Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Samantha’s eyes were big and bright, like the most beautiful and vibrant star in the night sky. Those eyes were once his favorite part of her.

His heart often skipped a beat when he saw those jovial, crafty, and sparkling eyes.

Timothy became somewhat entranced.

His Adam’s apple moved up and down in his throat and he spoke. “I’m making up for the wedding because…”

‘…I wanted to make it up to you and start over with you.’ Those were very simple words, but it was a little bit difficult for him to say.

Timothy pursed his thin lips before finally continuing his sentence, but the words that came out were, “…we’ve publicized our marriage to the public. It’s only natural that we have to hold this long-overdue wedding. That would stop any paparazzi from making up stories.”

Following his words, Samantha’s frantic heartbeat reverted little by little to calmness.

Sure enough, it was not the answer she had been expecting.

At that moment, the question she had not gotten the chance to ask before appeared in her mind. ‘Am I the person that Timothy once loved?’ She was glad she did not get the opportunity to ask, otherwise the answer might have ended up being a big slap in the face.

Ronald’s eager look crumbled instantly after hearing Timothy’s words and he immediately clutched his chest.

Praising Timothy was futile, for he turned out to be a disappointment barely moments after Ronald had cheered on him.

The atmosphere was so perfect that it ought to have been a good time to confess, yet all the man could come up with was the crappiest of excuses!

Samantha held back her dejectedness and looked up at him with a smile. “Let’s get started then.”

She was willing to fulfill his demands because she already promised him that she would keep up appearances as Mrs. Barker.

Timothy was a little puzzled because he could clearly sense that Samantha was somewhat downcast. Why was she in low spirits when they were in the very church and the very island that she had once talked about getting married at?

Could the so-called ceremonious feeling be lacking?

Did she want a grand wedding that the entire world would know? One that involved many distinguished guests?

He based his choice on the initial assumption that she preferred a private wedding, but if she preferred a grand one, it was not impossible for him to accommodate her wish.

As soon as that thought occurred to him, he whispered to her again, “I can make it up to you with an even grander wedding if that’s what you want.”

Samantha was speechless. When did she say that she wanted a grand wedding?

If the two of them really loved each other and got married, she would be happy regardless of the style of wedding ceremony. However, there was no point making such a grand wedding if its purpose was just to complete a task or tick off a box. It would be exhausting to put on an act in front of so many people!

“No, this is good enough.” Samantha smiled half-heartedly. “Let’s go through the wedding rites.”

She took the initiative to raise her hand and hook Timothy’s arm.

Timothy narrowed his eyes slightly but did not say a word. Instead, he held her and walked step-by-step toward the cross.

The pastor came out to officiate their wedding.

“Timothy Barker, do you take Samantha Larsson to be your wife, to live together in matrimony, to love her, to honor her, to comfort her, and to keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?”

The man turned his face and stared deeply at Samantha for a few seconds. His thin lips parted open slightly and he answered clearly, “I do.”

Those two words struck Samantha’s heart.

She was reminded of the incredibly lavish wedding two years ago. Back then, those two words were the ones she had been looking forward to the most, but what happened next was a ruthless falling-out.

She was finally able to hear those two words after everything that happened, but her mood was not much better than two years ago.

Samantha would rather not hear ‘I do’ if it was fake.

“Samantha Larsson, do you take Timothy Barker to be your husband, to live together in matrimony, to love him, to honor him, to comfort him, and to keep him in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?”

Samantha responded mechanically, “I do.”

The priest smiled. “The bride and groom may exchange rings.”

Ring?

She did not prepare any ring because she only knew that they were going to make up for the wedding ceremony when she came to the church.

However, Ronald then appeared out of nowhere. He walked up to them and carried over a small tray that contained a pair of rings.

Samantha glanced unconsciously at the ring and immediately recognized it. It was the same style from two years ago because its beauty made her do a double-take as she leafed through the magazine.

It seemed that the last-minute wedding really had been held so as not to give the reporters a chance to make up stories, otherwise he would not have been so careless as to just use their old rings for their wedding ring.

In any case, Samantha did not care about it too much. After all, the ring did not really belong to her and was only to be worn temporarily.

Timothy took the women’s ring, held Samantha’s hand, and slowly slid the ring on her finger. Once that was done, he even stared at it for a few seconds and felt that it looked pretty good.

That was the same wedding ring he prepared for their wedding two years ago, but he did not have a chance to put it on her finger at the time.

He was unsure why he never threw those rings away, but perhaps deep down he was still waiting for the day he could finally put the ring on her again.

Timothy then raised his hand and motioned to Samantha.

Samantha thought to herself, ‘I’m someone who keeps my promises.’ Only then did she take the men’s ring and be done with it by putting it on Timothy’s ring finger.

Her movement was extremely quick.

Timothy’s keen senses seemed to have picked up on something and he frowned slightly.

Ronald could see that the situation was starting to go south, so he immediately winked at the pastor, who understood it at once and said immediately to Timothy, “You may now kiss the bride!”

Timothy reached forward, hooked Samantha’s slender waist, and pulled her into his arms. He then lowered his head and planted his thin lips on hers.

Unfortunately, it lasted only a second before Samantha raised her hand and pushed him away. “That’ll do, right?”

Timothy’s gaze sank.

Did she dislike the wedding so much after he had worked so hard to prepare everything?

Was he in the wrong even though he wanted to make her happy?

Cold sweat started trickling on Ronald’s back and he cheered loudly, “That concludes the ceremony! Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Barker! I sincerely wish you both a happy marriage!”

He then applauded like a madman!

The pastor immediately followed suit and applauded too.

At the same time, Ronald kept winking at Timothy to give the latter a hint that he must, by all means, control his anger. If Timothy got angry, all that effort would have gone down the drain!

The terrifying look in Timothy’s eyes appeared and disappeared. In the end, he suppressed it as far down as he could but his voice sounded a bit stiff when he next spoke. “It’s done. Let’s go back to the hotel.”

As soon as Timothy said that, he was the first to walk out of the church.

Samantha stood there for about half a minute before following him out slowly.

…

Samantha got out of the car when it arrived at the hotel entrance, but Timothy remained seated inside and said nothing to her. The car immediately drove off after she got down.

She had gotten used to his unpredictable temper and could not be bothered to try and guess what he was thinking about. She simply turned around and walked into the hotel.

Moments after she stepped into the elevator, the door was about to close when someone called out, “Could you hold the elevator please!”

Samantha immediately pressed the door open button. The elevator door reopened and a woman walked right in.

The woman made eye contact with Samantha and greeted her, “We meet again, Ms. Larsson..”