Flora’s Guide to a Second Chance at Love and Life

The Smith family showed up and got turned away at the door? What gives?!

Luke was baffled. Sure, they'd been by the Davis place before, and even though Ethan didn't agree to whip up some perfumes for them, he at least didn't stop them at the door. "Just let us in first," Luke insisted, urgency dripping from his voice. He didn't have time to argue; his dad was in bad shape. "We need to talk to Ethan about something important!" "The master already knows why you're here," the butler replied, cool as a cucumber. "He's made it clear-no help for anyone from the Smith family."

"What?!"

Luke's voice hit a high note. Why had Ethan suddenly turned so cold? Had they ticked him off somehow?

"The Smith family's antics at the racetrack haven't gone unnoticed," the butler said with a knowing smile. "Mr. Luke, do you know Flora?"

Flora...

Just hearing her name sent shivers down Luke's spine. The mention of Flora made him uneasy for no apparent reason.

Why bring up Flora now? Could she have bad-mouthed them to Ethan, leading to this cold shoulder?

The more Luke thought about it, the more it made sense to him. He quickly blurted out, "Did Flora say something against me to Ethan? She's always had it out for me. That woman spins lies like it's her job; you can't trust a thing she says!" He got more worked up, painting Flora as some kind of evil mastermind.

He didn't notice the butler's smile vanish until Ethan himself showed up, prompting the butler to bow.

""Master Ethan."

"Ethan!" Luke's spirits soared when he saw him. He bowed too, ready to plead for help with Zachary, but Ethan cut him off with a chilling laugh: "What was that you just said?"

Luke froze. What had he said?

"Flora's vile? You can't trust her?" Ethan sneered.

"I" Luke stammered, thrown by Ethan's reaction.

"And who do you think you are, talking about her like that? Where do you get the nerve?" Ethan hadn't planned on stepping out, but he'd overheard enough to be riled up and had to confront them.

He knew all about the Smith family's embarrassing shenanigans at the racetrack, and now they were here, brazenly bad-mouthing Flora.

Luke was dumbstruck by Ethan's fiery response, and a woozy Zachary looked just as lost.

Ethan pressed on, "Flora is my mentor. You think I'd take your word over hers? Are you nuts, or am I?"

"Flora's your mentor?!"

Luke's jaw dropped, almost letting go of Zachary in shock. No way!

How could Flora possibly be Ethan's mentor?

The Davis family was the top dog in the perfumery world on Solitary Island, with people lining up to cozy up to them. What made Flora special enough to be Ethan's mentor?! "What, is that so hard to believe?" Ethan shot back confidently. "Even if Flora hasn't officially taken me on as an apprentice, she's my mentor in my eyes!"

The butler, watching Ethan's proud stance, couldn't help but facepalm but was used to this kind of talk.

Their master....

Was truly smitten.

Since he got his hands on a perfumery manual a few days ago, he'd been burning the midnight oil, hardly sleeping, and always talking about Flora. "Shut the door. Don't let them hang around."

Ethan had no patience to deal with Luke any longer. He had a manual to finish and perfumes to craft-no time to waste here!