The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 127

There was a substantial media presence at the event, arranged by Elijah himself to boost his profile. Some were even live-streaming the event online.

The previous incident had quickly spread online, sparking an internet backlash.

Arabella watched with satisfaction as the topic on Twitter began to trend. She was delighted to see the barrage of unsightly insults directed at Vivienne in the comments section.

On stage.

"Vivienne, don't get too cocky!" Elijah laughed bitterly in his rage.

"Enough." Vivienne looked impatient.

"I'll make sure you lose dignity!" Elijah coldly threatened her before signaling for the competition to start.

Given that perfume blending required inspiration, even though the contestants had a week to prepare, the competition was set for one hour.

The time quietly passed, and the audience watched as Elijah theatrically sniffed various ingredients. Once in a while, he would spray the blended perfume on a tester strip and then pretend to contemplate something as he scribbled on a piece of paper. He seemed to be trying to impress the audience with his creativity.

On the other hand, Vivienne swiftly picked out a few ingredients she needed as soon as she arrived at the perfume blending station. She then began to blend the perfume according to specific proportions, and in less than ten minutes, she had completed a bottle of perfume.

Afterwards, she sat down at the perfume blending station and started to doze off.

To ensure fair competition and prevent cheating, everything on the two perfume blending stations was projected onto a large screen behind the stage.

Thus, the audience got a close-up view of Vivienne's face. It was magnified several times and occupied half of the large screen.

Percival rubbed his temples. He was somewhat exasperated. He had to admit that his darling girl looked rather cute when she was sleeping.

But he didn't like the idea of so many people watching her sleep.

Elijah, who was still gently fanning the scent from the tester strip, caught sight of this and sneered. He thought to himself that, as anticipated, Vivienne was using the formula left by her mother for the competition.

But she was too naive. She was not even bothering to hide it.

A video of Vivienne challenging Elijah last Friday had been uploaded online, so most of the people in the audience knew about the perfume formula left by Vivienne's mother. Now, like Elijah, they assumed Vivienne was using it.

As a result, the audience looked at Vivienne with disdain. They figured that even if she did outperform Elijah, it would be thanks to her mother's skills, not her own.

How dare she challenge the 'Perfume Prince' in this way?

Only the students from Class Eighteen, Percival, and his mother looked at Vivienne with confidence.

To be honest, even Leopold and Thomas, who had come to enjoy the spectacle, had doubts about Vivienne.

"Mrs. Ellington."

Turning around, Cecilia saw Stella, who had previously run away. "Stella?"

The girl had left abruptly earlier, and now she had returned just as mysteriously.

After leaving, Stella had grown increasingly frustrated and had returned to see Vivienne make a fool of herself in front of everyone, losing dignity against Elijah.

"Mrs. Ellington, Ms. Hawthorn's behavior is really unbecoming." Stella frowned, feigning concern. "We all know she doesn't have the talent for perfume blending and is using her mother's formula for the competition. But she could at least pretend to make an effort. Whether she wins or loses now, it won't be a proud victory or an honorable defeat."

"Nonsense!" Cecilia's expression turned cold. "Vivienne won't lose. She doesn't need her mother's formula. She's got a natural talent for perfume blending. Elijah isn't fit to compete with her!"

Stella was stunned and shared the same thought as Leopold. Had Vivienne cast a spell on Cecilia?

How else could the woman, who had despised Vivienne just a week ago, become such an ardent supporter in such a short time?

What Stella didn't know was that during the week she had been pestering Vivienne, Cecilia had seen for herself how Vivienne casually blended several exquisite perfumes, all of which were no less impressive than any product Elijah had ever made.

Naturally, having the advantage of being close, she pilfered every sample.

She particularly loved one of the chypre perfumes and had asked Vivienne to make it exclusively for her and not to sell it on the market.

Vivienne readily agreed, so the chypre perfume became her own, and she named it "Cecilia."

She was delighted to have such a considerate future daughter-in-law. Who said she didn't like Vivienne?

Maybe she had forgotten her past self.

"Stella, go back to your seat. Your presence here is thinning the air and making it hard for me to breathe." Cecilia coldly dismissed Stella.

Leopold nearly laughed out loud. So Percival got his sharp tongue from Cecilia, huh?

"Mrs. Ellington..." Stella was taken aback. She thought she still held a higher status than Vivienne in Cecilia's eyes. But now that she had made some negative comments about Vivienne, Cecilia was driving he away.

Cecilia, however, was focused on the stage and ignored her.

As a woman, she could see that while Stella was talking to her, her eyes were constantly darting towards Percival.

Before, when Percival was disabled, she hardly saw Stella trying to get close to him.

Now that Percival was well, Stella was so eager to be around. Did she think Cecilia was blind and foolish?

On second thought, Vivienne was much better. Despite her incredible talent, she remained low-key, and she didn't mind that her son was disabled at the beginning.

Stella noticed that Cecilia was giving her the cold shoulder, and Percival hadn't even spared her a glance. Defeated, she skulked away.

On stage.

An hour passed.

Elijah had finally finished with his theatrics.

Then someone came on stage to spray the perfumes concocted by Vivienne and Elijah onto paper testers. These testers were then passed to the judges.

At first, almost all the judges were rather indifferent toward Vivienne's creation, not even touching it. They were all taken with Elijah's fragrance, singing its praises.

One of the younger judges smiled at Elijah and said, "The Perfume Prince, truly, your reputation precedes you. This latest creation surpasses anything you've done before."

The head judge, Mrs. Dunhill, a dignified woman in her fifties, was wearing a proper suit, draped in a silk shawl. She also gave Elijah a nod and a smile.

"This might be my favorite among the newer fragrances you've released, following your mentor Master Q's 'Hallucination,' 'Abyss,' and 'Fading Dream.' Keep it up. One day, you might surpass your mentor." The crowd was astounded by her review. The possibility of surpassing the Scent Maestro, Master Q, was an incredibly high praise. Given Mrs. Dunhill's international renown, her comment was almost equivalent to an authoritative verdict.

The media's cameras couldn't get enough of Elijah. The flashes were seemingly never-ending. They were all vying to capture this moment, eager to score headline news.

Elijah glanced at Vivienne's neglected paper tester and gave her a smug smile. He knew he was bound to win. Mrs. Dunhill's comment made him even more certain that Riley was Master Q.

Others, naturally, were also watching Vivienne and the reactions of Percival and Cecilia. They were secretly rejoicing over Vivienne's downfall. Not only had she lost dignity, but so had the Ellington family.

"Hmm?"

At that moment, the only judge who was seriously comparing Elijah and Vivienne's paper testers, Henry White, held up Vivienne's tester and said something in French to Mrs. Dunhill with a puzzled look. Mrs. Dunhill, looking equally puzzled, picked up Vivienne's tester and sniffed it.

A moment later, her face was a picture of shock as she looked at Vivienne. "This... this is... this is 'Hallucination'?"