His Secret Spoiled Wife (Lily and Alexander) novel Chapter 360

Melanie wanted to say something else but could not disobey them. With that, she was brought to the police station right before the final round of the competition.

…

The final round had begun, but the challenge had not yet been revealed. Instead, a group of ladies, each with a tray in their hands and a smile on their faces, came in from one side of the hall.

All the participants were puzzled about the situation. The ladies had set the trays in front of them, and the lids were lifted simultaneously. On the tray, there were two bottles of perfume that looked identical. The only difference was the labels on the bottles.

The invigilator spoke. “Everyone, please stay silent. First, congratulations on making it to the final round of the competition. Being in this round proves that all of you are the cream of the crop in the perfumery industry. However, there’s still a long way before you can become a top perfumer in Westwood. Today, we’ll have the final round of the competition. We hope all of you can be serious and put in your best effort!”

After a pause, he continued, “You have two perfume bottles in front of you. The task is the same for everyone. Mr. Parker produced one of the fragrances, and the other is from a middle-tier perfumer. You must identify the ingredients and evaluate the perfume’s relative merits and flaws.

“Use the paper and pen in front of you to jot down the information. Whoever has the most questions answered correctly will be declared the winner. If more than one player has the same score, the player who completed the challenge in less time will be declared the winner.”

Then, he picked up his timer. “The competition begins now!”

Almost everyone picked up the two bottles simultaneously, but they were not in a rush to open them. After all, they were all professionals. They started by observing the perfume and tried to get a whiff through its bottle before opening its lid, allowing the scent to fill their noses up slowly. Lastly, they sprayed a little of it on their wrist to find out the base notes of the perfumes.

That was what everyone did, but Lily started by looking at the labels first. She could see the labels of the bottles on other participants’ tables as well, and they were identical. The perfumes were already labeled with the names of the mid-tier perfumer and Wesley.

It was rare to find competitions that tell you the answers right away. Usually, they would cover the names or choose not to reveal the perfumers' creators to the participants. That was done to avoid affecting the participants’ judgment in identifying the characteristics of the perfumes.

After all, it was tough to become the cream of the crop in the perfumery industry. Hence, novice perfumers tended to admire masters in the field strongly. Some admired the top perfumers, while others wanted to defeat them, so it was customary for people to have intense emotions.

The invigilator had told them upfront that one of the perfumes was created by a mid-tier perfumer while Wesley created the other. Besides, the bottles were labeled with their names as well. This would affect the participants’ judgment to a certain extent.

Lily looked up at the invigilator. He was watching over the participants seriously, appearing to be someone who would be fair and square. Then, she looked at Melanie’s seat again. It was still empty. She really did not come to the competition.

After thinking for some time, Lily put one of the bottles near her nose and took a sniff. A faint scent of fragrance filled her senses up.