Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Samantha grabbed the remote control all of a sudden and quickly adjusted the video's progress bar back to a certain frame. She then paused the video and zoomed in on the screen.

During that exact frame, Harmony was looking at Penelope in an indescribably strange manner.

Samantha could discern the exact words Harmony said then. "Look at me. Look into my eyes. Hey! Look at me!"

When Harmony looked at Penelope, the latter's initially excited emotions were eased a little bit and her eyes became a little listless too.

After that, Harmony said another word, "By the way, have you gotten sick recently? You must be mindful of your health and eat your medication on time. Take care of yourself, alright? Don't get me worried about you."

Penelope also nodded obediently and she responded, "Okay."

Samantha frowned and thought about it carefully.

She had some understanding of Harmony as a person after their numerous clashes. Compared to a simple-minded and arrogant rich girl like Penelope, Harmony far excelled in terms of intelligence.

Had Samantha not been careful, she would have fallen for the various traps that Harmony set up in the beginning.

However, Harmony was not that invincible either. When Samantha mounted a counterattack, she could still successfully pull off a resounding victory over Harmony.

However, she had never seen that side of Harmony and it came as a complete surprise for her.

Although she had some layman guesses, she still had to leave it to a professional to figure out what Harmony was doing.

Perhaps that could be the answer she was looking for.

Samantha grabbed her cell phone and called Milton. As soon as the call was connected, she asked directly, "Are you free, Dr. Dancy? Let's have a cup of coffee together."

Milton just so happened to be taking a break that day, so Samantha made an appointment with him at a cafe near his home.

After ending the call, Samantha grabbed her car keys and went out.

When she arrived at the cafe, Milton had already arrived and was sitting by the window waiting for her. She put on a smile and walked over.

After taking her seat, she said apologetically, "I'm sorry for bothering you on your day off, Dr. Dancy."

Milton smiled in return and deliberately teased her, "It's because your reputation precedes you, Ms. Larsson."

Samantha did not waste any time and took out her phone to click on the video. She dragged the scrollbar and played the exact frame for Milton to see.

Milton watched it carefully several times and had a rather thoughtful look.

"What do you think, Dr. Dancy?" Samantha's dark eyes stared intently at Milton with an anticipating look.

A few minutes later, Milton looked up at her and said, "This looks a little like coercive persuasion."

'Coercive persuasion?'

It was a new phrase that involved a subject Samantha knew nothing about.

Samantha asked humbly, "Could you explain in more detail, Dr. Dancy?"

Milton picked up his coffee cup and took a sip before explaining slowly, "Well, it's a type of hypnosis that uses one's expressions and words to have quick control over other people's emotions."

Samantha had always suspected that Penelope might have been controlled by a drug or something similar that Harmony administered, but she did not expect that Harmony would be so powerful as to control a person with their eyes and words without even needing any drugs!

"This is...a little hard to believe." Samantha was still in some shock. "Hypnosis is already mysterious enough, at least for me, so I really can't imagine that something like that even exists."

Milton was unsurprised by her reaction and chuckled, "It doesn't work for everyone, of course. Judging from Penelope's condition, her frame of mine was already so terrible that she must have been under this hypnosis for a long time. More importantly, Harmony is probably someone she trusts greatly, which makes her an ideal subject to be controlled so easily."

"If it was me or you, Harmony wouldn't be able to control us like that at all. It's impossible. That should be clear enough, right?"

Although Samantha was taken aback, she still grasped the main point.

Firstly, Harmony's ability to hypnotize was a fact.

Secondly, such hypnosis required very specific conditions. The person who first performs hypnosis must be a person who was very trusted by the person being hypnotized. Hypnosis is not a one-time thing either, it requires years and months of destroying that person's willpower before successfully getting them under control.

Her guesses had hit the nail on the head.

Harmony had probably hypnotized Penelope from the very beginning. Once she was sure that Penelope could be controlled, she manipulated Penelope, allowed Penelope to get to know Timothy, and ensured that Penelope stayed by Timothy's side all the time to remove anyone that got in the way.

Harmony probably wanted Penelope to stay that way until she returned to the country and got together with Timothy again. Once Penelope was no longer useful, she would be kicked away too.

The only factor that Harmony did not count on was that Samantha would cross paths with Timothy after returning to the country.

While Harmony was able to control Penelope, she would never be able to control Samantha. That was why Harmony came back—it was to confront Samantha and engage in the various clashes.

Samantha felt some sympathy for Penelope at that moment.

Penelope died without knowing that she had always been Harmony's pawn. Even in death, she regarded Harmony as the person she trusted most and even left her mother in Harmony's care.

Samantha realized just how much she had underestimated Harmony's viciousness.

Harmony's ruthlessness truly knew no bounds.

She had no qualms accomplishing her selfish interests at the expense of other people's lives, even to the extent of taking their lives.

Such people were not fit to be human!

In that case, did the scene that Samantha saw in the office that day—where Harmony muttered some words into Timothy's ears—be that of Harmony hypnotizing Timothy?

Could it be that Timothy never had multiple personalities and was only acting so odd because he was controlled by Harmony's hypnosis?

However, something did not seem right.

Samantha frowned because everything seemed off regardless of whatever perspective she viewed the issue from.

If Timothy was under Harmony's control, then Timothy's state of mind should be the same as Penelope—he should be obeying Harmony's words.

Even so, she never saw any indication that Timothy was being manipulated during her close-up observation in recent days. He was exceptionally moody and overbearing.

Moreover, if Harmony was able to control Timothy during the past three years, Ronald would not have been that clueless as to not notice anything. In addition, there was no point in waiting those three years for Timothy's agreement with Samantha to end.

Samantha was well aware that Harmony could not stand to wait even a minute longer when it came to marrying Timothy.

Why did they wait those three years, then?

Milton looked at Samantha's frustrated expression and could not help but ask, "Is there anything else you don't understand?"

Samantha thought about it for a moment and asked, "Dr. Dancy, if a person has multiple personalities, their different personalities would take turns manifesting, right?"

Although the subject had changed a little abruptly, Milton answered dutifully, "Of course."

"Then....could there be a situation where…the second personality occupies the body and consciousness for a prolonged period?"