Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Samantha was just like Rochelle once upon a time. If she wanted to call Timothy, she would not hesitate to do so. It did not matter where she was, what time it was, or whether she was happy or sad.

It was all because he had pampered her and spoiled her. His affection was all that she relied on.

Since then, she no longer had anything to rely on.

Jonathan had already answered the phone, and Rochelle placed her hands on her hips as she cursed in anger. All the expletives she used were never repeated and her lips rattled them off nimbly.

Samantha held the wine glass and sipped from it while watching Rochelle curse at Jonathan. There was a flash of envy in her eyes.

The alcohol imparted quite a bit of courage in her. It slowly started going to her head, causing her lucidness to fade little by little. Her eyes slowly turned to her cell phone and she reached for it, but she soon placed it back down after holding it up. The action of picking it up and putting it down was repeated over and over again.

She had lost count of how many times she did that, but her head became even dizzier and her vision became increasingly blurry. In the end, the alcohol overwhelmed her brain and everything around her started fading gradually…

…

The next day.

Samantha opened her eyes slowly and was at a loss for a few seconds. Memories however, soon poured into her mind. She frowned from the hangover and her hand reached out instinctively to her forehead.

After finally acclimatizing herself, she looked at the bedside table and saw a glass of water with some pills. Beside it was a post-it note.

She picked up the post-it note and saw Rochelle’s authoritarian message. ‘Take these hangover meds when you wake up. Breakfast is on the table. You just need to heat it up before eating. I’m going out to handle something. Call me if there’s an emergency.’

There was a ‘PS’ at the back. ‘The reporters are going to blow up your phone, so I turned it on airplane mode for you.’

Samantha smiled warmly and got up. She walked into the bathroom to wash up, and after coming out, she ate the hangover medication before grabbing her phone and walking out of the room.

Although she did not have any appetite, she was not about to be unappreciative of Rochelle’s gesture in preparing a loving breakfast for her.

Samantha warmed it up briefly, sat on the dining chair, then ate breakfast while scrolling through her cell phone.

The first app she opened was Waybo, where the top trending searches were still related to her. The topmost one showed a picture taken by reporters that depicted her driving the luxury car a day ago.

They managed to find the price of that luxury vehicle. It turned out to be staggeringly high, and limited edition as well. Only the rich and powerful were capable of buying it.

That provided further proof that she had been squandering her husband’s money while being reluctant to support her parents.

After Samantha read it, the corners of her lips curled up coldly. She found it to be extremely laughable.

If it was according to predictions, then any photo taken would allow that group of reporters to cook up stories to match, thereby swinging the opinion of netizens.

She glanced at the comments and saw plenty of bashing from the netizens.

The second trending search involved the ‘revelation’ by Simon and Cynthia, saying that she was out hooking up with random men. The netizens all donned their detective caps and uncovered all the men, even making a list.

Samantha pursed her lips tightly and tapped her fingers on the list of so-called affairs.

Mason Godfrey, Dr. Alan Sherwood… Even the hospital janitor was on the list, despite only exchanging one sentence with her.

Her parents really spared no effort in order to discredit her.

A glaring omission was Timothy, who was probably not included because her parents did not dare to provoke him.

Samantha had an ironic expression after seeing them removing what was supposed to be the correct answer.

The situation was starting to get exponentially worse and Samantha knew that she had to deal with it. If she did not seize the optimum time to make a clarification, it would be very difficult for her to correct public opinion.

Simon and Cynthia understood that principle as well, hence their repeated publicizing of various news to slander her.

Samantha exited Waybo and clicked on WeTalk.

There were plenty of unread messages. She saw Alan’s chat at the very top and noticed that he had sent a lot of messages.

She clicked on the chat and read through it quickly.

The first few messages were Alan asking her if she was okay, followed by him asking her if there was anything she needed help with. The last and most recent was to tell her that she could contact him at any time.

Many other friends she met at home and abroad also sent messages to comfort her or ask her if she needed help.

Most of the time, there were more people offering help when she was well off compared to when she was actually in need of help. Samantha looked at the news and felt waves of warmth in her heart.

She felt touched.

She ate the last mouthful of her breakfast, put down the dishes, then wiped her lips. Then, she got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows, where she looked at the blue sky and the brilliant sun while making her final decision.

Once that was done, she picked up her cell phone and called her father.

The call was answered in seconds, clearly a sign that they had been waiting for her call.

Simon’s voice was filled with condescending arrogance. “What do you want to say?”

Samantha took a breath and spoke in a slightly hoarse voice. “I was wrong, Dad.”

Simon snorted coldly and acted all pretentious. “You were wrong? How can I possibly accept your admission of being wrong? Weren’t you stubborn when you came here the last time, saying that you wanted to let your rich husband deal with me and your mother?”

Samantha listened quietly to his exasperation and sobbed while replying, “Dad, all these baseless claims about me and random men have angered my husband so much. He’s very angry at me now and he wants to get a divorce. I did have an enjoyable life before, but I finally understand that you, Mom, and the Larssons are my real support.”

“Heh.” Simon was smarter than before and did not answer Samantha.

Samantha’s tone became anxious. “Dad, I’m really regretting it now. I only dared to call you because I spent the whole of last night reflecting on myself. I’ll agree to the conditions you put forward and I’ll promise to obediently listen to you and Mom. I won’t fight back anymore!”

About half a minute passed before Simon said unhurriedly, “Words are useless.”

He had suffered in her hands countless times before and there was no way he was going to let himself be fooled by her again.

Samantha bit her lips and said sadly, “Tell me, Dad. What else do you want me to do before you’ll believe me?”

Simon had been waiting for that all along and immediately said, “I want you to hold a press conference to admit to everything and apologize publicly, not just to everyone, but to me and your mother too!”

It was only when Samantha publicly acknowledged everything she had done and made a public apology that she would have to carry that blot on her life forever. Finally, she would only rely on the Larssons to control her in the future.

As soon as Simon finished talking, he could clearly hear Samantha’s breathing becoming heavier on the other end.

After hesitating for a long time, Samantha finally answered softly, “Okay..”