The host continued, "For the sake of fairness, we have decided to postpone the announcement of the top three until we ascertain the facts."

That caused uproar in the crowd, Ladarius included.

"Why the postponement? This is not what fairness is."

"Right. Since there are accusations of plagiarism, the two companies should both be disqualified from the competition."

"Which two companies, to be exact?"

There was a heated argument at the scene. Among the crowd, those reporters were especially excited.

The reporters didn't expect there to be such gossip, which was perfect material for the headlines the next day.

Ladarius was certain that his company didn't do anything wrong. Therefore, he took a step forward confidently and raised his voice. "Everyone is right. Now that this is happening, the organizing committee might as well just announce the results right here openly. I believe that the people in charge of the two companies are both here. Moreover, we have all these fellows as witnesses. Wouldn't it be more convincing?"

Meanwhile, Simon, who was sitting in front of the monitor where the scene was displayed, gave his undivided attention to Silvia regardless of how chaotic the scene was.

Silvia was holding a wine glass in her hand, from which she did not take a sip at all. There was a hint of a watery smile in the corners of her lips.

Silvia finally was his. He had been waiting for this moment for a whole three years, knowing that a clown like Ladarius was simply not worthy of Silvia.

If Silvia was to marry Ladarius, Simon would object to that right off. However, at the thought of how Vivienne and Ladarius were shooting themselves in the foot like that outside, Simon found things become a lot easier.

That being said, Silvia needed to be punished as well since she actually failed to recognize Simon back then. As for the punishment, that would be her being Simon's wife for a lifetime.

After all these years, Silvia seemed timider and more cautious, with her voice much softer. However, the way she was standing here, with all that confidence and coldness flashing in her eyes, showed that she had not changed at all. She was still the unknown but proud girl like before.

"I should go and make my appearance."

Putting down the wine glass, Silvia looked back at Simon.

Simon nodded. "Remember! Whatever happens, I'm here."

Although she did not intend to let Simon get involved, what Simon said made her feel at ease.

She nodded gratefully, opened the door of the VIP room, and off she went.

Meanwhile, the venue was still in chaos, with Ladarius as the main shouter, who clamored the most fiercely.

Vivienne, who was next to Ladarius, could not hide her excitement since this was the first time she had ever been so close to Ladarius in front of everyone.

As for the host, his brows furrowed tightly until someone ran up to the stage and whispered something in his ear.

The host smoothed his brows and turned to look at Ladarius. "We didn't want to announce details of the plagiarism since we thought it was inhuman for the plagiarizer. But since everyone insists, the organizing committee has decided to publicize these two companies and their entries now."

"Basically, plagiarizers are just thieves. Therefore, how is it that it's inhuman to reveal what they did? We should know who they are so that we can make them suffer a bit because they deserve that."

Ladarius was very excited, thinking, I wasn't the one who had plagiarized.

Due to that, I have to try my best to make the plagiarizer suffer. That way, after things are exposed and reported in the headlines, V.L will acquire a much better reputation along with a bright future and endless wealth...

The host glanced at him and adjusted the microphone a bit. "In this competition, there are two companies whose entries are the same, both of which are a bottle of perfume named 'First Love'."

Hearing this, Vivienne was stunned. Ladarius, on the other hand, feigned a surprised look, thinking, First Love? That is V.L's entry. I wonder which company has the same entry as us. What a coincidence!

Looking around, Ladarius tried to find the plagiarizer out of the crowd.

The host didn't beat around the bush and continued, "Yes. One of them is V.L, and the other is Carmelo."

"Carmelo?" Ladarius echoed in confusion. "Which company is that? With all due respect, I have never heard of it before."

Despite acting all modest, Ladarius was ecstatic deep down. He couldn't care less about what Carmelo was. For him, the most important thing was to achieve something himself.

"Carmelo? Isn't it a subsidiary of Warin, which was founded last year?"

An insider thought of it right away.

"Yes, I have heard of it as well. Although it is newly found, it is backed by Warin. That makes it very promising."

"I see now. I wonder if the person in charge of Carmelo is here because I'm very curious about how they managed to get the First Love, which we had spent over three months working on."

By saying this, Ladarius basically was convicting Carmelo of plagiarism.

At that moment, a man walked onto the stage, who looked gentle and refined. "Good evening, everyone. I am the P.R. Manager of Carmelo. My name is Gavin Hilton. We are very surprised about the plagiarism tonight. I didn't expect that our entry would actually be identical to another one.

"We thought it was more appropriate to resolve the issue privately as the organizing committee decided. However, since V.L insists that we solve it on site here, we have no problem with that as well."

Since Gavin was polite, gentle, and articulate, and Warin was a respectable company, most of the people present nodded.

Noticing that Gavin had gained the upper hand, Ladarius said bluntly, "I absolutely agree to verify the authenticity of the scene on the spot here. Despite V.L being small-scale, we do our business in a proper manner, which means we can withstand the test."

"Right! I made the First Love myself and am wondering why there is a knockoff." Vivienne added, looking sincere and eager.

It was really hard to tell who was telling the truth. Therefore, everyone looked at the host.

Gavin, calm and indifferent, said, "We've handed the research and development data of the entry, as well as all its characteristics, over to the judges. I believe that there will be a fair judgment."

"Same here. I firmly believe that the judges, who are very professional, will be able to distinguish between a genuine one and a knockoff."

Ladarius sneered as he spoke with a righteous tone.

"As a matter of fact, the judges have already given me the result of it." Taking over an envelope from a staff member, the host looked at Ladarius. "Mr. Flores, may I ask you if Ms. Stowe, the product director of V.L, is the one who made the perfume, First Love, as I've heard?"

"Of course." Ladarius nodded. "Vivi is the most outstanding perfumer in V.L. and even in the industry. She is also the one who made all our best-selling perfume before."

The host nodded and looked at Gavin. "Mr. Hilton, who is it that has developed the perfume, First Love, in your company?"

Gavin smiled, "Coincidentally, the perfumer is here today as well. We are honored to introduce her to everyone."

As he moved sideways with his arms outstretched, a person walked out slowly from the back of the venue.