Ch. 5273: Married At First Sight Chapter 5273

Chapter 5273

Landen let out two soft chuckles and ignored Renata.

The sound made Renata blush; she felt certain he was mocking her.

Suppressing her anger, she forced herself to remain composed and said politely, “Mr. Young–Johnson, could I come over and talk with you for a moment?”

Landen replied, “Miss Labbe, what do you want to talk about? You can speak from there. My hearing is excellent. As long as you’re not whispering like a mosquito, I can hear you.”

He gently swirled the wine in his glass, the liquid tracing elegant arcs as it moved.

“I really don’t like Miss Labbe getting too close to me,” he continued. “The perfume you’re wearing is sharp and unpleasant. Miss Labbe, do you have body odor? Is that why you’re using such strong perfume to cover it up?”

The room erupted in laughter.

Everyone knew Landen liked targeting the Labbe family, but no one expected him to be this ruthless—showing absolutely no mercy even to the Labbe family’s young lady.

Tonight, Renata was practically pinned down and mercilessly humiliated by him.

Her face flushed bright red with anger.

But she couldn’t lash out at Landen. Forcing a smile, she said, “Mr. Young–Johnson, you certainly have a sharp tongue. Which woman at this banquet tonight isn’t wearing perfume? The entire room smells of perfume and tobacco. Why single me out? Do you simply dislike me?”

She wasn’t wrong.

No woman attended a banquet without wearing perfume.

It was just that hers was a bit too strong.

Renata continued, “Do all women who wear perfume have body odor? We women simply enjoy wearing it. Is that wrong? It sounds like Mr. Young–Johnson is discriminating against women.”

Landen smiled, though Renata couldn’t see it.

“Jennifer doesn’t wear perfume. She prefers her natural scent and doesn’t like artificial fragrances. Others here wear perfume too, but they don’t parade around in front of me, so it doesn’t bother me. Miss Labbe, your perfume is overpowering, yet you keep walking around near me. If it suffocates me, should I just stay silent? Do you think I have nothing better to do than meddle in other people’s business?”

He glanced at her.

“Miss Labbe, you’re quite pretty—but I don’t like you. Don’t be offended. Our two companies are mortal enemies, like fighting cocks glaring at each other. Everyone in Havenmill knows your father and I are bitter rivals. Tell me, how could I possibly like you?”

He paused, then added casually,

“If I did, you probably wouldn’t be having such a comfortable life at home. Your father might think you stole the Labbe family’s trade secrets and gave them to me. Why not secretly tell me those secrets? That might explain how I always manage to pinpoint your weaknesses.”

Renata’s expression darkened.

“Landen Young–Johnson!”

She shouted his full name.

“Stop making baseless accusations. When did I ever give you trade secrets?”

Landen was clearly trying to drive a wedge between her and her father—and make everyone suspect her.

Heaven knew Renata had never even seen Landen’s true face, let alone been close to him. How could she possibly pass business secrets to him?

Landen laughed again.

“Why such a strong reaction, Miss Labbe? I only said ‘what if,’ not that it actually happened. Your reaction makes it sound like you might have done something like that behind your father’s back. Maybe you leaked important information about the Labbe Group. Which company’s young master did you get involved with?”

“I didn’t!” Renata denied sharply, her face dark.

She had never leaked any of the Labbe Group’s secrets. In fact, she didn’t even know most of them.

Her father adored her and granted her a small amount of authority—but his own power was limited, let alone hers.