Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Samantha was already mentally prepared for such a situation to happen and there was no change in her expression as a result. She even curled her lips and said with a smile, "You're here, Mr. Barker."

She picked up the vase and walked past the desk toward the sofa. The vase was then placed in the middle of the coffee table and she even adjusted its position deliberately. After finally adjusting it to her satisfaction, she turned to look at Timothy again and asked, "Do the flowers look good? Grandma gave them to me to congratulate me on my first day in the office."

Timothy's dark pupils stared at her as if he was looking at a dead person.

He never would have imagined that she would strut nonchalantly to his turf again after he nearly strangled her to death the other day

Samantha did not expect him to answer, so she stood up straight and looked fearlessly into his eyes as she said, "We'll be working together a lot in the future, Mr. Barker. I hope I can learn a thing or two from you."

She raised her feet and walked up to Timothy while still maintaining her smile. "Looking forward to learning from you."

Timothy curled the corners of his lips and smiled.

However, he smiled only slightly and it carried a gloomy chill as well as a rather prominent bloodthirsty intent.

The dangerous oppressiveness came crashing toward Samantha. She once again felt as if a ferocious beast was staring at her and even the hair on her entire body was standing on end.

She did not doubt at all that the man in front of her wanted her dead.

Samantha cherished her life more than ever and was justifiably afraid in the face of such a threat. She could even hear her heartbeat beating frantically as if it was about to leap out of her chest.

She was fortunate that she was a mother and possessed a strong maternal intent. As long as she thought about Matthew, she could force herself to stay calm, composed, and try to escape.

Samantha stayed motionlessly on the spot and secretly took a deep breath. She then squeezed out a smile again and she said in a clear voice, "Do you want to kill me again?"

Her long curly eyelashes trembled after she said that. Rather than dodging or running away, she raised her hand and grabbed his arm.

Timothy said disdainfully, "Do you want to fight me?"

Samantha shook her head. "I'm no match for you. There's no point wasting my energy like that."

She was never able to win against Timothy in a fistfight anyway. Furthermore, his strength had become even more unpredictable, and there was no reason for her to make things difficult for herself.

Then, she exerted a bit of strength as she lifted Timothy's hands and put them on her slender, fair-skinned neck. She said provocatively, "You wanted to strangle me, didn't you? I won't resist. Do it!"

Her actions and words were beyond what Timothy expected. Whatever unpredictable and unfathomable experiences he went through in the past paled in comparison to her.

Many people had a strong desire to live, but it was the first time he ever saw someone who wanted to die.

Samantha was unsure whether or not Timothy would actually do it. She was betting that he would not because that would further cement her notion that the other day's incidents were no accident.

Perhaps Timothy had a main personality that would limit some of his extreme actions under special circumstances.

Examples of such situations would be when he was prevented from going through with strangling her in his office, and when he did not pull the trigger on his grandmother back at the church.

Old Madam Barker and Samantha could be the two people that Timothy's main personality loved most...

She might be able to notice something as long as she saw a repeat of the situation.

Samantha tried her best to restrain her expression and kept a calm smile as she looked at him. She did not want Timothy to figure out her thoughts.

She locked her eyes deeply on his face and tried to notice anything out of the ordinary.

The same unfathomable expression appeared in his eyes as Timothy looked at her and moved past the initial astonishment. His gaze fell on Samantha's neck and there was a faint red mark there.

Her neck was so slender and brittle that he could break it very quickly.

He grasped tighter.

Samantha held her breath slightly.

The next second, Samantha felt that the man's murderous aura had disappeared instantly, only to be replaced by an extremely whimsical look.

His hand that was resting on her neck moved up slowly to her chin.

The man's beautiful fingers squeezed her chin and forced her to look up.

Timothy smiled again. It was different from his earlier murderous smile in that the darkness within was becoming increasingly bottomless. "You're…very interesting."

As he lowered his handsome face, she looked at his handsome facial features up close and felt that he was practically breathing on her face now.

She heard him say, "I'm a little reluctant to let you die."

Samantha frowned slightly.

Did he see through her intentions and prevented her from getting any chance of noticing his strangeness? Or was he playing at something else?

He leaned so close to her that his voice was very soft, like a murmur between lovers.

Every word he said was extremely chilling though. "Since you're so eager to play, I'll be more than happy to play with you."

His thin lips nearly touched her ear and he said clearly, "You miss your son a lot, don't you? You could even risk your life for him. I'm really touched by your motherly love and I…I want to grant your wish."

His voice became even deeper. "Tell me, should I cut off his hand and send it to you, or gouge out his eyeballs? Which one is more sentimental to you?"

Samantha had retrained her emotions to the best of her ability to begin with, but she could not control the change in her emotions when she heard the last few words.

Matthew was her biggest weakness and it was difficult for her to ignore it even though that was all that Timothy said to her.

The Timothy in front of her was too smart and cunning.

Every word he said might come true and she could not afford to take a gamble.

Samantha's eyes turned slightly red and she could no longer just keep smiling. Her eyes widened and she stared at him defiantly.

"Listen here, Timothy. If Matthew loses a hand, you'll lose a hand; if he loses one eye, you'll lose one eye too. If he dies, you'll be buried with him!"

She meant every word she said!

Timothy's black eyes narrowed and the bloodthirsty killing intent at the bottom of his eyes once again came forth.

No one had ever dared to disrespect him time and time again.

He should kill her right then and make doubly sure that she never showed up before him ever again!

All of a sudden, a sharp and irate female voice suddenly sounded from behind them. "What are you two doing?"

Her words disrupted the oppressive atmosphere.

Since Samantha was the one facing the direction of the office door, she looked over and saw Harmony standing at the door with a dour look.

From Harmony's point of view, Timothy and Samantha were almost half-embracing each other in an ambiguous manner. Timothy had lowered his head and his handsome face was within centimeters of Samantha's. She, on the other hand, was clutching his shirt and her cheeks were very close to his too.

They looked as though they were kissing.

It was no wonder then that Harmony would lose control due to jealousy.

Nothing was going on between Timothy and Samantha at first, and she never wanted anything to do with a murderer who said that he was going to kill her son. However, since Harmony had already asked that question, she felt that it would be such a waste of opportunity if she did not add fuel to fire.

Since Samantha was already holding Timothy's clothes, she pulled Timothy down a little and tiptoed while raising her head.

Samantha planted her lips on Timothy's to kiss him.