Page 67 of Wolf's Redemption

"It will be good to have a man in the store," I said. "I'll probably ask you to help me carry some things."

"There, you're the boss." He winked at me and led the way to business.

When I arrived, I noticed that there was a crowd of people across the street. Apparently, someone had opened a new store, and it was full of customers. I didn't think much of it and walked into the perfumery holding hands with Eric, prepared for the looks from the girls and their giggles, but instead, I found them all cheerless, with long faces.

"Why the mood?" I asked, "I thought you'd be glad to see me."

Amanda and Janna, the longest-serving employees working for me, immediately approached me. "We have some very bad news," they said almost in unison.

My pulse began to race, and I inadvertently squeezed Eric's hand tightly.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Remember the man I told you spent a fortune buying a product of each type last week?" Amanda had tension all over her face.

"Yes, the one who spent a fortune. What happened with that?" I said, looking at both of them.

"Well, he opened a store across the street and plagiarized your work. He's selling your products with other names and packaging but keeping the same thematic and at much lower prices," Janna mentioned. "And almost all of our customers are now his."

The bubble that kept me in an atmosphere of harmony and happiness exploded. Uncontrollable anger invaded me.

"It's not possible. It hasn't been that long," I said. "It must have taken him months to study the fragrances and decipher their components."

Janna grimaced with her mouth and lowered her face. "Sales have dropped too much, even in the other branches. he studied your business and put branches very close to yours to attract your customers. The only one holding steady is the one in Paris."

I put my hands on my head, not knowing what to do, and Eric hugged me from behind, not caring that I was surrounded by my employees.

"It's going to be okay," he whispered in my ear. "No one can take away what's yours, least of all a counterfeiter."

I hugged him back, and the girls looked at us in silence.

"I want to go to that store. I want to see it with my own eyes," I said.

"I don't think it's a good idea, my love," Eric advised me.

"I feel the same way. The man behind the brand runs that store, and I think it's not a coincidence," Amanda said, thinking it would calm me down, but what it did was ignite the louvers of my anger even more.

"I'm going to confront him." I slipped out of Eric's arms and crossed the street with my eyes straight ahead.

"Wait!" Eric yelled, trotting up behind me, "I won't stop you, but at least let me support you."

I slowed down and waited for him. We reached the crowd of people waiting their turn to enter the place, there were too many of them, and it seemed almost impossible to get through. I started to shake my leg and crossed my arms, thinking about how to persuade all those people to give me passage. But before I decided, Eric grabbed me by the forearm and opened the way for us, pushing the people.

"Excuse me, sir, but you must stand in line like the others," said a rickety man with dark circles. He was guarding the entrance.

"You have two choices, you let us through the easy way, or you let us through the hard way, and I would recommend the first one," Eric said with a firm voice and murderous eyes. "We didn't come here to shop. We want to talk to your boss."

The man swallowed, shrugged, and opened the door for us.

The perfumery inside was even a replica of mine, with display cases in the same places and the same air freshener. The person in charge had recreated it down to the smallest detail.

"This is too much!" I said, gritting my teeth.

A man dressed in a black suit, a white shirt stained with coffee drips, and square sunglasses stepped out of a door behind a counter, and although I hadn't seen him before by the way the employees looked at him, I knew he was in charge here.

"You!" I said, clenching my fists and clenching my jaw. "We need to talk."

The man looked at me vaguely, but when he took off his glasses and focused his eyes on me, he loosened his tie and fixed his collar nervously.