Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Rochelle watched as Samantha skillfully opened her contacts, searched for Timothy's name, and hit the dial icon.

There was a dial tone.

Rochelle could not help but hold her breath. Was Samantha brave enough to actually call him?

Was she willing to expose herself for Mrs. Barker's sake?

What if Timothy did not answer, or said something unpleasant? Samantha would only be embarrassing herself!

Paul's heart leaped to his throat and the confidence from Samantha's end caused his resolve to waver.

The line was connected after about ten beeps.

Samantha greeted and said, "It's me."

Then came the man's low, cold voice. "Speak."

Samantha said bluntly, "Dr. Highton refused to cooperate or admit to Harmony's deeds, what should I do?"

The man's voice was still cold and lacked even the slightest emotion as he said, "Get rid of them."

Samantha nodded, "Okay, I understand."

She hung up as soon as she said that.

Samantha looked up at Paul through the video. His face was obviously pale, and his eyes were so filled with panic that his body was trembling uncontrollably too.

It went without saying that he recognized Timothy's voice. After all, Timothy had the kind of extremely pleasant, yet extremely cold and dangerous voice that basically no one could imitate.

Samantha smiled and said to Paul, "I'll ask you one last time, Dr. Highton. Are you going to cooperate with me?"

He knew he was a goner when he heard Timothy's voice.

Although he was afraid of those behind Harmony, the danger Timothy posed to him was more direct and terrifying, so he could only obey.

Paul had a slumped expression. "I'll do whatever Mr. Barker wants me to do. I just hope he'll spare me and let me go."

Samantha smiled in satisfaction. She cut right to the chase and made two demands. "Mr. Barker wants you to do two things. The first is to hand over any evidence you have that can implicate Harmony. Then record a video yourself giving a clear explanation of everything that Harmony told you to do."

"Secondly, you have to promise that you and your family will leave Capital City immediately. Go into hiding for a least two years!"

Paul immediately nodded in agreement.

Once he admitted to doing it for Harmony, he did not think that he would continue staying in Capital City again. After all, he was afraid that Harmony would retaliate against him and he did not want to be involved in such muddled business ever again.

Furthermore, he already made enough money and he did not need to worry about his daily necessities even if he remained anonymous for two years.

Samantha then said to the hired thug, "Handle the rest."

The thug responded, "Understood!"

She then ended the video call.

As soon as she looked up, she saw Rochelle's completely flabbergasted expression.

Rochelle finally found her voice when she saw Samantha looking over. She said, "Sammy, when did you...and Timothy...reconcile?"

The phone call earlier came as a shock to her.

Instead of answering her, Samantha shook her head and laughed.

Rochelle was stunned. "What's going on?"

Samantha blinked. "Who told you I reconciled with Timothy? Didn't I say I was just using his influence to intimidate the doctor?"

She merely borrowed Timothy's 'influence' to bring Paul into submission.

"But that phone call..." Rochelle muttered before having a sudden realization. "…was fake?"

"Of course." Samantha did not continue keeping Rochelle in suspense.

Rochelle exclaimed, "Where did you get a voice actor to imitate it so perfectly? I was almost convinced by how closely that person sounded to the real deal."

Samantha corrected, "The phone call was fake, but the voice was real."

After a pause, she continued to explain, "When I was hiding in the hotel room that night, Timothy was having a video conference. I got used to carrying a voice recorder with me during my work in the past, and it was switched on at the time."

Rochelle finally understood everything.

Samantha extracted excerpts of Timothy's voice and forged the call.

Even though Rochelle had always known that Samantha was extremely smart and quick-witted, she could not help but show a deeper admiration for her resourcefulness.

It was amazing.

After lavishing praise on Samantha, Rochelle remembered what she thought earlier and could not help laughing out loud. "I almost thought that you and Timothy were reconciled and went back to how you were before, or that you never broke up in the first place... "

'Reconcile…'

'Never broke up...'

Samantha's lips twitched when she heard those two possibilities.

Both those scenarios were impossible for her and Timothy, be it reconciliation or never breaking up...

There was a slight tingling in her heart that she could not stop herself from feeling, but she soon forced herself to suppress it and acted as if nothing happened.

Ten minutes later, the thug came out of the house. He walked up to the car and knocked on the window.

Rochelle lowered the car window and the thug respectfully handed a camera to her. After she took it, she said to him, "Let Dr. Highton go, but keep an eye on him until he leaves Capital City. Your assignment will be complete then."

The thug nodded. "Understood."

Rochelle closed the car window. She handed the camera to Samantha, started the engine, then drove away.

Samantha turned on the camera and clicked into the video. She smiled after finally confirming that the doctor had explained everything clearly.

When they were at the red light, Rochelle turned to Samantha and asked, "What are you going to do now that you've got the physical evidence and a witness? Will you be handing them over to the police?"

Samantha shook her head and replied firmly, "No."

She wanted to hand them to the police, but since Harmony had Timothy's protection as well as that mysterious backer, convicting her of a crime was easier said than done.

Furthermore, if those things were handed over and she was put between a rock and a hard place, there was a chance that she would try a last-ditch attempt that would bring down everyone along with her.

Samantha's main purpose for doing everything was for Old Madam Barker's future safety. She had to be in possession of that bargaining chip to utilize it to its full value.

Rochelle knew that Samantha had a better idea and no longer asked her why. On the contrary, she asked, "What's your next move?"

It was no easy feat to threaten Harmony and ensure that she would refrain from attacking back.

Samantha lowered her eyes and fiddled with the camera. After a few seconds' silence, she said, "My next move is...to wait on the wings."

After seeing Samantha's expression, Rochelle finally breathed a sigh of relief after knowing that Samantha had a good plan.

She believed in Samantha's ability.

Rochelle's only hope was that everything would be resolved as soon as possible. Only then would Samantha be able to truly feel at ease when leaving the country.

…

Before anyone knew it, the month had come to an end and there was less than a day left until the first of the new month. That date was also Timothy and Harmony's wedding day.

Harmony lay on the massage bed and relaxed as the beautician did a skincare routine on her.

She wanted to ensure that she was the most beautiful, dazzling, and eye-catching woman when she became Mrs. Barker the coming day.

Harmony reached out to grab her phone when she heard a notification, and her expression changed drastically as soon as she laid eyes on the screen.