Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

‘It’s already too late…’

Samantha picked up on the meaning of his words and a thought suddenly occurred to her. She immediately took her cell phone out and clicked on Waybo.

The hashtag #ProfessorCornellapology had climbed to the top of the trending searches.

Her fingers trembled slightly as she clicked on it.

The most viewed post was by Selby. It had been uploaded 30 minutes ago, which was seconds before Selby opened the door for her.

He had recorded a video of himself.

Selby faced the camera and admitted to all the allegations against him that had been making its rounds on the internet, including the past harassment of his female student as well as the most recent accusation. He apologized to the public, to the female student from the past, and to Linda. He also expressed his remorse to Lychee TV and Samantha. Finally, he stated that he would bear all of Linda’s medical expenses and would willingly accept his punishment if Linda wanted to sue him.

Sure enough, he took all the blame himself even though he had done nothing wrong.

When Selby saw Samantha watching the video, he bowed deeply at her again and said painfully, “I’m really sorry, Ms. Larsson. This is my only choice…”

His only choice was to protect the person he loved, and in doing so, he had to betray her trust.

After saying that, he strained to climb up the stairs.

Samantha clenched her phone tightly and watched as Selby’s figure drifted away.

She did not bother to go up and stop him because she knew that there was nothing she could say or do that would change Selby’s mind.

…

Inside a large conference room at Emsteldt, a horde of media reporters had gathered and were pointing their camera lenses toward the stage.

Timothy was sitting at a long conference table with Michael Holt, CEO of EIA Group. Both men were in the midst of inking their cooperation contract.

They each signed and stamped their own copy of the agreement.

Once that was done, the agreements were handed over to their respective assistants for safekeeping. Timothy and Michael stood up, smiled and shook each other’s hands.

The camera shutters clicked away as the important moment was recorded.

The strategic cooperation plan established by Barker Group and EIA Group would further propel a historic development of those two business entities, thus cementing their interests on an even larger scale within the business world.

Michael was almost 60 years old, yet he was still a very spirited man and had high hopes for Timothy.

Companies in Emsteldt have approached him and expressed interest in cooperating with his company, but Timothy—as a potential business partner—stood out the most even though he had only interacted with him for the shortest time compared to all the other people.

Timothy lived up to his name as the country’s fastest growing tycoon.

He was a very capable man despite his young age, but Michael never felt the wide age gap between them. There were even times when Timothy was more thorough and mature in terms of thinking.

The newer generation was already surpassing the older one.

Once the contract signing ceremony was over, Michael personally walked to Timothy and warmly offered him an invite, “You must attend tonight’s celebration dinner, Mr. Barker. I insist. I’m looking forward to having a good chat with you, since we didn’t get the chance to do so the last time around.”

Timothy had ended his trip in a hurry when he previously came to survey things, and it was only because of his formidable ability that Michael even considered cooperating with him.

Timothy smiled and opened his mouth to speak, but he caught a glimpse of Ronald’s anxious and fidgety expression from the corner of his eyes.

He changed his tone and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Holt. I have to answer an urgent call.”

Michael gestured politely to Timothy, as if to tell him, ‘Please go ahead.’

Timothy raised his chin towards Ronald, who immediately understood and followed him aside.

He asked bluntly, “Tell me what happened.”

Ronald was unsurprised at Timothy’s reaction, although he could not help himself from letting out a sigh. He lowered his voice and leaned towards Timothy’s ears to inform the latter of what had happened to Samantha back home.

The man frowned and immediately ordered, “Get tickets for the first flight home.”

Ronald hesitated and glanced awkwardly at Michael. “Mr. Barker, wouldn’t it be…impolite of us to just leave Mr. Holt hanging again?”

After a pause, he suggested, “Maybe…we could wait till evening so you can at least attend the celebration dinner before leaving?”

The Barker Group faced stiff competition that time around, yet Michael stood firm on his rather unconventional course when he chose the Barker Group. More accurately though, Michael had chosen Timothy.

Timothy did not say a single word but merely glanced coldly at Ronald.

Ronald’s heart skipped a beat and understood it right away.

His boss could not wait even a second longer.

He nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll book the plane tickets now, Mr. Barker.”

Michael was in the midst of telling his assistant to head to his winery and get the wine he treasured most so he could treat Timothy to a drink later that evening. When he saw Timothy walking back to him, he smiled and was about to speak.

Timothy, however, spoke ahead of him and said, “My deepest apologies, Mr. Holt. I have an immediate emergency that requires me to return to my country. Let’s have that dinner again some other time.”

Michael’s smile disappeared and he was clearly unhappy.

Timothy nodded apologetically, but then turned around and immediately strode off.

Ronald could only apologize once more and said, “I’m really sorry, Mr. Holt.”

He then turned around and caught up to Timothy.

Michael’s expression had soured completely as he turned to his assistant to ask, “What emergency could Mr. Barker have that made him that anxious to fly home?”

That was already the second time something similar had happened.

It was quite unbecoming of an important business partner.

His assistant had been in charge of investigating the background of Michael’s partners, so it was only natural for him to pay attention to Timothy’s affairs. He thought for a while and said, “If I’m not mistaken, Mr. Barker’s wife might have run into some trouble in the country. It’s pretty serious, apparently.”

“What trouble?” Michael’s expression darkened. “Tell me the full details.”

The assistant began, “Well, it all started when…”

…

Samantha walked out of Selby’s residence and heard a muffled sound on the other side of the door behind her.

On Selby’s end, there was nothing she could do to exonerate herself.

Furthermore, the attacks were concentrated on Lychee TV and herself after Selby came forth to apologize and bear the responsibility.

After watching Selby’s apology video, she glanced at the comments on her Waybo profile and saw many horrible remarks.

The sight of it could give anyone a heart attack.

If her guess was right, then Lychee TV would soon issue their own statement to apologize and punish her.

In the end, the blame would all fall squarely on her alone.

She would become the perfect scapegoat.

Since she was at a villa area with no taxis nearby, the ride request Samantha made through the ride-hailing app was accepted only after she offered a little extra money.

Her ride finally arrived after she waited for almost 20 minutes.

Samantha opened the car door and sat in, but the driver was slow to start driving. She could not help but look up at him and ask, “What’s wrong?”

To her surprise, the driver turned around abruptly and stared angrily at her.

The atmosphere inside the vehicle suddenly became tense.

Samantha clenched her hand unconsciously while keeping a calm face.. “May I ask what’s going on?”