What?
Sylvia froze in place.She wasn't the only student Director Li had accepted personally?Who else was sharing her spotlight?
Driven by curiosity and suspicion, she stepped toward the neighboring office and raised her hand to knock on the door.
A clear, pleasant voice responded from inside, "Come in."
That voice—why did it sound so familiar? As though she had heard it somewhere before...
Sylvia pushed open the door and entered. She saw someone sitting in the executive chair with their back turned, face hidden behind a perfume magazine as if they were taking a short break.
So mysterious… Who hides like that on their first day?
"Excuse me, may I ask who you are?" Sylvia asked with a polite smile.
Just then, the office chair slowly turned around. A fair hand lifted the perfume magazine, revealing the girl's face underneath.
Celia.
Her eyes were bright and calm, and she looked at Sylvia with the faintest hint of a smile."Sylvia," she said softly, "I've been waiting for you."
Sylvia's eyes widened in disbelief. It was really Celia.
Yesterday, Celia had said she would join CC—but everyone had laughed it off as a joke. Yet now, here she was, not only inside CC, but already working as a perfumer.
She really made it in.
Zhao Qian, who had led Sylvia earlier, looked between them. "Wait—you two know each other?"
Sylvia blinked, then quickly regained her composure. "Yes, I know Celia. Qianqian, you probably didn't know—she's just a country girl, raised in our household as a maid. She's never studied perfumery in her life. I was shocked too when I saw she made it in."
Zhao Qian's expression hardened. "What? A maid from the countryside got into CC? Celia, what kind of backdoor did you use to get in here?"
The noise drew other employees to the hallway, and a small crowd began to form.
"How could a nobody like her be in CC?" someone whispered.
"She's not even trained. Sylvia's a true genius perfumer—this is insulting."
"Honestly, working alongside someone like that lowers our standards. CC is sacred ground in the perfume world!"
Suddenly, a stern voice interrupted the commotion.
"What's all this noise? Do you think this is a market square?"
It was Director Li Yao.
His sharp gaze swept across the gathered crowd. "Why aren't you all at your desks?"
Zhao Qian quickly stepped forward. "Director Li, we were just wondering... how Celia got in. Did someone pull strings for her?"
Li Yao turned to Celia, studying her with a thoughtful expression.
She stood straight and graceful, her gaze open and calm. Even with the faint scar on her face, there was something compelling about her presence.
He sighed slightly.
"She was arranged by King."
Gasp.The collective intake of breath was almost deafening.
Even Sylvia staggered a step. Her pupils shrank.
King?She was personally recommended by King?
Impossible.
No one had ever seen King in person—not even Li Yao himself. The mysterious master perfumer was known only through reputation. Their identity was an unsolved riddle in the global perfume world.
Yet here stood Celia, calm and composed, as if it were nothing.
And worst of all… she turned and winked at Sylvia—playfully, smugly.As if saying, "Are you surprised? Shocked? You should be."
Sylvia felt her blood pressure shoot through the roof.
"Enough! If there's nothing else, everyone get back to work!" Li Yao snapped.
The crowd dispersed.
Back in Sylvia's Office
Sylvia sat down, stunned.
Celia… had been personally arranged by King?Then it wouldn't be long before Mrs. Song realized the truth—that she wasn't King.
And Nathaniel Fu… Sylvia had sensed it. He was preparing to marry King.
Her heartbeat sped up.
No—she calmed herself.
Celia may have been placed here by King, but that didn't mean she was King. Maybe she had gotten close to someone who knew King… used some backdoor connection. That had to be it.