Chapter 227

Vanessa hadn't figured out how to tell Dominic about the abortion, even though she had already made up her mind—she didn’t want the baby. The issue with the form had come at the perfect time. It gave her the perfect cover to stage the abortion as a miscarriage, making Dominic feel guilty instead of suspicious.

But first, she needed to meet Lucien. She chose a public café, feeling safer that way. When he arrived, he looked worse than usual—dark circles under his eyes, his skin sallow. He always had that half-dead look about him, but she didn’t care. He was just a tool to her, disposable once she got what she needed.

"Didn’t you say you were busy?" He dumped sugar cubes into his coffee, stopping at six before stirring lazily.

"Miss me already?" Lucien smirked before taking a long sip, exhaling dramatically.

Vanessa waited, her gaze sharp. "Was there anything wrong with the form you gave me?" Her voice was soft, but her eyes burned into his.

"Form? What form?" He blinked, feigning ignorance until he noticed her chewing her lip. Then it clicked. "Oh, that thing I gave you last time? Just something I came up with on the spot. Never tested it. How would I know if it works?"

His casual tone made her blood boil. "You don’t know?"

"You handed me something untested? Were you trying to sabotage me?" She barely kept her voice down, fingers tightening around her cup. "You knew I needed it for the annual perfume contest. After everything I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me?"

"Tsk, tsk. So dramatic." He clicked his tongue, amused. "It’s just some local competition. Why the fuss?"

Vanessa clenched her jaw. To him, it was nothing. To her, it was everything. She had won before using Evelyn’s formulas, but as a rookie perfumer from a small company like DR Holdings, she couldn’t compete in bigger categories. This was her chance to break into the elite circles, to finally escape Lucien’s grip.

But she couldn’t say that. Not yet.

"I don’t care. Fix it. I need to start my perfume now. I will win this." Her voice was steel, her gaze drifting to the window, where the sunlight glinted off the city skyline.

"Fine, fine. Let’s go to your lab." He shrugged, far too easily.

That surprised her. But then came the problem—if Dominic saw Lucien at the lab, it would raise questions. And Dominic hated Lucien, convinced he had ulterior motives.

This was going to be tricky.