Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Hey Handsome, do you have time to spare tomorrow night?”

She placed her hands gently on her cheek and stared at him with her beautiful jet-black eyes. It was as though there was an entire galaxy contained within those eyes.

Before the working day ended, Carl had sent her an internal email to inform her that the news would be broadcasted at eight o’clock prime time the following night. She had to be fully prepared by then.

That was the reason she had worked overtime—she wanted to finish the manuscript and send it to Carl.

That way, Carl could check it the next morning. If he pointed out any issues with it, she could amend it in due time and finalize the draft before noon. She could also spare some time at noon to read and recite the news to ensure that the broadcast would go without a hitch.

Although she had presented news reports during the competition, the significance of actually presenting it to a national audience was far greater.

She had most certainly hoped that Timothy would be able to watch her at such an important moment.

Timothy glanced at her from beside and asked lazily, “Tomorrow night? I’d probably be signing a contract in Emsteldt by then.”

‘Signing a contract in Emsteldt…’

Samantha sat straight all of a sudden and sounded somewhat surprised. “Have you finally managed to procure that huge project you were talking about, Timothy?”

It was the same important project that Timothy had been busy handling for almost half a year, which formed the key focus of the Barker Group that year.

“Yes. The contract will be officially signed tomorrow.”

Samantha did not dabble in the business world but had some knowledge of its goings-on even though she had never been directly involved with anything. Inking that contract would mean that the Barker Group had finally opened up to the foreign market. It was a significant achievement, and the contract was one of immense value.

Timothy had already expanded the Barker Group’s territory to such lengths despite having taken over the company for only a few years. That in itself warranted his inclusion amongst the business world’s new generation of giants.

That day turned out to be a double shot of happiness due to her own achievements and that of Timothy’s.

It was no surprise that Timothy came over to pick her up that evening. He probably wanted to share that momentous news with her as soon as possible and wanted to spend some time with her because he would soon be going on another business trip.

Samantha was both excited and proud of him. “You’re amazing, Timothy!”

She enthusiastically gave him two thumbs up. “As expected of my husband!”

The red light came on and Timothy braked. He lowered his dark eyes on her and could not help but tease her when he saw her smug face, “Are you complimenting me or yourself?”

Samantha raised her chin proudly. “Complimenting you is a compliment to me too! Can’t I be proud of the fact that I have such an outstanding husband because of my good judgment?”

Her judgement was so good that she grabbed him during the one-year-old catch game on her first birthday.

Timothy looked at her triumphant expression and a profound tenderness immediately appeared in his eyes. His long fingers tickled her chin in an affectionate manner, as if he was playing with a cat. “You can be as proud as you like.”

Samantha did not avoid his gesture and even continued rubbing intimately against his palm.

Timothy pulled his hand back without hesitation and spoke in a semi-hoarse voice. “Be patient. You can do whatever you want with me once we’re home.”

“It isn’t safe to do that kind of stuff on the main road. There are safety hazards everywhere.”

Samantha’s loving thoughts disappeared in an instant. She felt like taking a needle to his lips and sewing them shut.

Timothy was the most handsome and sexy man when he kept his mouth shut.

The light turned green and Timothy continued driving.

He then remembered her question earlier and asked her in return, “Is there something going on tomorrow night?”

“Ah…”

Since time was of the essence whenever it came to breaking news, the broadcast was slotted in at the last minute and there was no time for them to make announcements and notify the public.

Samantha originally wanted to invite him to watch the news as it came on, but he had to sign a very important contract at the same time. Although she felt somewhat regretful, she did not want him to neglect such a major event.

It was not really that big of a deal anyway. He could always watch the repeat once he was done with the contract.

Samantha immediately held back her expression and shook her head with a smile. “Nah, I was just asking. I thought maybe you could come home to a dinner that I personally cooked for you if you have nothing going on tomorrow night.”

“But it’s fine. We’ll just do it after you sign the contract. I’ll cook you a nice dinner for your glorious return. It’ll be a celebratory dinner!”

