Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Rochelle soon sent a burst of messages to her.

[I’m the one asking questions here. Why are you asking me instead?

[Do you know nothing about your own affairs?

[Are you living in a cave on top of a mountain?]

Samantha facepalmed. She was not living in a cave on top of the mountain. All she did was sleep! How could she have known that there would be trouble brewing while she slept?

She started to wonder whether all those troubles occurred because it was an unlucky year for her.

Samantha was in no mood to play the guessing game and immediately replied: [Just tell me what’s up.]

Rochelle gave a three-word reply: [Go to Waybo!]

Samantha tapped her finger on Waybo and did not even need to spare any effort to find out what was happening. Her name was trending at the very top of the trending searches!

Unfortunately, Timothy was implicated too!

Her heart immediately skipped a beat.

She did not really mind as much if she made the headlines alone, but if Timothy was involved in her problem, she was going to have an even harder time.

Samantha immediately clicked on the trending search.

The top comment was a post by a popular account, saying that Timothy was losing affection for Samantha not long after they got married!

The picture was taken when she and Timothy arrived at the airport. Timothy was walking indifferently ahead of her while she followed him from behind. The atmosphere was awkward and neither of them even interacted with each other while they walked.

After all, their marriage had recently been made public in a rather high-profile manner, and netizens even turned Timothy’s declaration of love into all sorts of catchphrases and memes! All that happened not too long ago, so when someone photographed their indifference toward each other at the airport, netizens would definitely take delight in being nosy, causing the news to soar even higher in the trending list.

Some netizens have even launched a Waybo poll to guess how long it would take for them to get a divorce. Ten of thousands of people have cast their vote, and 99% were of the opinion that they would divorce within three months.

Samantha looked at everything and did not know whether to laugh or get angry.

She and Timothy really lived up to the netizens’ vote as being the number one couple who was most unlikely to get together again. They were ahead of second place by a mile.

There was another notification on her phone and it was yet another WeTalk message from Rochelle.

Samantha clicked on the WeTalk pop-up.

[What else happened between you and that scumbag? Didn’t he already publicly acknowledge your marriage? Why is he now giving you the cold shoulder? Is he making trouble?]

Rochelle had changed her mind a bit about Timothy after he spoke at the press conference and stood up for Samantha. Samantha had not gotten over him completely, but if the two of them decided to live their days with each other in peace, Rochelle would still give unconditional support to Samantha.

After all, her one wish was for Samantha to live a happy life.

Was that the happy life that was awaiting Samantha?

Samantha did not know what to reply to Rochelle because she was just as confused as to her status with Timothy. Her heart seemed to consist of a stringy mess which only became more chaotic with each attempt to sort things out.

Rochelle was a very impatient woman. When Samantha took too long to reply, she sent another message: [Forget about it, let’s just meet up and talk. I’m boarding the plane in another hour and I’ll reach Imperial Capital at 10. Let’s go grab a drink!]

Samantha replied immediately: [Okay.]

She did need someone to talk to and help her understand her own confused thoughts. Many a time, a third party could see things with much more objectivity compared to a person who was party to the issue at hand.

When it came to stuff that she could not make head or tail of, Rochelle might be able to give her some advice.

Samantha got up and went to the bathroom, where she washed her face to freshen herself up a little.

Then, she went downstairs, headed to the kitchen, and whipped up a quick bowl of noodles. Her phone started ringing just as she was eating.

She thought that Rochelle was calling her again, but she grabbed her phone and saw that it was Old Madam Barker.

Ever since the events of the press conference, Old Madam Barker wore her reading glasses and scrolled through Waybo from time to time. She wanted to see if there was any news about Samantha and Timothy. Whenever she saw any netizens making denigrating comments about the couple, she became absolutely incensed and was determined to call that person out even though she was not very skilled at typing.

Old Madam Barker probably saw the trending news and decided to call and ask about the situation.

Samantha quickly put down her cutlery and patted both sides of her cheeks to make her complexion rosier. Only then did she answer Old Madam Barker’s video call.

“Hey, Grandma,” she greeted softly.

The faces of Old Madam Barker and Aunt Julia appeared on the screen, and the first thing Old Madam Barker did was look carefully at Samantha. Once the old lady was satisfied that Samantha was alright, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

One second later, the old lady immediately had an angry expression and started complaining, “That little brat Timothy! Did he start bullying you while I was away? Don’t be angry alright, Sammy. When I’m back, I’ll make sure to teach him a lesson for you!”

If it were any other family, the elders would always side with their own flesh and blood whenever there was any conflict between a married couple. Old Madam Barker, however, was always first to reproach Timothy whenever Samantha was not on good terms with him. That had been the case since the very beginning, and those who did not know their true relationship might assume that Samantha was her own granddaughter.

A warm current began surging up in Samantha’s heart. “Thank you, Grandma. You can rest assured that Timothy didn’t bully me. That photo on the internet is actually… Well, it’s fake. Timothy and I, we’re good. He even brought me out on vacation the other day and he organized a long-overdue wedding ceremony in that church I liked.”

In order to be make everything look more convincing, Samantha found the picture that Timothy took of them and sent it to the old lady through WeTalk

“See, Grandma. Timothy and I are fine. Don’t believe whatever’s written on the internet.”

Unlike before, Old Madam Barker did not just smile and move on from it. She remained silent for a moment and her expression became serious.

She looked intently at Samantha through the phone and remarked solemnly, “Sammy, I know that you and Tim are very filial kids. You both never want me to be worried and have always tried to make me happy. But I’ll have you know that I can clearly see whether the two of you are truly being affectionate or whether it’s all just a charade.”

Samantha pursed her lips involuntarily.

She was well aware that lies were lies regardless of how many times one repeated them. Truth was always bound to prevail.

“I’m sorry, Grandma,” she apologized softly.

Lying was no small burden to bear, and she had actually been feeling guilty whenever she deceived Old Madam Barker. 

“Sammy, I’m telling you this not to blame you or anything of the sort,” Old Madam Barker said earnestly, “I genuinely hope for you and Tim to live a happy life.

“Be honest with me, Sammy. What do you think about Tim right now? Are you really against the idea of being with him?”

It was yet another of those questions.

If she could not answer that when Rochelle asked earlier, she was similarly unable to answer it when the old lady posed a similar question.

“Grandma, I…” Samantha hesitated.

When Timothy initially showed such loathing toward her and treated her coldly, she felt thoroughly dispirited and no longer dared to cling to any hope. Although she thought that things would continue going in that direction, Timothy’s attitude changed all of a sudden recently, and the unpredictable hot-and-cold nature of his character left her very confused.

The old lady saw Samantha’s silence and did not urge Samantha on. Instead, she said, “Sammy, I can’t read your thoughts, but I can read Tim’s.”

Old Madam Barker said in no uncertain terms, “He likes you..”