Lost and Found: Return of My Mysterious Fiancee

Halfway to the hillside villa, she had felt like she was being followed. She held her ground, curious about the follower’s intentions, but the person never showed themselves. With a smile, she reached into her pouch where she had casually placed a wasp nest she’d grabbed while climbing over the wall. The drugged wasps inside were now nearly awake, buzzing violently inside the bag.

As she passed by a banyan tree, she loosened the opening of the bag and tossed it upwards, covering the mysterious follower with the nest, then quickly retreated. The turmoil caused by the wasps was significant, yet surprisingly, the person endured it quietly. Standing outside the villa’s wall, she listened for a while. The guards inside shouted about the wasps, but there was no mention of an intruder. Smiling to herself, she vanished into the darkness.

In the Basement.

This place was neither a secretive laboratory nor a prison. It was a perfumery filled with spices and glass vessels, equipped with top-notch ventilation systems to prevent the scents from mixing. Upon entering, Sean saw a young man in white, amusing a twelve-year-old girl with a toy. The girl sat quietly on the floor, her head bowed, playing with the toy. Both had strikingly beautiful faces.

Hearing Sean enter, the girl didn’t even look up, but the young man glared at him with indignation. They had been Sean’s prisoners for over a year. Ignoring the anger on the young man’s face, Sean examined the perfume being mixed on the counter. “Within a week, she needs to create a new perfume for me,” he ordered, his gaze fixed on the quiet girl. He placed nine bottles of perfume in front of them, “The new perfume must be better than these.”

These were perfumes previously created by Rebecca. Sean was wary that Tina might try to match her skills using Rebecca’s formulas, so he would have to prepare a blend that could potentially exceed them. “You’ve studied this too; you know creating new perfumes requires inspiration,” the young man stopped his gestures to reply coldly, “I can’t guarantee that Lily will find new inspiration within a week. Besides, perfumes are subjective; they can’t be objectively compared.”

“If you and your sister don’t want to die, you’d better do as I say,” Sean sneered, “I believe she can do it, isn’t she Q? If she could create ‘Fathom,’ ‘Abyss,’ and ‘Old Dream,’ then she can certainly create something better!” Their argument grew loud, but the girl seemed deaf to it, continuing to play with her toy.

“I told you, Lily isn’t Q,” the young man, Quentin, retorted with a face full of anger, “Lily is just Q’s student.” Sean refused to believe it. “When I was in Glasgow, I investigated. The house where you two lived was Q’s residence. When you left Glasgow, Q disappeared from there too. And why do you still have a bottle of ‘Fathom’? There were only twenty made, and each had an owner. Why would you have one?”

“Fathom,” once famous in the perfume industry, was limited to twenty bottles. After they were sold, Q refused to make more or sell the formula, leaving many disappointed. “Most importantly,” Sean’s eyes fell on a ring on Lily Fawkes’ left hand, “why does she wear Q’s ring?”

The legendary perfumer Q had always been a mystery, never showing their true face, their age or gender unknown. Those who met Q only recognized the unique ring engraved with a Phoenix Blossom. “Moreover, if she truly is Q’s apprentice,” Sean scoffed sarcastically, “why hasn’t he ever come forward to deny I’m his student when I’ve been using that title for over a year?”

When he first discovered Lily Fawkes might actually be Q, he was thrilled, realizing his opportunity had arrived. A deaf and mute girl with extraordinary talent in perfumery and her unremarkable brother were easy to manipulate. Over the past year, claiming to be Q’s student, he had risen in the perfume industry, but all the perfumes were actually crafted by Lily Fawkes.

Facing Sean’s accusations, Quentin remained silent. Q had always been elusive, taking Lily Fawkes as an apprentice on a whim partly because of her remarkable talent and partly out of sympathy for the siblings who were homeless and destitute. After leaving Glasgow, they never saw Q again and wondered if something had happened to him.NôvelDrama.Org © 2024.

“Do you think I’d believe your ridiculous stories just because your sister deliberately lowers the quality of perfumes she makes for me?” Sean scoffed, about to continue when his phone rang. Annoyed, he answered, hearing his subordinate report, “Sir, a wasp nest has suddenly appeared in the yard, and many of us have been stung!”

“Stung and not gone to the hospital? Idiots!” He hung up the phone, too upset to continue his tirade against Quentin. He stormed out of the basement. Before leaving, he turned back to Quentin and emphasized, “Remember, one week. You know the consequences.”

In Pinkwater Alley.

After leaving Sean’s villa, Tina returned home, prepared for bed, but then her phone rang. It was Sophia’s tearful voice on the other end, “Tina, please come and help my brother, he’s been stung by wasps!”

Tina was puzzled. “What?”

Sophia’s crying intensified. Tina tried to soothe her, “Don’t worry, I’m on my way.” After hanging up, Tina suddenly remembered something, turned back, and packed a few sets of clothes into her suitcase. As she was about to leave with her suitcase, the awakened Hugo and Jennie looked at her in surprise, “Tina, are you going on a long trip at this hour?”

“Jared Farrell got a bit hurt, and I promised Grandpa Farrell I’d take care of him, so I decided to move in with him for a few days,” Tina explained nonchalantly.

“Ah, that…” Hugo hesitated, the old worry of a young girl in a potentially compromising situation looming over his thoughts.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Jennie interjected sharply, giving Hugo a glare. “It’s good for young couples to foster their relationship. I trust they’re both sensible kids.”

Tina, “…”

She sure wasn’t moving into Jared Farrell’s house to foster any relationship. The pendant belonging to her mother was in Jared Farrell’s possession, and she had been looking for a chance to investigate. Now, the opportunity had presented itself.