Once Bitten, Twice Shy

The words written in black ink were flamboyant, elegant, and very beautiful. At the same time, that handwriting was one that she was very familiar with.

It was Timothy's handwriting.

When she saw the three words he wrote, her head became a little empty and she was very confused.

He wrote: 'I love you.'

Timothy had handled everything regarding the divorce certificate and even gave it to her, which could be taken to mean that he wrote those three words for her too.

She questioned which one of Timothy's actions conformed to those three words 'I love you'.

Perhaps he was born different from others, and loving her meant having to kill her.

Samantha thought about it for a while, but could not wrap her head around it at all. Timothy's behavior was truly a mystery.

She started to feel some regret.

She planned to get a good night's sleep, leave the past behind, and go back to Emsteldt so she could live a good life with Matthew in the future.

Why did she have to steal the divorce certificate and remove that photo? She would not have seen the words at the back of the photo if she did neither of those things.

All she did was give herself more stumbling blocks.

She knew deep down in her heart that the mysterious emailer's purpose for leading her to the divorce certificate was precisely that.

That mysterious emailer's main purpose was probably not merely to let her ascertain the genuinety of her divorce certificate. The most important thing was to let her see his confession written at the back of the photo.

The emailer wanted her to know Timothy had another reason for doing what he did to her.

It was the same as the first email he sent to her five years ago—he told her that there were other reasons for Timothy's divorce back then too.

Then she was induced into coming back and finding out the truth.

However, she was no longer the same person she was three years ago. At the time, she still did not give up and held on to her extravagantly wishful thinking. That was the reason she braved herself to try again.

Unfortunately, the results were plain to see.

Samantha closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She stuck the photo back onto the divorce certificate and then threw it into her bag as if she wanted it out of her sight.

For the moment, she could just pretend as if she did not see anything.

She firmly acted as if she saw none of it!

Come the next day, she would fly back according to her original plan.

Matthew was in Emsteldt and that was where she belonged.

Samantha pulled up the blanket and closed her eyes. She tried hard to put herself to sleep, but her head was a mess and she could not seem to drift to sleep.

However, she did not give up trying and picked up her phone once more to see the videos she recorded on the phone. They were all Matthew's videos from childhood to adulthood.

She recorded the videos of him growing up, such as the first time he turned over, the first time he started crawling, and the time he took his first step...

Her irritable mood had miraculously calmed down when she looked at her chubby-faced son. Even her lips were curling up slightly.

She used to need sleeping pills just to force herself to sleep when she suffered all alone in the past. Matthew had since become her best medicine.

As Samantha watched the videos, she ended up falling asleep at some point and continued to sleep until she was woken up by Rochelle's phone call the next day.

She picked up the phone and asked hoarsely after just waking up, "Chelle?"

"You weren't awake yet?" Rochelle smiled. "You always get up early! If I'd known earlier, I wouldn't have called you so early."

"Don't worry." Samantha rubbed her eyebrows and tried to wake herself up.

"I bought you a flight for this evening, Sammy. I…have to get lunch with Jonathan tomorrow, so I won't be going there," Rochelle said in a somewhat reluctant tone.

She rued not being able to spend more time with Samantha even when there was only so little time left before Samantha's flight.

Samantha chuckled. "Okay, I understand. I'm a grown-up, so you don't need to worry."

Rochelle immediately added, "I'll pick you up in the afternoon and send you to the airport. See you later."

"Sure."

After hanging up the phone, Samantha wanted to sleep a little longer but felt a little weak and dizzy. Her voice was not hoarse from waking up but hoarse because it was a little sore.

She frowned uncontrollably.

It was likely caused by her nervousness in the past few days and the exhaustion from the whole ordeal the past night. She was also worried about a lot of things and did not fall asleep all night. Her body had been very weak ever since giving birth to Matthew, and although she had been slowly recuperating for the past few years, she still fell sick easily.

Unfortunately, it was not the right time for her to be sick.

She had to take a plane in the evening, and it would be difficult for her to endure the long flight if she was not in good shape.

Samantha needed a healthy body for Matthew's sake, so she could take good care of him. In recent years, she had attached great importance to her health and would be quite mindful of any discomfort.

She could not afford to neglect her body as she did in the past when she only had herself to take care of.

Samantha lay on the bed for a while and propped herself up.

Rochelle's apartment was in the city center, just a street away from Cruxwell Hospital. Getting there took only a five-minute walk. Samantha could eat her breakfast and then head over to get some medicine.

She did not think it was important to let Rochelle know about something as trivial as that. Having stayed with her for two days, she could sense that Rochelle and Jonathan had not genuinely reconciled. Rochelle was still very much averse to Jonathan but Samantha did not know why she had to submit to Jonathan again.

She hoped that Rochelle would be able to gain happiness, but she could not give any advice on how to do so. Her feelings were in a mess, and that gave her no right to tell Rochelle how to go about it.

After washing up, Samantha fried two eggs and some bacon, then warmed up a glass of milk and forced herself to finish her breakfast. While still feeling dizzy, she changed her clothes and put on a mask and hat before going to the hospital.

Hospitals were usually teeming with people, but fortunately, the system was automated. Samantha immediately registered on the self-service machine, and then went to the emergency department on the third floor according to the instructions.

More than a dozen patients waited in line to see the doctor. Samantha had to find a seat and sit down while waiting for her number to be called.

Matthew knew that she would be back that day and was thoroughly overjoyed. He used Alan's cell phone to send WeTalk voice messages to her.

He did not say much other than to call out to her from time to time, saying that he missed her and the like.

It felt somewhat pointless, but Samantha's heart softened into a puddle when she heard it.

She hated Timothy a lot, but she could not hate Matthew's face even though he resembled Timothy.

Samantha replied to each of Matthew's messages.

Since she had drank a lot of water before coming out, Samantha raised her eyes and glanced at the call number. There were five more numbers to go before her turn, which should be enough time for her to head to the restroom.

Samantha put her phone away, got up, then went to the restroom at the end of the corridor.

After coming out, she was walking toward the emergency department when the elevator door in front opened. Two nurses and a doctor pushed a hospital bed out of the room with anxious expressions on their faces. They shouted, "Give way, please! Give way!"

In such a situation, the patient's condition was already very critical and emergency rescue had to be carried out immediately!

She hurriedly stopped walking and let them through.

However, Samantha inadvertently glanced at the person lying on the hospital bed and felt choked when she caught a fleeting glimpse of the pale, bloodless, yet extremely familiar face!