Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It was the beautiful woman who was staying in the room next door.

Samantha smiled and said, “Yeah.”

The woman stood beside Samantha as the elevator door came to a close. Judging from the reflection on the elevator wall, Samantha was a little surprised when she noticed that her height was almost the same as that woman. Their figure was almost identical as well, possibly making it difficult to distinguish them at a glance when viewed from behind.

Samantha unconsciously looked at the woman’s face again and was certain that they looked completely different. Samantha’s facial shape was on the cute side—her brows and eyes would turn into arcs when she smiled, which was very adorable to look at. On the other hand, the woman’s beauty and temperament were simpler and more elegant.

As Samantha was looking at the woman, the woman seemed to be looking at her too. The woman’s gaze landed on Samantha’s slender white fingers and she remarked suddenly, “That’s a very beautiful ring.”

“What?” Samantha needed a second or so to react. She eventually glanced down at the wedding ring on her ring finger that she had just put on, but she did not know what to feel at that moment.

As beautiful as it was, she did not know how long she would be able to continue wearing it.

None of those emotions were revealed on her face though. She merely forced out a resplendent smile and said, “Thank you.”

A ding was heard and the elevator had reached their floor.

The two women stepped out of the elevator and walked up to their respective room doors. The woman said softly to Samantha, “See you around, Ms. Larsson.”

Samantha thought that the woman was just being courteous and nodded in return. “Goodbye.”

She then opened the door and walked into the room.

The woman stood there instead of entering her own room and watched as Samantha’s figure disappeared from view. Her lips curled up into an unsettling smile and it was only then that she opened the room door and went in.

…

The car drove leisurely on the road and the atmosphere within the vehicle was so suffocating that Ronald was going to be out of breath.

His boss did not even mention any particular destination and he had already circled the whole of Barrkjaer Island. Was he supposed to keep driving until kingdom come?

Ronald felt conflicted but decided that leaving things as it is was not the way to go. He gulped a few times, mustered up the courage, then bit the bullet and said, “Mr. Barker, are we going to…return to the hotel?”

Leaving Samantha alone in the hotel would bring no benefit to Timothy. His purpose for bringing her to a honeymoon in Barrkjaer Island was to further strengthen their relationship, not to give her the cold shoulder!

Upon posing that question, Ronald could feel his boss’s deathly stare without even having to look in the rearview mirror. That stare was sufficient to make Ronald break into a cold sweat.

It was always the weak who had to suffer when the powerful came to blows.

He wondered whether he should have even bothered to give his boss such an idea.

In any case, they were already on the island and the plan was already halfway done. Completing it was the right thing to do, or else ignoring it halfway would only waste all their prior effort and backfire on them.

Ronald had worked under Timothy for so long that he was still enough in his abilities to withstand the pressure. The frustration served as an impetus for his courage and he asked weakly, “Mr. Barker, there’s…something I’d like to say but I don’t know if it’s appropriate for me to say it.”

Timothy did not speak.

Ronald braved his anxiety and continued, “Perhaps you should listen to what I have to say, Mr. Barker… In reality, women are all the same. They like being whispered sweet nothings and enjoy being comforted by others. When you speak to Mrs. Barker, it might be good if you could…be a teensy bit gentler.”

Timothy frowned, clearly displeased with that suggestion.

Ronald glanced at the rearview mirror. He more or less knew that his big boss was one of those uber-serious men. He was capable of explaining business trends for a few hours straight but could not even make even the briefest of kind remarks.

To make things worse, the things he said were easily misunderstood in a negative light even if he said them with good intent.

Ronald thought for a moment and said, “Mr. Barker, it actually doesn’t matter if you don’t say a lot of sweet words, but there’s one universal surefire sentence that all girls like to hear!”

That remark finally piqued Timothy’s interest and he raised his eyebrows slightly, “Tell me.”

“Ahem.” Ronald put on a smile and uttered those three words in an impassioned manner, “I love you.”

Timothy’s handsome face soured instantly.

It gave Ronald quite a fright and he explained hurriedly, “Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Barker. I wasn’t telling you that I love you. I’m telling you to say ‘I love you’ to the missus. Of course, I’m in no way saying that I don’t love you, I do love you, it’s just—”

“…Shut up!” the man could not take it anymore and interrupted at once. “Go with Plan B.”

Ronald was speechless.

If Timothy could not even say the simplest sentence in ‘I love you’, Ronald should not put his hopes up and expect the man to make any breakthroughs in that aspect.

However, Timothy was supposed to be wooing a woman, not participating in some reality show! What was with that Plan B!

Ronald lamented that an uber-serious man like his boss could have a wife when a warm and pleasant little ray of sunshine like him did not even have a woman to date…

Chiding in his heart was all that he could do, and Ronald then pondered seriously over it before saying, “If you can’t tell her that, Mr. Barker, sleeping with her is your only option. It’d be better for you to just have a baby with her.”

As a married couple who had a marriage certificate and just held their wedding ceremony, it was only a matter of course for them to have a baby.

His parents were an example of a married couple whose feelings developed gradually after his mother got pregnant with him.

After a pause, he unconsciously blurted out a question, “Mr. Barker, you’re still going strong in that department, right?”

His expression changed drastically after he finally realized what he had just said.

Men would never say that they were…incapable. What could possibly have gone through his mind when he asked such an implicit question to Timothy? He immediately shut his mouth and kept quiet.

Fortunately for Ronald, Timothy seemed to be lost in thought and ignored whatever remark that had been made.

About five minutes later, Timothy finally spoke up. “Drive back to the hotel.”

Ronald could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Sincere advice might not be pleasant to hear, but Timothy seemed to have finally heeded Ronald’s words to him earlier.

…

It was almost five in the evening when Timothy returned to the room. Samantha was busy snacking on the mini biscuits provided in the room.

She was more or less relieved to see his return.

After all, if Timothy got angry and decided to go back home without her, she did not know if the remaining money that she had was even enough to buy a plane ticket home.

In addition, it was pretty saddening to be left alone in a foreign country.

Timothy anchored his gaze on her and soon shifted to the mini biscuits in her hand. Samantha noticed his line of sight and explained quickly, “This was provided free of charge.”

She wanted to assert that she did not spend his money.

The glow in Timothy’s eyes manifested. He was not going to blame her at all. He was just…distressed.

He opened his lips to speak, but in the end, he was still unable to say those words out loud. He decided to just walk up to her and pull her up from the sofa.

Then, he brought her straight out of the room.

“Where are we going?” Samantha struggled instinctively.

Was Timothy really going to do something to Samantha simply because of a few biscuits?