Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After a pause, Michael added in a more imperative tone, “When I say ‘sever ties’, I mean it in the literal sense of the words. You, Mr. Barker, will have to formally announce your divorce from Samantha and no longer associate yourself with her anymore. That is the only way for you to completely cut yourself free of her influence!”

‘Divorce…’

Samantha heard that word clearly as she clenched her phone unconsciously.

It turned out that Timothy had left early that morning because he had to attend an emergency meeting at the Barker Group. The person who had been speaking all along was probably Michael Holt, the CEO of the EIA Group.

Since the Barker Group and the EIA Group were important business partners, both Timothy and Barker Group had to hold themselves accountable to the EIA Group.

…

Inside the conference room at the Barker Group, the directors’ discussions centered around condemning Samantha.

“I really can’t wrap my head around why Mr. Barker would fall in love with this scandal-ridden woman. It’s one thing after another with her!”

“I agree. Since she’s already married to him, she ought to have stayed home to take care of the house rather than try to make a name for herself. As if the trouble she stirred up wasn’t bad enough, she just had to involve others too. She’s the kind of wife that will bring generations upon generations of bad luck!”

One of them even said directly to Timothy, “Mr. Barker, this kind of woman will bring you and everyone around you down. You should get rid of her as soon as you can, or else she—”

Timothy glanced over and looked coldly at the man, who then felt as though his throat had been strangled by an invisible vine. He found it a bit hard to breathe and instinctively stopped talking.

Timothy stood up, propped his hands on the table, and glanced icily across the crowd. His thin lips parted open and he spoke with crystal-clear clarity. “I will neither divorce nor sever ties with her. It is simply out of the question!”

An uproar soon ensued.

The faces of those on Michael’s end became increasingly ugly.

No one thought that Timothy would act so haughtily at that moment.

One of the directors, Claude Kimmel, slammed the table and stood up. “Mr. Barker, are you treating the company’s and everyone’s interests as something petty and inconsequential? Do you want to let everything be destroyed by your wife?”

Claude has always disliked Timothy’s strength and there was no way for him to ascend the ranks when Timothy had always been suppressing him.

He tolerated Timothy in the past because the latter’s abilities were so outstanding that it could bring about huge benefits for everyone involved. However, the situation at that moment was related to everyone’s interests, as well as the survival of the Barker Group. If he could just ride that wave and bring Timothy down, he could potentially be the one who has the final say in the Barker Group!

The thought of that made him raise his voice again. “Am I not telling the truth, my fellow directors? If he wants to join his vicious wife in ruin, then that’s his business. Why should he drag us along with him?”

Ronald gritted his teeth at one side while listening to Claude’s incitement.

That man was clearly taking advantage of Timothy’s misfortune!

His words attracted everyone’s approval.

After all, a world where profits reigned supreme was bound to be the most ruthless.

Timothy’s expression remained unchanged after hearing that and even had a cold grin on his face. He said, “I can offer to buy all your shares at twice the original market price. Since you don’t want to be dragged down with me, you should take the money, shut up, and get lost.”

‘Twice the original market price…’

Everyone gasped again.

The stock price had fallen that morning but it had been going strong before that happened. He was even willing to offer twice that amount…

If that was not a sign that he had not lost enough of his sanity to relinquish his power for the sake of his wife, then the only other explanation was that he did not fear the impact of the scandal.

It was like a bolt from the blue for the directors and everyone was speechless for a moment.

The present issue aside, Timothy’s ability had always exceeded their expectations during other times. They would have cut their losses temporarily if they took the money and left, but if Timothy turned the tables around and weathered the company through the incident, the losses that they had avoided might not be worth the profits that they stood to gain!

Michael was amazed to see Timothy’s words startling all the directors. Such an aura truly was rare and he was undoubtedly a good prospect that was worthy of being the business partner he personally chose.

Be that as it may, he still felt that it was unfortunate for Timothy to act so unreasonably just for a woman.

In his opinion, such obvious weaknesses meant that Timothy would have difficulty in reaching the business world’s peak.

Michael spoke again in a serious tone, “I’m sorry, Mr. Barker, but since you’ve rejected my proposal, then the EIA Group will formally initiate a request to terminate our cooperation in accordance with the contract. At the same time, we’ll also proceed with suing you for compensation. Goodbye.”

He ended the video conference abruptly after he said that in a show of his resolution.

The directors looked at each other with an extremely sour look on their face.

…

Samantha heard everything and her phone slipped after she failed to hold it properly.

She hugged her knees and buried her face in her arms while recalling what Timothy had said to the directors. He had gone against everyone for the sake of protecting her, and the thought of that made her eye sockets turn red.

He stood firmly by her side like how he did the day before, even as the whole world spurned her.

She felt touched and happy, but…

Samantha sniffled and grabbed her phone to go onto Waybo.

Sure enough, there was no shortage of unsavory comments on Waybo. They made terrible comments about her and spoke even worse about Timothy…

She did not care if netizens scolded her because she could still ignore them, but watching everyone curse Timothy was simply unacceptable, even if all they did was type out an exclamation mark.

Every word seemed to pierce her heart and it hurt her severely.

She went off her profile to avoid reading any further and instead clicked on a webpage to do some further reading.

The stock price had plummeted as mentioned in the meeting. Media outlets that once praised the Barker Group had since written articles to condemn it.

They accused Timothy of being so lovestruck that he was unable to differentiate right from wrong. In turn, that would be the factor contributing to the Barker Group’s downfall, and the entire company would eventually be destroyed in his hands!

Although she knew in her heart that the media often liked to sensationalize things for the sake of getting more views, the general public would share the same views as the media too.

Timothy’s image would take a severe hit.

Worse still, the Barker Group’s contract with the EIA Group was about to be terminated and the former would have to pay the latter a huge amount for compensation.

That alone was enough to rattle the Barker foundation.

Timothy had supported her dream and defended her, so she did not want to be the reason Timothy lost everything and had his dreams destroyed.

…

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Timothy finally came home at nine that night.

As soon as he opened the door and walked in, the first thing he saw was a delicious array of food on the table. He cocked an eyebrow, walked up to hug Samantha, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. With a smile, he asked, “Why did you decide to cook all this?”

“Because I wanted to!” Samantha beckoned him to sit. “Have a taste of my cooking.”

Timothy and Samantha sat facing each other. He picked up the tableware and finished everything she cooked.

Samantha waited for him to put down his cutlery and pursed her lips lightly before saying, “Let’s get a divorce, Timothy..”