Chapter 564: Reclaiming My Glory
Ronald felt as if lightning had struck him where he stood. His eyes went rigid, his face turned ashen, and he stared at Selina in utter disbelief.
No... no... impossible... this was impossible!
Edwin had to be lying. How could Selina be Piper? How?!
He was Piper’s student—there was no way Piper could be Selina.
"B-but, Mr. Edwin," someone from the crowd protested, "Ronald’s connection to Piper is something all of Country Y knows. How could Piper possibly be Selina?"
"Exactly!" another chimed in. "Even the royal family has acknowledged it. If Ronald were really faking, that would mean he deceived the royal family itself. Would he dare?"
Edwin cut them off with a single question: "Has anyone in Country Y ever seen Piper in person?"
The hall fell silent. All eyes shifted toward Ronald.
It was true... Piper had never once made a public appearance.
And thinking back, everything about Ronald being Piper’s student had always come from Ronald’s own mouth. Piper herself had never confirmed it.
"B-but..." one of Ronald’s fans tried to argue, unwilling to give up, "if Ronald was only pretending, why didn’t Piper ever come forward to deny it?"
"Deny it?" Edwin gave a cold laugh. "Every rumor about this so-called connection started and spread only within Country Y. Piper isn’t from Country Y. How would she even know about it—let alone step forward to deny it?"
The realization spread like wildfire. If Edwin was telling the truth, then Ronald had been lying on both sides—tricking everyone for years!
Ronald clenched his teeth. "That still doesn’t prove—"
"Then I’ll give you a chance," Edwin said, lifting his chin. "Contact your so-called teacher. Let your ’teacher’ stand here and face Selina. Let’s see who the real Piper is."
Cold sweat trickled down Ronald’s back.
Where was he supposed to find someone to impersonate Piper now?
But to admit it outright? He couldn’t. He refused to believe Piper could be a girl so much younger than himself. To acknowledge Selina as Piper would be a slap straight across his own face.
"Since Ronald has nothing to say, then allow me!" Edwin’s tone shifted, no longer sharp but filled with respect as he turned. "Miss Piper, may I have your permission to reveal your identity?"
Selina curved her lips into a faint smile.
The very next moment, Edwin uploaded a video to a world-renowned social platform.
In the clip, a fifteen-year-old Selina was seen working with Edwin himself. Before launching a perfume, Edwin asked if she wanted to use her real name on the label.
The girl tilted her head playfully and replied: "No, just write ’Piper.’"
The evidence was irrefutable.
Selina was Piper.
Selina’s smile deepened. "That’s why I said—so long as Piper appeared in person, it would prove I never plagiarized."
The rules of the competition allowed previously unpublished works to be submitted.
"But Ronald," she added, her tone sharpening, "why is it that every single one of your twelve released perfumes is identical to drafts I abandoned?"
The hall erupted.
If Selina was Piper, then Ronald’s words had been lies all along. Ronald was the plagiarist—the one stealing from Piper.
In that instant, Ronald finally understood what it meant for his sins to come full circle. All the accusations he’d hurled at Selina now came crashing back onto his own head.
"Ronald is shameless!" someone shouted.
"He used Piper’s name to gain benefits for years, and now he even tried to destroy Piper herself. And the royal family of Country Y actually allowed someone like him to be their chief perfumer—unbelievable!"
"He just mocked Selina for not being a professional perfumer, saying she was too young and her work must be second-rate. Ronald, open your eyes—the perfumer you ridiculed is Piper herself!"
"I heard it was the princess who personally appointed Ronald, though even the queen was against it at first."
"The princess is Paula’s cousin, and now that Paula colluded with Ronald to frame Piper... maybe that princess isn’t any better either."
"This time Paula will lose more than twenty billion—she’ll lose her dignity too! If the duke’s household doesn’t issue a public apology, how can she ever show her face in Country Y again?"
Paula trembled all over, her mind going blank. She wished she could faint right there and escape the humiliation.
"N-no... I didn’t know... Selina, you did this on purpose, it’s not—"
Ronald was just as shaken, his eyes vacant.
He was finished. He had pretended to be Piper’s student, plagiarized Piper’s work—he was utterly ruined.
Today was supposed to be Selina’s downfall. Why... why had it turned this way? Why was Selina Piper? The princess herself had promised him...
Ronald’s face went deathly pale as he collapsed onto the floor, utterly despairing.
Meanwhile, Paula was blocked by the crowd, their outrage forcing her to apologize to Selina.
Paula’s face drained of color. Amelia, standing beside her, frowned in reproach. "Selina, we’re all family here. Why make things so ugly? Paula, she—"
"Mrs. Perry still has the heart to defend Paula?" Selina arched a brow, smiling faintly.
Before Amelia could react, Selina tilted her chin, her words laced with meaning. "Paula wagered twenty billion in investments and lost. Tell me, Mrs. Perry, where is she going to find another twenty billion... to invest in you?"
The hall went quiet for a few beats.
"Ah!" Amelia suddenly realized, her face twisting. She went mad, lunging toward Logan with a scream. "Logan, this was all you and Selina’s scheme! You planned this—"
Before she could finish, Logan rose with lazy indifference, lifting a hand as though bored of hearing nonsense. "Continue with the ceremony."
The bodyguards understood immediately. They moved in, swiftly dragging Amelia and Paula out of the hall, shutting and locking the doors in one fluid motion.
Selina’s lips curved in a faint smile. Passing Ronald, she suddenly leaned closer, her voice low.
"I don’t know how you got your hands on my USB drive or those formulas, but it doesn’t matter. You’re finished. From now on, every shred of glory will return to me."
"Oh, and do you know why I entered this competition? Why I chose to use this particular formula?"
Selina held up the freshly written plum blossom formula. "Because I did it on purpose."
"I knew this formula was in the USB drive. I knew you’d recognize it and accuse me of plagiarism."
Her smile brightened, almost playful. "Funny... didn’t the person advising you ever think you’d be exposed? Or is it that... she never cared about your fate at all?"
Selina had thought it through—Ronald alone could never have deceived all of Country Y and even the royal family. Someone had to be backing him.
She wasn’t sure if that person knew Piper’s true identity was hers, but one thing was certain—they never had Ronald’s best interests at heart.
Who could it be? They had said Ronald was personally promoted by a princess of Country Y. Could it be her?
But would a princess really go to such lengths... just over a title and a handful of formulas?
Selina couldn’t figure it out.
"Selina." At that moment, Logan inclined his head slightly. "Come sit beside me."
Selina blinked, then noticed a new seat had been placed at Logan’s side.