Chapter 13: Major Mistake

The moment Sebastian finished speaking, Emma's confident smile froze.

She had orchestrated this scheme so carefully, positioning every piece to destroy Sophie's standing completely. She had never imagined Sebastian would defend her.

True, she had still secured the opportunity she wanted—the trip she had been angling for. But the way it happened left something heavy weighing in her chest, making it hard to breathe.

Her gaze lingered on Sophie for a beat, something cold and almost imperceptible flickering in her eyes.

Sophie could no longer think straight. Her face burned as if every inch of skin were on fire, and she wished she could vanish.

Sebastian's statement had humiliated her worse than a direct termination.

From now on, the entire company would know she had spent the night in the CEO's hotel room until dawn.

Sebastian's gaze swept past Emma's rigid expression and settled on Sophie, his tone returning to its customary ice. "Since suspicion has been cleared, the leak investigation ends here. Emma will take the Eldoria trip."

He paused. "Sophie, you stay behind and handle all follow-up work for the departmental integration."

Final word.

The powder-keg meeting ended just like that. The supervisor led his team out with a sour expression, his parting glance at Sophie a complicated mix of unease and something darker.

Sophie stood rooted in place, bitterness churning inside her.

She had kept her job, cleared her name, but lost the opportunity of a lifetime.

Worse, she realized she was being pulled into a whirlpool she could not see clearly, and the person who had created it was watching her with a victor's gaze.

"Sophie, don't be too upset." Emma approached, linking her arm through Sophie's with practiced intimacy, her voice gentle as if soothing an injured animal. "Mr. Carter is just thinking about the company's best interests. Don't worry—I'll work hard for both of us."

Sophie looked at that face radiating sincerity and quietly withdrew her arm. Her voice was low. "Have a safe trip."

The deliberate distance made Emma's eyes darken briefly, but she quickly plastered the smile back on and left with light, quick steps—like a peacock in full display.

The night before departure, Emma sought out Sebastian's executive assistant Aiden to ensure she would capture Sebastian's full attention during the trip.

"Aiden," she said, holding a coffee cup with a sweet, harmless smile, "this is my first time accompanying Mr. Carter on such an important trip. I'm a little nervous—afraid I'll do something wrong and displease him. Could you… quietly tell me some of his preferences?"

Aiden regarded the woman who was nominally his boss's girlfriend, his tone strictly professional. "Mr. Carter demands extreme precision in his work, Ms. Roberts. You need only fulfill your responsibilities properly."

"Oh, I don't mean work." Emma gave his arm a gentle, deliberately coquettish shake. "I mean in daily life—like what fragrance notes Mr. Carter prefers, or what style of dress he finds most tasteful on women?"

Aiden's sharp mind immediately grasped her intent.

He considered Sebastian's usual preferences, deliberated briefly, then offered the safest answer. "Mr. Carter prefers understated, clean scent profiles—cedar, white tea, those kinds of cool notes. As for attire, in business settings, simple and professional is always the best choice."

"Thank you, Aiden! You've been such a help!" Emma got the information she wanted and left, thoroughly satisfied.

That evening, she visited every exclusive boutique in Empire City, spending a small fortune on a top-tier niche fragrance with cedar as its dominant note, along with several impeccably tailored, expensive business suits.

Standing before her mirror, she carefully spritzed the perfume on her wrists and behind her ears, breathing in that cold, costly scent. She could already picture Sebastian captivated by her.

In her mind, Sophie—that woman buried in spreadsheets—had no idea how to capture a man's heart.

The next day, aboard the private jet to Eldoria, Sebastian caught a familiar yet inexplicably irritating cedar scent the moment he stepped into the cabin.

Emma sat across from him in a perfectly fitted white suit, her makeup flawless, every hair in place—the entire package like a carefully sculpted specimen of perfection.

When she saw Sebastian looking her way, she flashed what she considered her most alluring smile. "Mr. Carter, what do you think of my outfit today? I specifically chose a style you might appreciate."

She lifted her wrist slightly, letting the fragrance diffuse more clearly through the air.

Sebastian's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

The scent was too calculated.

Like a precisely engineered product, every detail designed to court his favor with price tags and packaging. Nothing like the memory from that night—the faint, clean scent mixed with ordinary body wash.

That smell had been soft, carrying a trace of panic and uncertainty, yet real enough to stir something in his chest.

He suddenly thought of Sophie.

He remembered her sitting on the hotel carpet with her laptop, brow furrowed as she revised data. Remembered her swallowing her anger when he challenged her, that expression of suppressed indignation. Even remembered her kneeling on the floor, crying as she begged him, those red-rimmed yet defiant eyes.

She always seemed to carry a faint scent of ordinary body wash—nothing special, but clean. Not like this woman before him, who reeked of calculated artifice from hair to fingertips.

"As my subordinate, your job is to work, not dress up for my benefit." Sebastian's voice cut cold as he placed a file in front of her. "Review this project's background materials again. This afternoon's meeting—I don't want to hear any questions that should never be asked."

Emma's smile froze instantly. She had not expected her carefully planned appeal to his tastes would earn such merciless rebuke. Anger and hurt churned inside her, but she could only lower her head and respond quietly, "Yes, Mr. Carter."

That afternoon, during the first formal negotiation with their partners, Emma threw herself into the performance, determined to excel.

The meeting progressed smoothly, Sebastian controlling the room's rhythm. They were approaching the final detail confirmation stage.

According to protocol, Emma needed to submit a supplementary agreement regarding ongoing technical support to the other party.

She took a deep breath, retrieved the prepared document from her folder, and rose with practiced grace to hand it to their legal director.

However, after flipping through just two pages, the man's brow furrowed sharply. He pushed the document back to the center of the table, his tone grave. "Mr. Carter, I believe there may be some misunderstanding between us. The core service terms in this agreement are still the old version from three months ago—significantly different from what we discussed via email."

The conference room air turned to ice.

Every eye in the room focused on that incorrect agreement.