Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Sheena had humiliated Penelope just a couple of days ago, saying that she would tell Justin to let Penelope come back home if Penelope was willing to be her dog.

When that happened, Penelope got so angry that she reached forward to pull Sheena’s hair. Unfortunately, her father rushed over and gave her a tight slap. He protected that heinous woman and the illegitimate son she was carrying, but completely forgot that Penelope was also his biological daughter.

The friends she used to have in her circle—the same one who once surrounded her, cozied up to her, and laughed along with her—had begun ridiculing and mocking her whenever they saw her.

As all those thoughts crossed Penelope’s mind, she clenched her hand fiercely until the blue veins on the back of her hand began appearing one after another one.

She really wanted to skin Samantha and drain the latter’s blood.

Penelope stared at Samantha resentfully, then grabbed the wine bottle and drank straight from it.

…

Rochelle listened to everything Samantha said and was just as confused as Samantha about the feelings Samantha had for Timothy.

Her relationship with Jonathan was much simpler—she hated Jonathan and Jonathan wanted her dead. It was simple and easy.

However, Rochelle could clearly see that Samantha’s biggest concern was her incomprehension of Timothy’s thoughts. In other words, Samantha did not dare to try and test the waters again.

As the saying went, once bitten, twice shy.

Therefore, the solution to solving their problem could not be any simpler.

All it took to settle the matter was for Timothy and Samantha to sit down together, be frank with their questions and answers, and make things infinitely clear to each other.

Rochelle touched her chin and narrowed her eyes in thought.

She curled her lips into a smile. From the looks of it, Rochelle had to get Samantha drunk again and unleash that Dutch courage. She previously gave Timothy a scolding only because she had drunk a lot the last time around.

It would be good to get Samantha drunk and let her say what was in her heart.

Rochelle snapped her fingers to call the bartender. “Hey, can we get something a little stronger?”

Samantha’s tolerance to alcohol was pretty decent, having developed it during her stint at a bar when she was abroad. Nevertheless, she still had a long way to catch up to Rochelle.

She was already feeling a little tipsy but Rochelle suffered only from a reddened face. There was no reaction at all from Rochelle even though her vision was already starting to blur.

Samantha could not take it any longer and said, “I’m going to have to use the bathroom, Chelle.”

“Do you need my help to get there?”

“No, it’s fine. I can still walk.”

Samantha got out of the chair and felt her feet turn light as she walked to the restroom on the other side of the corridor.

Rochelle rested her chin on her palm and stared at Samantha’s figure until it turned into the corridor and disappeared. Her gaze then shifted to Samantha’s cell phone on top of the bar counter.

…

Penelope was getting dizzy and she started seeing stars after finishing the entire bottle of wine.

She nevertheless shouted at the bartender, “Gimme more wine!”

The bartender looked at her with disdain. “We don’t take credit here, Ms. Schmidt. You have to pay up first if you want more drinks!”

She had been coming almost daily, and although she always paid for her drinks when she started drinking, she refused to pay the bill whenever she got crazy drunk. The manager initially waived her bill a couple of times after seeing who she was, but when he was finally at the end of his patience, he told the bartender not to give her any drinks if she did not pay up.

Penelope did not seem to have heard him. “Are you deaf? I told you to give me another bottle, didn’t I?”

‘Here we go again…’

The bartender was not at all surprised. He could not be bothered to entertain her and merely said coldly, “You should leave, Ms. Schmidt, or else I’ll call security.”

Something seemed to finally click in Penelope’s mind and she no longer dared to say a single word.

She had been thrown out the previous day and was ridiculed by everyone at the entrance.

Penelope could still remember how a bald and wretched-looking man asked her to spend a night with him in exchange for a hundred bucks.

She had reached a point where any Tom, Dick, or Harry could humiliate her!

Penelope got up and staggered as she headed for the exit. As soon as she reached the door, there was a notification on her cell phone.

She took her phone out and saw a text from an unfamiliar number.

When she clicked in, it contained only an image and had no text.

The image depicted an extremely beautiful church. Inside the church stood a handsome groom with his beautiful bride. The groom was embracing the bride in his arms while giving her a passionate kiss.

The groom and bride were none other than Timothy and Samantha.

She stared at the photo without blinking and her gaze could practically burn a hole through the phone.

Penelope felt that she was supposed to be in Samantha’s shoes! She ought to have been the one wearing the wedding dress, getting married to Timothy, and kissing Timothy…

Hearing Samantha talk about the wedding was much less of a blow than seeing the image. Penelope’s eyes turned red in a flash.

Everything would be different if Samantha was not around. Sheena would still be Penelope’s dog, Violet would still be the haughty Mrs. Schmidt, and Penelope would remain as the Schmidts’ darling daughter. Above all, she would be the one that Timothy loved!

Samantha just had to disappear.

All of Penelope’s nightmares would disappear if Samantha disappeared.

Madness gradually appeared in Penelope’s eyes. She chuckled, then turned around and walked determinedly into the bar.

As she passed by a table, she grabbed an empty wine bottle and smashed the bottom off with a bang. She then walked toward the bathroom.

During that moment, a woman who was sitting elegantly in an inconspicuous corner placed her phone back on the table. She picked up the tumbler glass and took a sip from it.

After watching Penelope disappear past the corridor, she took out some money from her purse, placed it under the glass, then got up and walked away in her high heels.

…

Samantha cupped some cold water and washed her face to get rid of her drunkenness.

When Rochelle mixed two kinds of spirit for Samantha to drink in one go, the alcohol went straight to her head and there was no way to keep it under control.

Judging from the situation, she could not hold on anymore and had to go back and sleep.

Samantha turned off the faucet, took a paper towel, then wiped her face dry before walking slowly out of the bathroom.

Barely two steps later, she saw someone storming toward her in a rage.

The light inside the bar was just too dim and it was difficult to get a clear look at the person because her vision was blurry too. It was not until the person was a few steps away from her that the light above shone on the person’s face and revealed them to be…Penelope.

Penelope had a fierce look in her eyes, which seemed to be oozing with malicious intent. She rushed to Samantha, raised her hand all of a sudden, and thrust the broken glass bottle toward Samantha’s body.

Under normal circumstances, Samantha was not at all afraid of Penelope and could avoid the attack with ease. Unfortunately, she had drunk too much that day, so her reflexes slowed down tremendously because her mind was not working as quickly.

She could only manage to dodge it by turning her body slightly to one side. Although Penelope was not able to stab her in the stomach, the glass still grazed against her arm and drew blood in an instant.

The smell and sight of blood seemed to stimulate Penelope even more. The look in her eyes became even more terrifying and she grabbed Samantha’s arm with an unusual amount of strength.

Samantha was unsure whether she was unable to escape the grasp due to her drunkenness or because Penelope was using too much strength, but that grip left Samantha unable to move a single inch.

Penelope cackled maliciously. “Go to hell, Samantha!”

As soon as Penelope made that remark, she raised her hand and ruthlessly thrust the broken bottle toward Samantha’s heart!