Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Selby’s gaze fell upon Harmony’s face and he frowned. Rather than accepting the handshake, he asked in confusion, “You?”

The smile on Harmony’s face froze briefly but she composed herself at once and tried her best to say calmly, “What do you mean by that, Professor Cornell? Didn’t you say that you allowed one of Lychee TV’s anchors to come and do an interview with you?”

“Indeed, I did.” Selby did not deny it. “But the person I want to do an exclusive interview with is Lychee TV’s Samantha Larsson, not you.”

Although Harmony was already starting to feel uneasy, her heart nearly stopped beating when she heard the name ‘Samantha Larsson’.

Why was Samantha everywhere?

Harmony did her best to keep smiling and said, “You must be mistaken, Professor Cornell. I was the one who came to meet you and discuss this in detail. Wasn’t I the one who managed to convince you of my sincerity?”

She had asked ‘his’ people to arrange the dinner between her and Selby, and although the professor only gave her ten minutes, her conversation with him had been quite pleasant. He did not give her an immediate answer, but the statement he posted early Monday morning could be construed as his answer to her.

Why would the professor mention Samantha’s name when Harmony had put in the effort?

Selby frowned even more but his tone was still very mild, “Ms. Johnson, you are the one who’s mistaken. I wasn’t moved by you. I was moved by Samantha. That is why I want her to do the interview. I have every confidence that she would conduct it in a fair and impartial manner, with the intention of presenting the truth as it is to the audience.”

Harmony could not stand hearing other people compliment Samantha, especially when Samantha had taken the limelight away from her.

Her expression sank instantly. She bit her lip and her tone became frigid. “Professor Cornell, when you say you were moved by her, are you referring to…the time she helped you escape the horde of reporters? If I’m being honest, she only did so to deliberately try and win your favor.”

There was a conflicted look in Harmony’s eyes, as if even she could not bring herself to tell him what she wanted to say. She continued in a low voice after struggling for a few seconds. “Professor Cornell, you’re a good person. I… I think it’s best that I remind you that Samantha doesn’t have a good reputation at our company. She treats everyone as though they’re beneath her just because of her status as Mrs. Barker, and she doesn’t do her work seriously at all. She simply wants to use this news about you to glorify herself. You should think twice before agreeing.”

Once she was done speaking, a ruthless, crafty expression appeared in the depths of her eyes when she saw Selby pull a long face.

Harmony was not going to let go of the opportunity before her.

Besides, she would never give way to Samantha without a fight!

She took a deep breath with the intention of continuing her efforts. But, before she could speak, she heard a cold remark from Selby, “Please leave, Ms. Johnson!”

Harmony thought she had misheard him and blinked. “What?”

Selby seemed fed up talking nonsense with her and shouted at the door, “Send this woman away!”

The assistant, who had been waiting outside the door, pushed the door open and walked in. “Kindly leave, Ms. Johnson.”

Harmony’s eyes widened in disbelief. Selby ought to have been angry at Samantha, rather than asking Harmony to leave.

Harmony started to wonder whether she had said something wrong.

Reluctant to leave just like that, she looked at the professor and hurriedly said, “Professor Cornell, why are you showing me the door? I was just giving you a friendly reminder…”

Selby wanted to spare her the humiliation at first and hardly expected her to be so insistent on pestering him. He decided to just be direct with her, “First of all, Ms. Johnson, it’s basic courtesy to not talk about others behind their back, more so when Ms. Larsson is your own colleague.”

“Secondly, you seem to have grossly looked down on both myself and Ms. Larsson. I didn’t agree to let her interview me because she helped me out; I agreed because she used the proper channels to approach me. She wrote a five-thousand-word email inviting me to do an interview. It was her sincerity and words that moved me. An anchor who can convey such warmth with her words confirms that she has a genuinely warm and honest character.”

“You said a lot of things when you had dinner with me, but your words were no different from what other reporters have said to me. People like you focus only on the sensational, not on facts and truth. Why should I choose you?”

Selby truly lived up to his name as a man who immersed himself in the academic world for many years. His words were sensible and well-founded, but to Harmony’s ears, it was as if the man was harshly reprimanding her.

He seemed to be chastising her ignorance and character.

Harmony clenched her hands tightly as anger filled her eyes. Being the proud person that she was, she found it unbearable to hear such remarks, although those remarks did not seem to have stopped her from insinuating, “I guess I was wrong, Professor Cornell. You look down on my kindness because you have a good relationship with the Barkers. Samantha is Mrs. Barker after all, and it’s only natural for you to trust her more.”

Selby had been instilled with etiquette and teachings befitting of a gentleman since he was young. He never engaged in a war of words when he took offense and frequently deferred to reason.

However, reason was useless when encountering a shrew who could only feign stupidity…

Selby stared right at Harmony with a clear and upright expression. He emphasized himself when he said, “You don’t seem to understand my choice. Not to worry, I can be blunt with you. The reason I chose Ms. Larsson isn’t because she is Mrs. Barker. Far from it actually. She didn’t use her status as Mrs. Barker. She came to me as an anchor who put in hard work to pursue the truth.”

“As for you, I didn’t choose you because you disgust me.”

‘You disgust me…’

Harmony’s face turned pale as she trembled in anger. “You…”

The assistant saw what happened and spoke more assertively, “Please leave, Ms. Johnson, or I’ll have to call security if you don’t.”

Harmony glared at the assistant fiercely before doing the same to Selby. Her chest rose and fell sharply a few times and she finally lifted her feet to leave.

…

Inside Carl’s office at Lychee TV, Harmony stood there with reddened eyes. She then told him exaggeratedly how Selby refused her, humiliated her, and only wanted Samantha to do the interview.

Carl’s facial expression seemed to have gone through the entire color wheel, with various emotions appearing in quick succession.

He slammed the table and muttered angrily, “Utterly… Utterly…”

Tears were forming at the corners of Harmony’s eyes but she was snickering ruthlessly to herself. If she could not get that interview, Samantha should not even think about getting it. She would rather no one get the chance to do a feature on the news than let it go to Samantha.

Carl was strongly opposed to Samantha too, so she was sure that her words would make him even angrier at Samantha.

When the time came for Carl to take action against Samantha, Harmony hoped to just sit and enjoy the show.

After all, smart people only needed to use their brains, and it would be such a waste not to use the pawn that was right in front of her!