At the very least, she had witnessed a clash between true masters.
Forrest Quinn’s maneuver was a textbook example of crisis PR. He had intentionally allowed the public outcry to ferment, letting his opponents exhaust their ammunition before launching a single, decisive counterattack that swept the board. Such audacity and strategic prowess were truly admirable.
"It seems there are still plenty of smart people in this world," Wendy Lynch marveled inwardly.
Ever since she began receiving emails from the future, everything had gone so smoothly that she assumed the emails alone would allow her to walk all over anyone. Now, it appeared she had been far too naive.
The future emails were indeed a powerful trump card, but how she utilized them still depended entirely on her own intellect and capabilities. Take this time, for example. If she had analyzed the email’s contents more carefully, perhaps she would have noticed some clues—clues like why Forrest Quinn’s counterattack was so timely, or why his plan was so flawless. If she had thought of these things, she might not have rashly shown up at his door.
Moreover, this entire incident served as a wake-up call. What she gleaned from the future emails was, at the end of the day, only fragmented glimpses of what was to come.
"I need to be much more cautious next time," she warned herself.
Additionally, she temporarily suppressed the idea of leaving Titan Engine to strike out on her own. Right now, she was still too weak. As the saying went, there was safety in the shadow of a giant. Until she had fully grown into her own, she shouldn’t think about leaving.
Though this collaboration had fallen through, earning the acknowledgment of an industry professional was still a kind of reward. Besides, the two of them had already added each other on WhatsApp. There might truly be opportunities to collaborate in the future.
At this thought, Wendy’s mood improved slightly.
Work, clocking out, and dinner passed in a blur. Before she knew it, the clock struck midnight.
[You have an email from September 25, 2025.]
"The company has been going through a real rough patch. Right on the heels of the Forrest Quinn incident, Verdant—whom we just signed—ran into trouble!
"To think such a serious accident was exposed right at their autumn launch event?
"All the cosmetics I’m using right now are from Verdant Company!
"...
"Something feels off. How did so many cancer-causing cases pop up all at once?
"At first, I thought someone was intentionally smearing them.
"But then, just a few hours later, the Silverport FDA actually filed a case.
"Can we even keep using Verdant’s skincare products?"
Looking at the email’s contents, Wendy narrowed her eyes. Perhaps because she had just witnessed a thrilling corporate battle that very afternoon, she subconsciously felt that the situation mentioned in the email wasn’t as simple as it appeared on the surface.
Wendy leaned back in her chair, her fingers tapping against her keyboard.
*Verdant Cosmetics.*
She typed the name into the search bar, and a massive amount of information quickly popped up. As the fastest-rising beauty brand in recent years, Verdant’s influence among young women was not to be underestimated. Their whitening serums and anti-aging lines, in particular, had practically become must-buys on Instagram.
Wendy quickly skimmed through the data reports. Over the past three years, Verdant’s market share had been growing at an annual rate of five percent. What did this number mean? It meant they were frantically cannibalizing other brands’ territories. The market was only so big; if one person took a larger bite, someone else had to settle for a smaller one.
Wendy continued scrolling down and suddenly spotted a news headline: *"Verdant Group will hold its autumn new product launch event at 1:00 p.m. on September 24th, officially debuting their brand-new anti-aging series."*
She glanced at the calendar. September 24th. Tomorrow afternoon.
Wendy’s finger paused on the mouse, her mind racing. The cancer-causing cases mentioned in the email were exposed at the launch event. This timing... wasn’t it a bit too coincidental?
A new product launch was a brand’s most critical moment. All the media, distributors, and corporate partners would be present. If a scandal about their products causing cancer broke out at this exact juncture, the resulting damage would be utterly devastating.
This wasn’t a coincidence. It was a precision strike.
Wendy leaned back in her chair and narrowed her eyes. The business world was a battlefield—that wasn’t just an empty saying. Verdant had developed far too rapidly in recent years, which undoubtedly squeezed the survival space of many of their peers. It was only natural that someone was now retaliating.
But... an accusation like causing cancer was no laughing matter. Once confirmed, the entire brand would suffer a catastrophic blow. Even if it was ultimately proven false, the brand’s image would still be severely compromised. After all, a lie could travel halfway around the world while the truth was still putting on its shoes.
"That’s ruthless," Wendy murmured to herself.
She recalled Dean Lowenbaum, whom she had met at the Hunan restaurant that afternoon. That seemingly unremarkable middle-aged man had laid a trap that ensnared all his rivals. Could the situation Verdant was facing now be a similar ploy?
Wendy took a deep breath. First, she needed to figure out if it was true or false.
She opened X, Instagram, and QueryHub, typing "Verdant cancer" into their search bars. There was absolutely no relevant content. She tried a few more keyword combinations. Still nothing.
Wendy leaned back in her chair again, her fingers drumming against the desk. This indicated the incident hadn’t fermented yet. At the same time, it proved one thing: this was absolutely premeditated. If a cancer scare had genuinely occurred, there would definitely be murmurs of it online.
According to the timeline in the email, the cancer cases were supposed to be exposed on the day of the launch event. Right now, there was still a day left before the event.
Wendy stared at her computer screen, her mind calculating rapidly. What could she do? Contact Verdant in advance and warn them that someone was going to stir up trouble at their launch?
No. Without evidence, why would they believe her? And how would she explain how she knew? She couldn’t exactly say she received emails from the future.
Wendy massaged her temples. This situation was different from Forrest Quinn’s. His had been a PR crisis, one that could be overturned with a good strategy. But Verdant was facing a malicious smear campaign, a premeditated corporate attack. In this scenario, the most important thing was to secure evidence and catch the mastermind behind the scenes.
After a moment of thought, Wendy opened a notepad file and began recording the information she currently possessed.
First, the cancer cases would erupt collectively on the day of the launch.
Second, the timing of the outbreak was far too coincidental, making it obvious that someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Third, this method of a precision strike indicated that the opposing party had planned this well in advance.
Staring at these three bullet points, Wendy fell deep into thought. If this really was a competitor’s doing, what was their ultimate goal? To ruin Verdant’s new product launch and damage their brand image. But that wasn’t enough. The true killing blow would be to seize Verdant’s market share while public opinion was still churning.
Tapping the desk, a question suddenly popped into Wendy’s mind. If she were the one orchestrating this attack, what would she do?
First, she would manufacture multiple "victims" and have them speak out across various platforms simultaneously to build public pressure. Then, before Verdant could even react, she would rapidly hype up the topic and push the incident onto the trending lists.
This sort of mudslinging tactic was truly underhanded. Regardless of the outcome, as long as Verdant failed to present a PR response as quickly as possible, both their brand reputation and market share would undoubtedly suffer a massive hit.