ever since the formula of their perfume was leaked the last time, Melanie lad honestly stopped caring It was true that the awards she had received were all because of those perfumes, but it was Lily who invented them. Melanie did not participate in any research or production, so she knew nothing about the formula. Her value to the company diminished after the award show.
After utilizing her as a marketing tool, their primary concern was making money. Following the fallout with Lily, Melanie knew MN Inc. could not rely on its past perfume lines alone. They needed to come up with a novel approach to retain their clients.
âItâs easy for you to say, but where can we get proos? We have no evidence that Lily leaked those formulas. The key thing now is not to blame her but salvage this situation,â Nathaniel explained his reasoning to Melanie.
Nathaniel felt like his head was about to explode. The board was already after him, so he needed to come up with a solution as soon as possible. They were already dissatisfied with him because of the companyâs previous production line crisis.
Although the relationship problem between Melanie, him, and Lily was private, the board of directors warned him to maintain a positive image for the company. The shareholders were older men with a conservative mindset. Nathaniel needed to ensure they were still happy with him to keep his position as the director of MN Inc.
âArenât we already producing our new product?â Melanie placed her hands around Nathanielâs shoulders and leaned on him. âWe could always tell the board that a new product line is in the works and is sure to be a hit with women. The company will make twice as much by then, so the loss weâre currently experiencing wonât matter much. âBesides, the public is already bored with our past lines, and sales arenât doing well either. If the forinulas were leaked, so be it. Letâs use this opportunity to do some PR and improve our companyâs image,â Melanie suggested. âWhat do you mean?â Nathaniel frowned.
âIf we canât prove that Lily leaked the information, we could say we did it ourselves to stimulate healthy competition in the industry. The goal was to share confidential information in order to develop superior versions of our products. Since the damage is done, we might as well try to improve our image. Just think of it as Lily helping us instead,â she concluded.
After listening to Melanie, Nathaniel felt enlightened and nodded in agreement, âYouâre right! Thatâs a great idea!â
âDonât worry too much about it. The most important thing now is to get our new products out into the market is soon as possible. Which our products become a hit, we no longer have to fear Lily of our formulas being leaked! Lilyâs just a nobody. She wonât be able to cause much commotion,â Melanie said confidently.