Chapter 565: Doesn’t Seem Like a Good Person
Selina’s identity had already been made public, so naturally, she no longer needed to sit among the contestants.
She sat down beside Logan as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Who said Country M didn’t have perfumers?
Wasn’t Piper, the one honored as a distinguished guest by the Country Y royal family, a perfumer from Country M?
...
When the competition ended and the results were announced, Selina and Logan quietly slipped away.
It had begun to rain outside. Selina lowered her head, glanced at the investigation results Justin had sent over, and let out a mocking laugh.
"Ronald really knows how to make use of everything. Just because he found a USB drive, he’s practically leeching off me. How does that brain of his even work?"
Logan asked calmly, "Do you suspect Ronald has someone else behind him?"
Selina only raised an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying.
Logan didn’t argue but added, "Ronald has been very close with the Country Y princess."
The first person Selina thought of was also her. "But I don’t know the princess of Country Y. We’ve never even met. She doesn’t seem to have a reason to target me. Maybe..."
Selina thought perhaps it was simply because Ronald had seen that USB drive and thought there was profit to be made—after all, he had been her subordinate once.
Just then, Selina received a message, and her brows arched.
"The princess of Country Y contacted the SL Group’s director over there. She wants to apologize to me. She says she was deceived by Ronald as well."
After all, Ronald had become the chief perfumer on the princess’s recommendation. But it turned out all of his work had been plagiarized, which meant the princess, as the recommender, also had to bear responsibility.
What Selina hadn’t expected was just how quickly the princess reacted. She publicly apologized in Country Y’s media and even promised that the position of chief perfumer would always remain reserved for Piper.
This move completely cleared her of shielding a plagiarist, while also earning her plenty of goodwill.
Selina smirked faintly. "The princess really knows how to play the game."
Logan picked up on the undertone in her words. "You don’t like her?"
"It’s not about like or dislike." Selina shook her head. "It’s just... strange. I’m very good at reading people. Even though I haven’t met the princess yet, I can’t help but feel..."
She looked at the phone screen where the "princess apology video" was playing and curled her lips. "Deep down, I don’t think she’s a good person."
Then she turned to Logan. "Mr. Reid, you don’t think I’m being petty, do you?"
Logan’s lips curved with amusement. "Of course not. I trust your judgment."
Selina perked up. "You’ve met the princess?"
Otherwise, why would Logan believe her so readily?
But to her surprise, the man shook his head. "No, I haven’t met her. I’ve only heard about her. The princess in Country Y has countless praises to her name. A person who only has good things said about them, without a single flaw—now that is hypocrisy."
This time it was Selina’s turn to be shocked.
She knew Logan wasn’t that kind of man. Who said there were no genuinely good people in this world? But to him, the princess being portrayed as a "purely good person" was itself hypocrisy.
Why? Was it because she came from royalty?
Logan shifted the subject. "It’s raining. Should we head home now, or wait a while?"
Selina touched her stomach. "I don’t feel like going home. Let’s go eat somewhere else."
Logan had been thinking the same. "Alright."
Right now, going home was definitely not an option.
...
Meanwhile, at Sapphire Valley Villa.
Under Paula’s instigation, Owen had directly invested in and backed Ronald, even announcing that he would partner with him.
But once Ronald was exposed for plagiarizing Piper’s work, the very people who once had high hopes for Owen now looked at him with nothing but contempt.
In the end, Owen lost everything. The Reid Family had no funds to bail him out, leaving him furious and helpless. In a fit of blind rage, he stormed to Sapphire Valley Villa.
He wanted money. He couldn’t live without money. He demanded wealth, demanded his inheritance rights...
Owen’s eyes were bloodshot. "Where’s Logan? Tell him to get out here!"
Miller the butler remained calm and composed. "Sir hasn’t returned yet. Someone, Reid Young Master’s not in a good state. Escort Young Master Owen back to rest."
"I’m not going back! It’s Logan and Selina—those two bastards! I’ll remember this, I’ll remember it!"
"I’m the rightful heir of the Reid Family, the legitimate grandson of the Perry Family. It’s me, it’s all me... Give me money, give me money!"
A flicker of disdain flashed in Miller Butler’s eyes as he gave a cold sneer. He subtly signaled Owen’s assistant with a glance, and the assistant gave the slightest nod in return.
Meanwhile, at Pear Blossom Estate.
Grandma Perry sipped her tea lightly. "Old man, I told you already—Amelia and Owen’s affairs are none of my business."
Grandpa Perry’s face twisted in rage, his tone frantic. "It’s just a few words, a little help from you... and you won’t do it! Will you only be satisfied if the Perry Family is completely ruined?!"
Grandpa Perry had only learned about Owen’s private dealings with Ronald after the scandal broke. Though agitated, he didn’t see Owen as truly at fault. Wasn’t it because Logan had stolen Owen’s glory that Owen grew so desperate?
But now... now that Ronald was exposed, if he were taken to court, Owen—as his partner—wouldn’t just lose everything, he would also be branded as someone who supported a plagiarist!
And all of this could be resolved—if only Selina were willing to soften her stance.
Grandpa Perry knew that if he went directly to Selina, she would never see him. His only option was to settle for Grandma Perry.
But who would have thought that Grandma Perry would act so detached, so unconcerned, nearly driving him to cough up blood from rage!
Even when begging, Grandpa Perry held his nose high, speaking as though it were his right. "All it takes is for Selina to say she forgives Ronald, or to say that Owen is innocent. Is that really so hard? Do you insist on destroying the Perry Family just to please yourself?"
"Do you know why I’ve always disdained you and Anna? Because you two are the most selfish women I’ve ever seen. You’ve never thought about this family! I only wanted to bring in a few women, and you refused to let them enter the house. Anna too—so young, yet already jealous. All I wanted was to adopt a daughter..."
Grandpa Perry’s fury boiled over, and he blurted out what was truly on his mind without even thinking. Halfway through, he realized what he had said, and his expression froze stiff—
Yet Grandma Perry’s face remained expressionless.
As if she hadn’t heard the words that had just slipped from his mouth: "Anna was jealous... I just wanted an adopted daughter."
...An adopted daughter?
So it wasn’t that Anna had gone missing for no reason. It was because Grandpa Perry wanted an adopted daughter—but with Anna, the rightful young lady of the household, present, his adopted girl would be overshadowed.
So Anna had been abandoned. And Amelia was brought in.
Though she had long suspected it, Grandma Perry’s heart still ached with bitterness. But she no longer had the energy to cast even a single glance at Grandpa Perry.
"You want Selina to take it back? The Perry Family truly is shameless from top to bottom."
Grandma Perry didn’t live at the Perry estate. She resided at Pear Blossom Estate.
Naturally, Grandpa Perry’s visit had been noticed.
And coincidentally, Grandma Perry had been standing by the door, "admiring the flowers," which meant every word Grandpa Perry had spoken... was overheard by those outside.