Sample response to Maximilian Thorne

Dear Monsieur Thorne,

We have received your correspondence regarding batch OUD-FR-2247-A and have read it in full — including the postscripts.

We do not dispute the gas chromatograph findings. A 7.3% variance against a contractual tolerance of 4% is a breach, and we will not insult your laboratory, your Master Perfumer, or the memory of your great-grandfather Augustin by pretending otherwise. Henri's nose was correct. Ours was not.

We are conducting an urgent internal review to identify the precise point of failure in our Grasse facility. We expect preliminary findings within 24 hours and will share them with you directly — including, to the extent our investigation confirms it, the name of the sensor and the circumstances of its last calibration.

On your demands:

DEMAND ONE: We are prepared to discuss a full refund of the contract purchase price. The 5% Restoration Fee is a point our legal teams will need to address, but we are not writing to you today to negotiate you into a corner. We are writing to ask for a conversation.

DEMAND TWO: We are not in a position to commit to a full-page press apology on the timeline proposed. We ask that you allow us to demonstrate, through action rather than column inches, that we take this seriously.

DEMAND THREE: We accept the termination of the supply agreement. We will not contest it.

DEMAND FOUR: Our Chairman has been informed. He will respond to you directly, on appropriate stationery.

We would ask that you extend us the courtesy of a call before 17:00. Not to dissuade you from any course of action — that is your right — but because we believe the facts, once shared, are worth hearing before they reach Le Monde.

With genuine regret for the damage done to Maison Thorne, to Henri, and to the batch,

Office of the Chief Executive
Vanguard Bio-Synthetics