Mafia Lord's Mute Sweetheart

Chapter 103: Chapter 103 Adorable Gift

The next morning, the laboratory was already lively when Daisy arrived.

She pushed open the glass door with her usual gentle smile.

The moment Ace noticed her, he looked up from arranging the sample trays. His face lit up with a warm smile.

"Morning, Daisy."

Mona, who was standing beside him with a cup of coffee in her hand, waved enthusiastically as soon as she saw her.

"Good morning!"

Daisy’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled at them. She placed a hand over her heart before giving them a tiny wave in return.

Good morning.

"Oh!" Mona suddenly remembered something, her eyes widening. "Wait, wait..."

She hurried to her desk and rummaged through one of the drawers, pushing aside papers and pens until she found what she was looking for.

She pulled out a tiny gift box wrapped in soft pink paper, her face lighting up with excitement.

"Look, Daisy!" Mona held it out with both hands. "I went shopping with my mom yesterday, and while we were walking around, I saw this."

She laughed sheepishly, her cheeks tinted pink. "I don’t know why... but the moment I saw it, I immediately thought of you."

She held out the small box toward Daisy.

"I bought it for you."

Daisy blinked in surprise, her eyes widening. She accepted the gift carefully with both hands, as if it were something precious.

She opened the box slowly, her fingers gentle against the paper.

Inside, resting on a soft cushion, was a beautiful little daisy flower keychain. Its tiny white petals surrounded a cheerful yellow center, and a small silver chain hung delicately from the stem. It was simple, delicate and undeniably adorable.

For a moment, Daisy simply stared at it.

Then her eyes widened, sparkling with pure delight.

A bright smile bloomed across her face, so genuine and radiant that it instantly warmed the room. She gently touched the tiny flower with her fingertips as though it were something precious, tracing the petals with awe.

Looking up at Mona, she beamed. Her happiness was completely silent, yet somehow, it was louder than words.

Without thinking, Daisy stepped forward and wrapped Mona in a gentle hug. It lasted only a few seconds, warm and sincere.

When she stepped back, her eyes were slightly watery with gratitude.

She quickly typed on her phone.

I love it... Thank you so much. I’ll treasure it.

Mona read the message and smiled even more brightly.

"I knew you’d like it!" She pointed proudly at the tiny flower. "It has your name on it too!"

Daisy immediately clipped the keychain onto her laboratory ID card. The little daisy flower swung gently as she moved, catching the light.

She looked down at it once more, unable to hide another smile.

Seeing her silent excitement made Mona’s heart unexpectedly warm. She hadn’t bought anything expensive. It was just a small keychain she had found while shopping with her mother.

Yet watching Daisy cherish it as though it were the greatest gift in the world made Mona feel happier than she had expected.

Ace looked between the two girls before chuckling softly.

"I think you’ve just made Daisy’s entire week."

Daisy nodded enthusiastically, her fingers lightly touching the little daisy keychain once again, her smile refusing to leave her face.

❀┈┈┈┈❀

The cheerful atmosphere inside the laboratory didn’t last long.

Barely an hour after everyone returned to work, an alarm notification suddenly appeared on one of the quality control computers.

A loud, piercing beep echoed through the lab, causing everyone to stop what they were doing.

One of the researchers frowned as he stared at the screen, his brow furrowing deeply. He tapped the keyboard a few times, refreshing the data, but the red warning message remained.

"Call Ace! Now!"

Within seconds, the quiet laboratory was filled with hurried footsteps. People gathered around the screen, their expressions shifting from curiosity to concern to outright fear.

Ace quickly walked over, his face serious, his heart already sinking. "What happened?"

The researcher swallowed nervously before handing him the latest stability test report. His hand trembled slightly as he passed it over.

Ace’s expression gradually changed as he read through the results. His eyes moved across the page, his jaw tightening with each line. His fingers gripped the paper so hard the edges began to crinkle.

"...No."

He immediately grabbed another report to verify the data, flipping through the pages with increasing urgency, then another and another.

His face grew increasingly pale, the color draining from his cheeks.

"This can’t be right..."

The fragrance formula that Kuursh Pharma had spent months developing, the company’s biggest perfume launch scheduled for next month, had failed its long-term stability test.

The report clearly stated that after approximately one month of regular use, the perfume’s scent profile began breaking down. Instead of its original elegant fragrance, it developed an unpleasant, strange odor. Something acidic and sharp, completely at odds with the delicate floral notes it was supposed to have.

The laboratory fell into complete silence.

Everyone exchanged anxious looks, their eyes wide with disbelief.

"If these results are correct..." someone whispered, their voice barely audible. "We can’t launch it."

"The entire production batch will have to be stopped," another added, their voice strained.

"But thousands of bottles have already been manufactured," a researcher said, her voice full of fear. "We have warehouses full of them. Retailers have already placed their orders. The shipping schedule is locked in."

"What about the advertisements?" someone else asked. "The billboards are already up. The social media campaigns are live. We’ve spent millions on marketing!"

Whispers spread across the laboratory, growing louder with each passing moment. Panic slowly settled over everyone’s faces, turning expressions of concern into expressions of dread.

A researcher slammed a folder onto the table. "This is a disaster! A complete disaster! We’re going to lose everything!"

Ace shouted, but his voice wavered. "Calm down!"

The researcher shot back. "Calm down?! Our careers are on the line here! Do you understand what this means? This launch was supposed to be the company’s biggest success! We were supposed to be the ones who made it happen! And now..." He couldn’t even finish the sentence.

Another researcher spoke up, her voice trembling. "Who’s going to tell the CEO? Who’s going to explain that we’ve wasted millions of dollars?"

"I don’t know," someone replied. "But it’s not going to be me. I’m not getting fired today."

"Everyone’s getting fired if this doesn’t get fixed!" another voice added.

The room erupted into chaos. Everyone spoke at once, their voices overlapping in a chaotic mess of blame and fear.