Once Bitten, Twice Shy

It was a long strand of black hair.

He initially stretched his hand out toward his phone but immediately changed direction and reached to pick up the strand of hair. Pinching the hair between his fingers, he looked at it intently.

The hair could not possibly belong to him on account of its length.

He could tell that it was a woman's hair at a glance!

His suite was cleaned every day by a special housekeeper who could not be more familiar with his penchant for staying clean. Whenever she came to clean, she would be so meticulous in ensuring the room was completely spotless.

The housekeeper could not have left behind even a strand of her hair.

In that case, a woman had sneaked into the place.

He suddenly remembered Rochelle's sudden appearance in front of him earlier that evening. She was spouting a whole load of nonsense as if she was trying to stall him.

Did she do that to buy time for the woman who broke in?

Timothy's lips curled up as he grabbed the handset on the bedside telephone. He dialed an internal number.

As soon as the call was connected, he immediately instructed, "Get me the hotel's surveillance footage for the entire night."

…

Back at the apartment, Samantha was slightly apprehensive when she compared the divorce certificates.

In the end, her heart seemed to be dragged down the nine levels of hell and was immediately engulfed by darkness.

Her divorce certificate was fake and invalid!

Therefore, she and Timothy had not divorced at all. They were still legally married!

She was unable to accept what she saw at that moment and froze in place.

Rochelle was surprised too.

It was something she just could not understand.

When Timothy divorced Samantha three years ago, she was privy to the entire process and had witnessed Timothy's heartlessness with her own eyes.

Logically speaking, that divorce could not have been fake.

However, that fake divorce certificate was right in front of her, which was unequivocal evidence that there had not been any divorce at all!

After a brief silence, Rochelle was the first to say, "I really can't wrap my head around what the bloody hell is that scumbag Timothy thinking!"

She frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "Timothy must know that you guys aren't divorced. He handled everything, after all. Since that's the case, how could he say that he's going to get married to Harmony next month? He can't be that stupid to not realize that he's breaking the law by committing bigamy?"

As powerful as Timothy was, he could not possibly ignore the law.

How stupid could he be to put himself in that situation?

Timothy never portrayed himself as someone who would dig his own grave!

"Could it be that he only intends to marry Harmony on the face of it without planning to get a certificate with her? Harmony definitely won't agree to that, and I've seen how smug she is in front of me. It's like she's already Mrs. Barker! I don't suppose she'll agree to enter into a marriage with him without having a certificate to show for it!"

Samantha slowly recovered from her confusion as she listened to Rochelle's words.

She had been lost in thought too.

Nothing could explain the sheer illogicalness of what was happening, not unless Timothy's brain was kicked by a donkey or filled with water.

However, neither of those assumptions held any water because she had already heard how shrewd he was when discussing business!

Samantha took a deep breath and calmly recalled everything she remembered.

She then said, "I can think of two possibilities why Timothy didn't divorce me for real. First, he might not want to give me his shares, so the question of transferring his shares did not exist without a divorce. Then he could send someone to kill me, which he did, and the shares would remain in his hands while the marriage becomes null because of my death. He doesn't stand to lose anything at all!"

As Rochelle listened, she showed a startled look at first before it immediately changed to one of extreme disgust. "It's exactly what someone as ruthless as Timothy would do."

Samantha continued to analyze further, "The second possibility is that Timothy has a secret, just like what that mysterious person said, which could explain why his behavior was so strange that no ordinary person could understand."

Rochelle did not agree with that guess and snorted coldly. "Did you notice anything unusual with him when you observed him up close tonight?"

'Anything unusual…'

Samantha thought about it seriously.

Except for some tiny changes in his lifestyle, nothing else was out of the ordinary.

The mysterious person was probably spouting nonsense when scaremongering her with remarks such as 'he needs you' and 'he will disappear'!

Timothy had spent just about ten minutes to successfully negotiate another acquisition.

Who would be brave enough to make a person as powerful as him disappear?

She shook her head, "No."

"Then it can't be it." Rochelle shrugged. "The first possibility is probably the most likely one. That scumbag Timothy just doesn't want to give you any of his shares!"

"And since you're now 'dead' even though you're in the country, his marriage to Harmony won't be affected even if he makes a new divorce certificate."

It was somewhat a silver lining.

Even if the divorce was null, their marriage was still nonexistent even if Samantha did not show up.

As for the shares or anything of the sort, Samantha never wanted them to begin with. At that time, she was trying to get justice for herself and simply did that to piss Timothy and Harmony off.

She was not that bothered about having no shares.

She was never a gold digger anyway and would be sufficiently content if her and Matthew's needs were met.

Seeing Samantha's silence, Rochelle could not help looking at her and asking softly, "What do you think, Sammy?"

Samantha's eyes rolled up slowly and she looked straight into Rochelle's eyes.

She pursed her lips lightly before saying, "I wouldn't've just let it go if it was three years ago. I would've wanted to make sure their lives were hell after how sad they made me."

"But there are too many things I have to worry and be concerned about right now. Rather than getting revenge, I'd be happier if I could live safely and healthily with Matt, Corey, you, and Dr. Sherwood."

She had once been stubborn enough to ignore everything and risk it all enthusiastically for a man whom she did not love.

It happened five years ago and again three years ago.

Both those times ended with her emotions battered and bruised.

It was still understandable if she did not learn from her mistakes the first and second time, but would she still fail to do so the third time?

The phrase 'third time's the charm' made a lot of sense!

Although Rochelle still had some resentment for what happened on Samantha's behalf, she still hoped that Samantha could live in peace.

That was more important than anything else.

"Okay, I guess that's it, then. I can't bear to see you go, but I'll get you a plane ticket for tomorrow so you can go back."

Rochelle hugged Samantha. "You won't be safe here and I'll be worried if you continue staying here. Don't worry, I'll find a way to visit you and Matthew!"

Samantha nodded. "Okay."

In the evening, Rochelle wanted to stay with her for one night, but Jonathan called her persistently again.

Rochelle had no choice but to leave, as the last thing she wanted was for him to notice that something was amiss. She said she would come to fetch Samantha to the airport the next day.

Samantha lay on the bed and felt like sleeping after having a video call with Matthew. For some reason, however, she unconsciously picked up the divorce certificate and opened it.

She could not describe what sort of mood she had at the time, but perhaps the late night had inexplicably triggered melancholic, sentimental feelings and caused her to think wildly.

She stared at the photo on the divorce certificate.

If she were honest with herself, the feelings she had for Timothy was hatred—extreme hatred.

She loved him deeply ever since she was still a young girl and spent a large part of her youth loving him deeply.

How could he even bring himself to do it? It was fine if he did not love her, but he had to go so far as to use her and kill her once she lost her value.

Even more saddening for her was the fact that hate could not exist without love. At that moment, her feelings toward Timothy were that of deep hatred!

She was well aware that she should be feeling that way, but it was always difficult for people to be overly rational.

When she thought about it, her fingers subconsciously ripped off the photo on the divorce certificate. She wanted to throw it away and never see it again!

It would be such an eyesore to keep a photo of Timothy and she did not want to have it around!

Samantha curled her fingers and crumpled the photo in her palm. She then opened it and was about to throw it away, but somehow noticed some black writing on the paper.

She frowned and wondered why there were words at the bottom.

Samantha froze immediately, unfurled the photo, and turned it over to look at the handwriting.