The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne)
Chapter 128

The other judges initially thought Vivienne was just trying to rile up Elijah by using her mother's perfume formula to stir up some attention. They didn't even want to try her perfume. However, upon hearing Mrs. Dunhill's comments, the other three judges reluctantly picked up Vivienne's scent strips, sniffing them repeatedly. After triple checking, they all looked astonished. "It really is 'Hallucination'!"

Cameras from various news agencies swiveled towards Vivienne, and everyone in the room was buzzing with speculation.

"How is that possible?!" Elijah cried out from the stage.

How could Vivienne recreate 'Hallucination'? Even he couldn't pry the recipe from Riley. How could Vivienne possibly have it?

He turned to Vivienne, his tone frosty. "Did you steal my mentor's 'Hallucination' and replace the perfume you made?" "Replace it?" Vivienne chuckled.

"Then how do you explain 'Hallucination'? Don't tell me you made it. You think I'd believe that?" Elijah demanded.

Vivienne raised her gaze, answering in a calm, measured tone. "Because... I am Master Q."

The auditorium erupted in whispers and gasps.

"Vivienne is Master Q?" Cecilia squealed and grabbed Percival's arm. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I would have had her make me a truckload of 'Hallucination'!"

Percival was at a loss for words.

Could he admit that he had no idea?

How many more surprises did this girl have in store for him?

"You're lying!" Elijah's face turned deathly pale. He pointed at Vivienne and raised his voice. "You are not Master Q! How could you possibly be Master Q?! You were just a child five years ago!" But then he remembered Riley. The twelve-year-old perfume prodigy.

"You can't do it, but that doesn't mean I can't." Vivienne looked at Elijah. Her bright eyes held a chilling glint.

She returned to the perfume station, quickly mixing two more perfumes to be delivered to the judges. "Master Q only made twenty-one bottles of 'Hallucination'. Twenty were sold, and one was given to a student. Apart from these, there is no other 'Hallucination' in the world, and only Master Q knows the recipe. Only Master Q can make 'Hallucination.""

At this point, another judge pointed at the two new perfumes that Vivienne had just created, crying out in shock. "These are 'Abyss' and 'Fading Dream'!"

If a bottle of 'Hallucination' wasn't enough to prove Vivienne's identity, then 'Abyss' and 'Fading Dream' left no room for doubt.

The recipes for these three perfumes were never leaked. They could only be created by Master Q.

So, Vivienne really was the 'Scent Maestro', Master Q.

"Are you really Master Q?"

Mrs. Dunhill looked at Vivienne with disbelief. The other three judges mirrored her expression.

Vivienne produced a ring, slipping it on her left index finger. The onstage projection magnified the ring several times on the big screen, clearly showing the engraved Phoenix Blossom. "Master Q's ring!" Henry White shouted.

"She really is Master Q!"

"The legendary Scent Maestro!"

The auditorium erupted in exclamations.

No one had expected that the girl they had dismissed from the beginning was actually the Master Q, who had taken the world by storm five years ago.

Thinking back, Vivienne was only fourteen years ago.

At fourteen, she had captivated the world with her three limited-edition perfumes. She was a rare talent indeed.

Vivienne turned towards Elijah, who was retreating and intending to slip away. "Why are you running? You see your master, and you don't bow? You're disregarding your elders. Did I teach you this?" Everyone in the room remembered that Elijah had always claimed to be Master Q's student. Yet he didn't even know that Vivienne was Master Q. He even wanted to take Vivienne as his student and even accepted Vivienne's challenge.

How could they be master and student?

In no time, everyone's suspicious gaze fell on Elijah.

Elijah's face turned from white to green. He was now at the edge of the stage.

After confirming that Vivienne was indeed Master Q, he wanted to slip away unnoticed.

"Not bowing?" Vivienne's lips curled in a mocking smile. "If you bow loudly and make me happy, maybe I will consider taking you as my student."

"You're a worthless Perfume Prince!"

The angry shouts from the audience were like a storm, raining down on Elijah on the stage.

Elijah nearly collapsed. He tried to console himself. "It's okay. I still have Riley."

Worst case scenario, he could get some surgery, change his appearance, and use Riley to debut new works under a new identity.

As long as he could move the siblings before Vivienne discovered Riley's incarceration, he would be safe.

Sadly for him, Vivienne wouldn't be so easily fooled.

Her expression hardened, and she took deliberate steps towards Elijah. "You have some explaining to do." She demanded. "Why is the perfume Riley had been working on being sold under your name? Majestic Woods Perfume, your debut scent, was something I guided Riley to create!"

"You... What are you babbling about?" Elijah forced a smile. "Yes, I used your apprentice's name, but all of my creations are my own inspiration!"

"Is that so?" Vivienne's eyes narrowed, and her voice turned ice cold.

Suddenly, the large electronic screen behind the stage flickered, and the scene changed to a news broadcast from Havenwood.

The footage showed Elijah's Midland Villa, where Riley and Raymond were being escorted onto an ambulance by the police.

"Following a blast due to illegal substances, Havenwood police officers arrived at the villa and rescued a pair of siblings from the basement. According to them, the girl, Riley, despite being deaf and mute, has a prodigious talent for perfume creation and was imprisoned by the world-renowned Perfume Prince, Elijah, to create perfumes for him."

The hall erupted in outraged cries after a moment of stunned silence.

"My God! He's not only a fraud but a criminal!"

"A twelve-year-old deaf and mute girl. How could he do this?!"

"Scum! Absolute scum!"

Many in the audience had brought food and drinks with them. Furious, they rose to their feet and began hurling their sodas, cupcakes, and ice creams at Elijah, cursing him all the while.

"To think I used to admire him! I must have been blind!"

"I bought all his perfumes! Turns out they were all created by that poor little girl while he pocketed all the money!"

Feeling that this wasn't enough, several people rushed onto the stage and started attacking Elijah.