She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 539

The meeting dragged on for three grueling hours.

For the entire duration, Melanie clashed relentlessly with the project leaders, including Aria and Dominic.

When it finally ended, the executives filed out of the conference room.

Melanie was the only one who looked visibly furious.

"Honestly, Melanie, Dad just asked you to sign off on letting me use the Royce Group's Genesis Serum. He didn't ask you to hand over the exclusive formula. Why were you so hysterical? You made yourself look completely irrational in there. Notice how not a single manager backed you up?"

Aria's mocking words hung in the air. Melanie stayed silent, her face a mask of bitter resentment.

It was, of course, entirely an act.

She knew Aria getting her hands on the serum was a foregone conclusion.

Her father wasn't stupid enough to just give away the core formula.

But Aria's proposal was meticulously crafted—more than enough to convince their father and the board to grant her access to the finished serum for her own studio.

After all, doing so would jumpstart the stalled VitalBreath Fortis project.

All Melanie had to do was play the villain and vigorously object.

The harder she fought to keep the serum away from Aria, the less Aria would suspect that Melanie had carefully orchestrated this exact trap for her to walk right into.

Just as Aria was reveling in her supposed victory, a knock echoed from the office door.

"Excuse me, which one of you is Ms. Melanie Royce?"

Every head turned toward the sound. A delivery courier stood in the doorway, pushing a large cart that held an unimaginably massive bouquet of vibrant red roses.

Melanie stepped around Aria and walked over.

"I'm Melanie."

"Ms. Royce, this is a custom arrangement of 999 imported Tess roses from Mr. Preston Whitmore. It is adorned with pieces from several high-end jewelry brands. Please sign here."

It wasn't until she signed the slip that Melanie fully took in the sheer scale of the gift.

The arrangement was stunningly wrapped, every single rose a flawless, premium bloom.

A bouquet of that size was already a jaw-dropping spectacle.

But Preston hadn't stopped there.

Nearly every employee in the room stared with undisguised envy and awe.

Aria looked like she was going to be sick.

She had dated rich men before.

But the most she ever got out of them for an anniversary was a designer bag worth a couple of thousand dollars.

Those bags weren't even worth the flowers in Melanie's bouquet!

Let alone the fortune in jewelry tangled in the stems.

Aria bit her lip so hard she nearly drew blood, her eyes blazing with toxic jealousy.

Dominic, naturally, had also seen the extravagant display.

But he refused to accept it.

"They're obviously fakes. He just bought cheap knockoffs to make himself look good."

He crossed his arms, rolling his eyes in pathetic defiance.