The happiness in Timothy’s eyes increased even more. “Alright, I’ll be looking forward to it.”

The next day, Samantha woke up an hour early after setting her alarm the night before. She got up to send Timothy off, and Timothy smiled dotingly when he saw her droopy eyelids. “I told you to continue sleeping. You don’t have to send me off.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll continue sleeping once I send you off.” Samantha opened her eyes as widely as she could.

She was actually a little bit reluctant to see Timothy go, and her clinginess stemmed from the little bit of regret she had because he was unable to watch her during an important moment of hers.

Timothy rubbed her head and lowered his face to kiss her on the lips. “I’m leaving. Go back to sleep.”

“I’ll go once you leave.”

Timothy smiled but did not turn around to get into the car. Rather, he asked, “Are you going back to bed by yourself or shall I carry you back to sleep?”

Samantha was speechless. Her red lips trembled slightly and she whispered, “So bossy! Fine, I’ll go back to bed. Be safe on the road.”

Samantha turned around one step at a time and went back into the villa.

Once she disappeared behind the door, Timothy stood there for about ten seconds before bending over and getting into the car. He said to Ronald in the front, “You can start driving.”

…

At ten in the morning, Samantha walked into Lychee TV and went to her workstation.

She opened her inbox right away but saw no replies from Carl just yet. Then again, she had just clocked in for work. All she could do was wait, because even though she had worked overtime, she could not possibly expect the others to do the same.

Samantha had been sitting idly for less than five minutes when Annabelle walked over and said to her, “Ms. Larsson, the general manager wanted me to call you over to studio one. He wants you to walk you through the process and you to familiarize yourself with it.”

Samantha nodded. “Sure, I’ll head there now.”

Since it was her very first time reporting on television, it was necessary for her to go through the motions in advance so as to avoid any untoward incidents during the broadcast.

Samantha took the elevator down to studio number one.

There were two groups of people inside. One was in charge of Samantha while the other was responsible for the other anchors. Each side insisted that they had reserved the time slot and were arguing with each other because neither refused to give in.

The director’s assistant told Samantha to take a break at one side and let the others settle things before going through the process.

Samantha had no right to intervene when it came to matters involving other departments, so she waited patiently on one side. While waiting, she refreshed her inbox from time to time to see if Carl had replied.

The two sides continued to argue for more than an hour with nothing to show for it, and Samantha frowned because her time had been wasted just like that.

Fortunately, Carl had finally replied to her email. Samantha opened it, read through it quickly, and spotted several minor changes.

She decided to make use of her time in order to go over it in more detail and memorize it, but the director’s assistant called her as soon as she scanned through it. “We can start now, Ms. Larsson.”

Samantha decided to put her phone away and walk over.

She had to go through the process for several hours before it finally ended. She did not even have time to catch her breath, as she was immediately whisked away once more. After she was given some instructions and told to watch out for certain things, it was time for her to put on makeup and change her clothes.

She had to eat while putting on makeup and only managed a couple of quick bites.

It was already five minutes to eight by the time she had finished everything, and Samantha had to sit on the studio desk to make the final preparations and camera adjustments.

Although there were only a few minutes left, it was more than enough time for her to memorize the manuscript. Besides, she did not have to worry about forgetting anything because she could always sneak a peek at the manuscript in the middle of the broadcast.

Since cell phones were not allowed in the studio, someone had already typed out the manuscript in advance and put it on the table. She glanced at it and her expression changed immediately from the third line onward.

Only the initial part of the manuscript was comprehensible: the remainder was a complete mess of jumbled-up words!

It was obvious that someone had maliciously replaced her manuscript.

She had to change it right away!

Samantha opened her mouth and was about to speak, but the director had already raised his hand and yelled at Samantha, “We’re going live in, three, two, one!”

As soon as the count ended, the camera lens was aimed at Samantha. Everything switched on and the live broadcast began..