Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Penelope was incredibly relieved after hearing that from Violet. It was only because Violet underestimated Samantha that their plan failed, even though Violet had always succeeded in all her endeavors!

Penelope admired her mother very much.

“What’s your plan, Mommy?”

Violet curled her lips and whispered a couple of words in Penelope’s ear.

After Penelope listened, she could not help but smile and heap tons of praise on her mother. “You’re really smart, Mommy! If we do this, we can kill two birds with one stone. Samantha will be ruined, and we’ll be able to keep our hands clean!”

“Of course.”

Violet raised her chin proudly. “Samantha is a disgraced woman and she’s not worth my trouble to handle personally.”

“It’s just…” Penelope frowned before continuing hesitantly, “Are you sure the person you mentioned will be willing to do such a thing?”

“Yes,” Violet replied with certainty. “Greedy people like them are the stupidest, just like starving dogs. Throw them a bone and they’ll bite down like their lives depended on it.”

She could not help but cackle as she said, “We’ll let Samantha have a taste of how it feels to be betrayed and trampled on by her closest relatives!”

Penelope laughed as well. “You’re absolutely right, Mommy!”

After that, Violet picked up the phone again and called Detective Leadon. When he answered the call, she immediately said, “Listen carefully and do exactly what I say…”

…

After Timothy left, the ward was as quiet as before.

Samantha had grown accustomed to that kind of quietness. After all, she had always been taking care of Corey alone in the ward.

She felt uncomfortable when Timothy insisted on staying, and all she hoped was for him to leave as soon as possible and let her be alone.

At that moment however, she felt even more uncomfortable when Timothy really left.

The ward was just too quiet…

It felt very empty too…

From time to time, she unconsciously turned her head to look at the sofa. It was as if Timothy was still sitting there, typing on the keyboard or flipping through documents.

When she lay down on the small caregiver’s bed that night, she wondered if it had somehow gotten bigger. She was only barely able to get comfortable after tossing and turning countless times.

Before closing her eyes, she picked up her cell phone and glanced at the screen. Timothy should have arrived at his destination by then.

She had already removed Timothy’s phone number from the blacklist that afternoon, but there were no calls or text messages at all.

Samantha could not help but laugh at herself once more. What was she expecting? Was she looking forward to Timothy telling her he had landed safely just because he told her his itinerary?

Greed was human nature and one would never be satisfied.

Was she expecting more?

Samantha shook her head vigorously and dispelled all the nonsensical thoughts. She really should stop thinking about it because a person’s greatest bane was overthinking.

She put down the phone, turned to Corey on the hospital bed, then said softly to him, “Good night.” She then switched off the light, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

…

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Since she had almost used up all her daily necessities, Samantha planned to go to the supermarket so she called a nurse over. She put on some simple and comfy clothes, did her hair in a neat high ponytail, then went to the underground parking lot of the hospital.

When the Old Madam Barker came to see Corey the other day, she left a luxury car behind, saying that it would be more convenient for Samantha to go places.

Samantha originally wanted to decline because she had no reason to be driving such an expensive car. However, the old lady insisted on it, leaving the car keys with her and parking the car in the parking lot. She even said that cars were bought for driving, not to sit around as collectibles. Since the old lady did not use them, it would be a waste to just leave it sitting around.

Samantha was unable to refute the old lady and could only accept her kind gesture.

She drove the car out of the hospital.

It was more than an hour before she returned to the hospital. She carried two bags and got out of the car, then walked into the elevator and headed upstairs.

Once the ding sound was heard, Samantha frowned slightly as she walked out of the elevator as she had a vague feeling that the atmosphere was not quite right.

As soon as she walked toward the ward, she saw a horse of people at the door of the ward. Some raised microphones while others held up cameras. One could tell that they were reporters at a glance, and there were others broadcasting live on their cell phones…

Samantha halted her footsteps instantly. What was going on?

One of them had good vision and immediately caught sight of Samantha. He called out, “Ms. Larsson is over there!”

Following those words, everyone’s attention turned to Samantha. At that moment, everyone started swarming around her in a frenzy, pointing their microphones and camera lenses at her.

Before Samantha had time to react, the reporters’ microphones had been pushed to her lips while the camera shutters clicked away without pause. Her eyes were blinded briefly by the flash and their ears were filled with a barrage of questions.

“Ms. Larsson, are you that heartless to abandon your own parents?”

“Ms. Larsson, your parents claimed that you forced them to give up custody of your little brother Corey so he would never have to pay them any last respects. What do you have to say about that?”

“Ms. Larsson, you’ve married a rich man, but because you can’t stand to be alone, you’ve been hooking up with many random men that you meet. Did you do this in order to anger your husband to death and inherit his property?”

Everything happened so suddenly that Samantha’s mind went blank for a moment. However, it did not take long for her to realize that something big must have happened.

Since she had no clue what was happening, it was best for her to keep silent, or else the reporters would easily have a pretext to further question her. The first thing she had to do was make her escape.

Unfortunately, escaping was easier said than done with the crowd of reporters watching her every move.

Samantha closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down. When she next opened them, she faced the crowd, forced out a smile, and said in a cold voice, “My friends, I can answer your questions, but I’m out of breath after being squeezed by everyone. If you guys want my answer, give me some breathing room.”

The reporters exchanged glances with each other, and judging from the amount of people, they probably felt that there was no need to worry about her running away. Therefore, they all stepped back somewhat unanimously, giving her a little bit of space.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

Samantha smiled, cleared her throat slightly, then opened her lips. “Alright, I’ll answer your questions now. For the first question, I—”

All of a sudden, she threw the two bags in her hand at the reporters in front of her. Seizing that moment of chaos, she pushed the crowd aside and ran toward the elevator.

The reporters finally reacted and shouted, “Damn it! Mr. Larsson tricked us! Get her! Don’t let her run away!”

Everyone gave chase immediately!