Sophie handed the document she was holding to Tricia.


    Upon opening it, Tricia noticed it mostly consisted of big-namepanies, but a few brand names made her frown.


    "The Burke family has teamed up with many major brands and even bought out a few. A lot of these brands were perfect for us to sign, but now, with James taking over, they''ve chosen Burke International instead."


    Tricia remarked, "Looking at Burke International''s recent moves, it seems like they''re nning to expand their business, which means they might start cutting into our S Corporation''s market share. We used to own seventy percent of the Devonport market, but now we might be squeezed down to just forty percent, or even less."


    Seeing Sophie remain silent, Tricia couldn''t hold back. "Ms. Sophie, we need toe up with a n, or else, sooner orter, Burke International will push us outpletely."


    "These brand stores... they look familiar."


    "These are some of the mostmon big names on the market; it''s normal for Ms. Sophie to recognize them."


    "I''m not talking about recognizing the big names; I mean, these brands acquired by Burke International seem familiar."


    "Really?" Tricia looked puzzled. "These are all brands thatunched this year. Burke International must have spotted the trend and quickly bought them. But from what I see, the market doesn''t seem too keen on these brands. Ms. Sophie, have you heard of these brands before?"


    "Maybe."


    Sophie shifted gears. "Get me a financial report on Burke International''s recent transactions."


    "Okay."


    After Tricia left, Sophie reopened the document and mulled over the new brands James had acquired, which had yet to gain any market reputation.


    Why did James go after these brands?


    Suddenly, Sophie''s attention was drawn to the brand "Pure Color."


    She remembered, in her past life, how James had always been lukewarm towards her. Three years into their marriage, with no progress between them, Bea had urged her to find a way to win James''s heart, even giving her a bottle of perfume. Belonging ? N?velDram/a.Org.


    Later, she sprayed on the perfume and went to Burke International to find James, but he wasn''t there. Instead, she encountered Nichole, organizing documents in his office. By then, Nichole had be James''s senior assistant, an indispensable figure to him.


    That night in James''s office, Nichole, in her sleek white pencil dress, her long hair cascading down her waist looked at Sophie, also in white but standing before James without any confidence, and smiled, "Madam, Mr. Burke and I are about to go to a dinner together; he might not be home for dinner."


    Then, Nichole approached her, sniffed the perfume she was wearing, and said with a smile, "Madam, so you also like this brand of perfume? Mr. Burke is quite fond of it too; he even gave me a bottle."


    Saying so, Nichole took out the bottle of perfume Bea had given her.


    At that moment, Sophie realized the only reason Bea gave her that perfume was because Nichole used it, and that was why James liked it. And the brand of that perfume was "Pure Color."