The Scorned Heiress's Hidden Empire (by Jade Quinn) novel Chapter 68

The workspace was massive, spanning an entire half of the floor.

Against the wall stood a row of solid wood shelves, packed with glass bottles of all sizes, each labeled with the name of a different ingredient.

Sandalwood, frankincense, myrrh, ambergris, jasmine, rose, neroli, cedar… Some were common, some rare, and a few were so hard to find that they weren’t even available on the market.

In the center was a huge, solid wood workbench, with all kinds of tools neatly arranged on top. There were droppers, beakers, glass rods, an electronic scale, and a few thick notebooks.

Natalie was going to create a custom perfume for Charlotte.

She walked over to the shelves, her eyes slowly scanning the rows of labels.

She remembered the first time she met Charlotte, who was wearing a pale purple dress, standing in the garden of Mitchell Manor. The sunlight filtered through the sycamore leaves, making her look gentle and serene, like a painting.

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There was a faint scent about her. It was not the overpowering kind of perfume, but a natural, almost elusive freshness, like jasmine kissed by morning dew, or gardenia blooming after the rain.

Natalie reached up and picked out several bottles from the shelves, each labeled jasmine, gardenia, tuberose, neroli, and

sandalwood.

She set the bottles on the workbench, picked up an empty beaker, and began blending the scents.

Jasmine’s sweet scent was the first to join the mix as she squeezed the dropper. Then came gardenia, its creamy softness adding warmth and smoothness to the blend.

Just a touch of tuberose. Any more and it would overpower the fragrance. Neroli was added to lift the top notes, making

the scent fresher and more vibrant.

Finally, sandalwood anchored the whole fragrance, giving it depth and keeping it from drifting away.

Natalie swirled the blend with a glass rod, dipped a blotter into the mixture, and brought it to her nose. She wrinkled it slightly. ‘Ugh, far too sweet.“”

She frowned, set the scent paper aside, and scribbled in her notebook, “Jasmine minus two drops, tuberose minus one.”

She started over.

The second time around, the top notes were a lot fresher, but the heart of the scent still felt a bit empty. ‘Still missing something. Needs a touch more gardenia,‘ Natalie thought.

On the third try, she finally found the perfect balance.

The top notes were crisp neroli and jasmine, the heart notes were gentle gardenia and tuberose, and the base was tranquil sandalwood. The whole fragrance was just like how Charlotte made her feel, gentle, pure, and soothing.

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Natale smiled softly, her lips curving as she carefully poured the finished blend into a delicate glass bottle. The bottle was clear with a frosted texture.

She took a cork from the drawer, sealed the bottle, then pulled out a label sheet and wrote on it with a fountain pen.

(Mom.]

After she finished writing, Natalie paused, staring at the word for a few seconds, almost stunned.

In nineteen years, she’d never written that word before. But now, it wasn’t as difficult as she thought it would be.

She affixed the label to the base of the bottle and set it aside.

Then she went on to replenish the perfumes that had been out of stock, blending fresh batches for each one.

Atelier Nival was a perfume brand she had founded five years ago.

No marketing, no hype. Prices ranged from hundreds to millions, and every scent was limited to just fifteen bottles each quarter. Regardless of price, every perfume was crafted by her personally, with every ingredient sourced from the best places worldwide.

On the left side of the workbench, the shelves were lined with dozens of empty bottles. These were all the fragrances that needed restocking for the season.

Natalie grabbed the order list and scanned it. Every scent sold out the moment it was released, so she always mixed up a

full batch each time.

[Dewlight–15 bottles out of stock.]

she’d been at it for a solid seven hours.

and called Mabel Clarke. “Ready for pickup.”

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