The Million-Dollar Heart (Percival and Vivienne) novel 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?