Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Victoria finally raised her gaze and looked at Harmony. She seemed to finally remember who Harmony was and said insipidly, “Harmony…the one who won the competition but was disqualified due to the unfair advantage gained by robbing someone else’s results. I remember now.”

She spoke in such a succinct and articulate manner that it sounded as though she was making a news report.

Everyone there fell silent at once, but they were soon unable to stop themselves from laughing secretly.

Victoria was notorious for her grudges and scornfulness, traits which everyone saw first-hand just moments ago.

Harmony was asking for it. She insisted on flaunting in front of Victoria and ended up getting severely humiliated.

All sorts of emotions appeared on Harmony’s face as she went from one expression to the other, all of which were extremely ugly.

Her eyes turned red all of a sudden as she adamantly opened her mouth to try and explain herself, “Ms. Goldman, there’s been a misunderstanding about—”

Victoria shot her a cold glare and did not buy that excuse at all. She remarked scathingly, “Since you ended up here at Lychee TV, it’d be best to set your mind on the right path and work hard. Get rid of all those disruptive thoughts.”

She did not even give Harmony a second glance before leaving after making that remark.

Harmony stood rooted to the ground. She clenched her fists tightly when she saw everyone’s mocking gaze and heard everyone’s ridicule.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted Samantha smiling at one side, causing her anger and resentment to shoot through the roof.

Neither Samantha nor Victoria should be let off for what they did.

The day would come when she would step on all of them and stomp them to death!

“Why are you all standing around? Don’t you need to work?”

Suddenly, a voice came from the hall, drawing the attention away from Harmony and to the source of the voice. When everyone saw that it was the head of the anchor department, everyone immediately shelved their nosiness and slinked back to their desks to continue working.

The department head walked over and looked at Samantha, then at Harmony, asking, “Are you two the new anchors?”

Samantha recognized that the department head was her immediate superior. She had gone through the list of personnel in the anchor department and committed each of them to memory.

She stepped forward and introduced herself, “Hello, Mr. Lewin. I’m the new anchor, Samantha.”

Harmony adjusted her emotions and forced out a smile, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Lewin. My name is Harmony, I’m new as well.”

Carl Lewin, the department head, nodded and said, “Put your bags down and come in for a meeting.”

He turned his head and said to two other anchors who were at their desks, “You two, come along as well.”

They responded in unison, “Okay.”

…

In the conference room, Carl sat on the main seat while the other more experienced anchors sat on his left and right respectively. Samantha chose to sit second from left while Harmony sat opposite her.

Carl asked, “You all know each other, don’t you?”

The four of them nodded.

“Good. Let’s not waste any more time then.”

Carl picked up a small remote control and pressed a button. The screen in the conference room lit up and a piece of news was shown on it.

Samantha and the others looked over.

Everyone was well aware of the news being shown on screen. It was the hottest news at the moment, involving the only son of the wealthy Cornells—Selby Cornell. He was a famous university professor and physicist who was accused of sexually assaulting his student Ms. Willoughby.

The student made the accusation two days ago on Waybo and the professor responded by calling it slander. The university had also asserted that the professor was someone of good moral standing and would never do something like that.

The news spread like wildfire and shot to the top of the trending news category. Netizens each had something to say about the matter and the entire situation was a complete mess.

Carl waited for them to digest everything before saying, “This news has garnered widespread attention but the truth is still unknown. All major media companies are investigating with urgency and our TV station is no exception.

“Your task—all four of you—is to dig into this. Whoever finds the most information and prepares the best press release will eventually be given the chance to report this.”

As soon as he said that, the eyes of all four anchors lit up slightly.

The news involved points of interest that included, but were not limited to: a wealthy family, a teacher against a student, a student against a university, accusations galore, and the question of professional ethics. If either of the anchors could uncover the truth and report about it, they stood a chance of making a name for themselves through that one broadcast alone.

It was something any anchor would want to fight for.

After a pause, Carl dropped another bombshell. “Ms. Goldman came over earlier to inform me of her desire to select a successor. Anyone who earns the chance to report this news would certainly make a big impression on her. All the best, everyone.”

The answer was unanimous. “Understood.”

Samantha walked out of the conference room. When she returned to her work station, all she could think about was that news.

She came to Lychee TV to realize her dreams and ambitions. It was hard for her to control her excitement after welcoming her first challenge.

Furthermore, she stood a chance of becoming Victoria’s apprentice if she could seize the chance to report that news. It was something she really hoped to achieve.

Samantha was determined to do her best and seize the opportunity.

Harmony went back to her work station and sat down as well. Since her seat was just beside Samantha, she could see Samantha’s confident expression and found it to be particularly annoying and disgusting.

Her gaze unconsciously shifted to the insulated lunch box Samantha placed on the table. Once she remembered that it contained the loving breakfast that Timothy made for Samantha, she could not control herself from gnashing her teeth and wanted nothing more than to smash that lunch box on the floor.

All of a sudden, Harmony’s phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID. After her initial shock, she focused her gaze and held the phone, making sure to cover the screen before getting up and walking out of the office lobby.

Harmony walked all the way to the stairwell and answered only after making doubly sure that no one was around. Her voice took on a respectful tone as she greeted, “Hello.”

A male voice was heard on the other end of the line. “You’ve been back for some time now but you still haven’t made any progress in your task. ‘He’ is very disappointed in you.”

After a pause, the man asked in a questioning voice, “Does Timothy still have his heart set on you? Or does he not?”

Harmony replied without hesitation, “Tim has his heart set on me of course. Don’t worry about it. There’s no need to doubt that!

“It’s just…” Harmony hesitated and there was a stark iciness in her eyes. “…I underestimated Samantha. She’s a master schemer and has all sorts of tricks up her sleeve, plus she knows how to get on Old Madam Barker’s good side. You know that Tim is a very filial man. He treats Samantha well for Old Madam Barker’s sake and—”

“The root of all this is because you couldn’t handle things properly!” She was interrupted by the other person before she could finish her words. 

The remark left her feeling aggrieved and somewhat angry, but she endured it patiently after remembering how she still needed to rely on the other party’s power.

Harmony quelled her anger before continuing on in a calm voice..