Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Rochelle massaged her temples.

After giving it a bit of thought, she picked up the phone and decided to just give Jonathan a call.

Jonathan always answered her calls within seconds, but on that occasion, she was surprised to hear only a message from the service provider. ‘The number you have dialed is unavailable.’

Rochelle sniggered angrily and smashed the phone forcefully on the table.

Jonathan would rather take two knives to his stomach for the sake of his close friends than answer his own wife’s calls.

It appeared that Timothy really was close with Harmony!

…

Samantha had recently been cooped up at the villa to study and practice. On the other hand, Timothy had never come back since leaving that morning. Both he and Samantha were busy, so the two of them only exchanged a couple of words on WeTalk.

On that day, Samantha went to the television station for a promotional photoshoot. She also got the chance to meet some of the other contestants while she was at it.

After having breakfast in the morning, Old Madam Barker made a point to watch her as she put on the clothes that Timothy once bought for her before. The old lady ensured that Samantha dressed up well before letting her leave.

Samantha got in the car and could not contain her smile when she saw Old Madam Barker standing at the door to cheer her on with Aunt Julia.

As the car gradually drove off, Samantha took out her cell phone but saw no messages or calls from Timothy.

He had always paid attention to everything related to the competition, so he ought to know that she was going to start the competition process that day. Why was there no indication from him at all?

Was the workload too overwhelming for him?

About an hour later, the car stopped in front of the Lychee TV’s headquarters. Samantha got out of the car and stood there as she raised her head to look at the humongous logo at the entrance.

That was the dream place for anyone who studied communications.

She loved watching anchors on television ever since she was a child. Whenever the news was on, she sat still on the sofa and watched intently. It was a career she had always longed to have.

At long last, she was finally taking steps to achieve her lifelong dream!

She had to admit that there were some waves of emotion in her heart.

After taking a deep breath, Samantha finally started walking. She ascended up the flight of stairs and finally entered Lychee TV’s hallway.

The walls were filled with portraits of famous Lychee TV anchors. Each one of them were talented, ethical, and professional individuals—they were her precursors who deserved to be held in high esteem.

She glanced across them one after another until her gaze finally lingered for some time in front of one particular female anchor. Samantha could not hide her admiration and reverence.

Victoria Goldman was one of the A-list anchors in the country. She carried herself with dignity, possessed amazing talent, and had a strong sense of professionalism. Her achievements were impressive and she was well-loved amongst audiences, lending her a high degree of influence.

Samantha practically grew up watching Victoria’s broadcasts and viewed her as an idol. During Samantha’s study years, she frequently modeled herself after Victoria because she wanted to achieve great things and become just as excellent an anchor as Victoria.

A large part of Samantha’s reason for wanting to join Lychee TV was because Victoria was there.

She knew that all established anchors would take newbie anchors under their wing, and their choice of an understudy would come from the batch of newcomers.

Samantha was certainly hoping to get that opportunity!

“Do you admire Ms. Goldman too?” A gentle voice sounded suddenly beside Samantha.

Samantha knew it was Harmony as soon as she heard the voice. After shifting her gaze from the photo to the woman, Samantha smiled and said, “Is she also your idol?”

Harmony’s presence there came as no surprise because Samantha knew she had passed the interview after seeing her name on the list.

“Yes.” Harmony tucked a lock of hair behind her ears to reveal the delicate features of her face. “Our interests and hobbies are quite similar. We both like the news and our idols are Ms. Goldman too.”

Samantha opened her mouth to reply but caught a whiff of a very familiar scent.

She froze for a moment and inhaled once more to make sure that she did not identify the fragrance wrongly. It was only then that a look of surprise began to appear in her eyes.

The scent on Timothy’s clothes was inexplicably familiar, but Samantha could not put her finger on it at the time. It turned out that she had once smelled it on Harmony.

Could the two of them have used a fragrance from the same line? That would be too much of a coincidence.

When she saw the slight tenseness in Samantha’s eyebrows, Harmony seemed puzzled as she asked, “What’s the matter, Samantha? Are you alright?”

Her words drew Samantha’s consciousness back. She pursed her lips lightly and decided to go ahead with her question after a brief moment of hesitation. “I’m fine. It’s just… Your perfume smells really good. It has a very unique scent to it. I’m curious what brand it is?”

“Really?” Harmony raised her wrist and caused the scent to float in the air again. She said softly, “This perfume is a formula I created. It’s not from any big brands. You could say it’s one of a kind. I can always make a batch for you if you like.”

A one-of-a-kind perfume.

In other words, it was not a perfume that anyone could buy from the store.

Why then…did Samantha smell it on Timothy’s clothes?

Although the expression on Samantha’s face remained steadfast, there were already some waves of emotion in her heart.

She gently took a deep breath and calmed her emotions before replying with a smile, “You don’t have to trouble yourself. I was just curious. I don’t really wear perfume anyway.”

Harmony did not insist and no longer continued that topic. She merely said, “It’s almost time. Let’s head up together.”

“Sure.”

…

For the promotional photoshoot, each contestant had to take one portrait shot and finally all the contestants would take a group photo. During the shoot, Harmony walked to Samantha and stood beside her.

A click of the camera sealed that moment into a photograph.

The person in charge of the competition, Walter Schuck, clapped his hands and said to everyone, “The photoshoot has concluded! From now on, you’ll have to survive the competition. I’ll add all of you to a chat group on WeTalk and you can then add each other from there. Time to start familiarizing yourselves with your fellow contestants.”

Everyone replied in unison, “Alright, Mr. Schuck.”

The contestants then left.

Samantha had already gotten into a taxi when she heard a notification from her cell phone. She clicked on WeTalk and saw that Walter had added her into the chat group.

Everyone greeted each other in the group, and Samantha was about to send an emoji to say hello when saw a little pink bunny icon in her contacts.

One of the contestants had probably added her on WeTalk, so she tapped her finger on the profile photo.

The message authentication stated Harmony’s name.

Harmony had already added her as a friend before even showing up in the group. Samantha cocked her eyebrow slightly and accepted the request.

A chat with Harmony popped up at once, indicating that they were friends on WeTalk.

The contestants then added her one after another, and Samantha accepted all the requests. Once she had accepted all of them, she clicked on each one and annotated their names to their WeTalk profile so as not to accidentally embarrass herself by forgetting who was who.

Harmony’s name was at the bottommost because she was the first to add her as a friend. Samantha added the person’s name to their profile, starting from the top. When she was finally about to add the annotation to Harmony’s profile, her black pupils shrank as soon as she saw Harmony’s WeTalk nickname.

That nickname was….