In the face of their condescending looks, Ella did not bat an eyelid, "I can state the problems from a public perspective. You can listen to and see if it makes sense to you."
Everyone exchanged glances and eventually a few people voiced out their thoughts.
"Vice President, there is no harm in listening to it."
"Brother, I agree. We should let her speak first."
Jeremy nodded slowly as he leaned back on the chair, "Alright."
Ella walked towards the other end of the table as she began to speak, "First, your brand started out powerfully solely because it aid at the common people, aiming to help them with their skin issues. Those products were affordable, yet efficient. But then you got greedy..."
"You.."
"You decided to open your brand to the elites as well which has led you to this day where your sales are gradually dropping."
"What do you an by that?" One of the executives questioned, "Isn’t it better if we are making products to target a wider audience?"
Ella nodded, "It is. Your products are neither too expensive nor too affordable."
The person who had asked the question looked at Ella in confusion as if asking how that was a bad thing.
"Elites don’t buy cheap things and the common audience wouldn’t pay a few thousand dollars to buy a cream," Ella continued.
"And... What is your second reasoning?" Sobody asked.
"Oh, it’s a simple one. Your formulation is flawed!"
"_"
An awkward silence settled over the eting room before Jeremy spoke, ’’Do you even know about the prestigious history of ’Lilac’?"
"No, but I am aware of your disgraceful present."
"_"
Jeremy frowned, "You..."
Ella did not stop, "It doesn’t take a genius to see the downgrade in your formulations. I am certain most of your custor reviews would have pointed that out had you not deleted them.’’
She paused, letting the silence simr. When noone spoke, Ella continued.
"Your Lilac Dew Cream contains hydrolyzed silk peptides but the formulation is unsuitable for humid climates. The southern cities of Country V would never be interested in it, and your data should have recorded that.
So of your products are loaded with sulphates in a market trending toward pH-balanced...’’
After an hour, the eting room had gradually quietened down. The looks of doubts and mockery were replaced by a hint of admiration.
Even the Vice President, Jeremy had switched to a more polite look as he looked at Ella, "Miss, you... How do we address you?" He cleared his throat.
Ella removed her shades.
Before, a few of them had found her familiar but the mont she removed her shades, one of the ladies in the eting room reacted instantly, "Are you that supermodel...?"
"Ella... Ella Yu?!" Sobody instantly rembered the na that has caused a stir recently.
Ella could feel a few stares, scanning her from head to toe. She shrugged her shoulders, "I am no longer a model."
Many people had co across her recent social dia stint so the way they looked at her changed significantly. The admiration from before dulled out and they looked at her probingly.
Jeremy, a little clueless, looked at Jero who imdiately stepped forward and whispered it in his ears.
All the people stopped paying attention to Ella, knowing that with Jeremy’s nature, there won’t be any further collaboration with Ella.
"Miss Yu, are you serious about helping us?" Jeremy asked, surprising everyone.
’’The solution that I want to offer has a 70% success rate."
The implication in her words was obvious to everyone: A 70% success rate is sothing you can dream of right now.
"And knowing the financial crisis of the company, I am willing to invest 50% of the total expenditure until profits are made."
With that statent, the entire situation flipped.
Jeremy inhaled a deep breath, "Miss Yu, what are you proposing then?"
’’First and foremost, there’s going to be a change in formulation."
"Miss Yu, your qualifications...?"
"I have never studied costic chemistry but I have spent a few years studying the formulations. What I can provide you is with the base plan but naturally, your team will have to build on that..."
Ella outlined marketing changes, product modifications, and rebranding tactics, leaving them stunned by how thorough she was.
Most of the people were convinced at that point.
Jeremy fell silent. After a mont of contemplation, he opened his mouth, "Miss Yu, what do you want in return?"
Ella smiled. "50% of the profits made and creative credits."
50% was over the top. Whispers rose in the room.
But Ella remained unmoving.
When everybody thought Jeremy would not agree to this deal, the man nodded slowly, "We have a deal."
Hours later, the contract was prepared. After going through it properly, Ella signed it and left the contract.
"Why are you looking at like that?" Jeremy glanced at his younger brother.
Jero schooled the look of his shock on his face, "I didn’t think you’d give her a chance."
"She seems to know a thing or two. We can see how far she goes. If she can’t help us, we can discard her anyti."
Jero frowned, "But what if she succeeds?"
Jeremy scoffed, "She can still be discarded after we make so profits..."
"But... That is not..."
Jeremy’s glare cut him off, "Stop being an incompetent fool. Always stamring and hesitating. In business, you have to be ruthless. When necessary, you can take a branch. When not, you cut it off!"
...
Sitting in the cab, Ella glanced at the passing trees on the side of the road. In no ti, thoughts of her previous life gradually crept in her mind.
Back then, not just her body but also her skin’s condition had continued worsening after her downfall. When Max married Ruby, Ella started blaming herself.
With her low self-esteem, she would stand in front of the mirror for hours, blaming herself for being fat, having acne, and looking ugly.
After crying for a long ti, Ella decided to change that. She spent her ti looking into skincares, homade masks, and tried to do exercises as well.
Although it was showing minimal results, her determination had not waned. In about a year, her skin had gotten way clearer and she had lost a few pounds.
During that ti, Esther finished the shooting of the drama ’The Rising Rose’ and ca to her with a set of skincare products that she said were ’customized’ for her skin. They had no labels and no packs, but were packed in exquisite little jars.
Initially, the radiance on her skin magnified. But after a month or so, her skin started to scar.
’Sis, what happened?! I think your skin is too sensitive to take these products. You should discontinue it...’
Which Ella did, without ever doubting or blaming Esther. But the breakout on her face never stopped after that.
And with her fragile self-image, Ella fell back into the cycle of hating herself. She started either binge eating or starving and she gave up on healing her skin.
About 2 years later, Esther beca the face for ’Lilac’ and at that ti, the brand was flourishing.
’Who could have known a company as huge as this was on the verge of closing down so ti ago?’ Esther ntioned, ’It’s a good thing that I beca the brand ambassador for them when they returned to their peak...’
Since the day Ella decided to sell all her things, she had two things in mind.
First, she had wanted to have so money of her own.
And other than that, she was aiming to strike a deal with ’Lilac’. Although Lilac seed like a small skincare brand, given its massive revival in her previous life, it was anything but insignificant.
She had been keeping track of the company but she hadn’t expected the crisis to hit them so fast in this life.
’I have been changing the course of things from my past life. Is that why everything keeps changing in this life?’ Ella did not have a definitive answer to that.
By the ti Ella reached her hotel, it was past 9 pm.
’Click’
As she pushed open the door, a sweet fragrance hit her nostrils and the sight of red and white washed over her eyes.
Ella’s hand froze on the doorknob as her eyes took in the sight of thousands of tulips in the hotel room.
...
A/N: Thank you all for your patience. I’ve been undergoing physiotherapy for my hand, and it’s gradually getting better. Once I’m fully recovered, I’ll upload all the pending Chapters in one go for you.
In the anti, if you’re enjoying Adrian and Ella’s journey, don’t forget to support the story with golden tickets and reviews!
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