Once Bitten, Twice Shy

As soon as that thought occurred to Samantha, she trembled uncontrollably as if she was unable to accept it.

Even though it was just speculation, the main personality had not shown up for a very long time. She did not know when the second personality appeared. Did it only show up during the past three years, or did it appear three years ago? Could it have appeared five years ago, even?

After all, it was easy for a person to disguise. What if the second personality was using the first personality as a disguise five years ago?

Samantha was completely confused and utterly stunned.

She could not help but blurt out her concerns and Milton could only look at her with pity.

In fact, when she said that the problem involved one of her friends, he had a hunch that it was her problem instead.

Using 'friends' as an excuse was all too commonplace nowadays.

As a doctor, he would not pry into other people's privacy unless it was absolutely necessary for diagnosis and treatment.

Samantha was his friend, and he would always provide her with his professional advice from a friend's point of view.

"There's no need to be so pessimistic, Ms. Larsson. Even if the second personality was awakened at the beginning, it will still be unstable. It's not like the second personality will completely occupy one's body and mind as soon as it awakens. It would take a long time to fight."

"Furthermore, a main personality with strong willpower will not be overpowered that easily. I think your friend might still be there, only…he's trapped inside."

He really did live up to his profession as a psychiatrist. The words he used to soothe her emotions worked so well that Samantha's restless mood was somewhat eased.

She closed her eyes gently and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

She had been indeed overthinking. There was a possibility that the second personality was already there three years ago, but the most that could happen five years ago was that the second personality had just only awakened. For the most part, Timothy's body and mind would still be under the control of the main personality.

She suddenly remembered what Ronald told her before. Timothy had video calls with Harmony every once in a while, and he would occasionally disappear for 24-hours where no one knew where he went or what he did.

It seemed that he could not help those actions at the time either due to hypnosis, or it was his second personality who did it after it had been awakened.

The second personality relied on Harmony's hypnosis to suppress the main personality, which was why he treated Harmony very specially. Of course, it might even be true love, since Harmony always had that ruddy look every time she came out of the office. It was as if she wanted everyone to know what good deeds she and Timothy had done!

Samantha shook her head vigorously and prevented herself from thinking about those unpleasant things.

The amount of information she received that evening was simply too much, and she needed a little time to digest it since her emotions were a little unstable.

She looked up and forced a smile as she said to Milton, "Thank you for clarifying my doubts, Dr. Dancy. I need to calm down a bit right now. Please let me treat you to a meal some other time."

Milton nodded considerately. "Sure. How are you going to go back?"

Samantha replied, "Don't worry about me. I'll sit for a while and wait for my best friend to pick me up."

Milton was relieved to hear that someone was going to pick her up. "Alright then. I'll be leaving now. Call me if you need any help."

He then got up and left.

Samantha picked up the cup of cold coffee on the table. She did not seem to mind that it had gone cold and drank it all in one go.

After clicking into WeTalk and sending Rochelle the address, she rested her head on her hands. Her thoughts went wild inside her mind and she felt both uncomfortable and exhausted.

The phone rang after some time.

Samantha thought that Rochelle had arrived and answered it without looking at the caller ID. "Chelle..."

As soon as she said that, a voice that had been altered by a voice changer came from the other end. "Samantha."

Samantha was stunned for a moment and her eyes widened suddenly. "You again?"

It was that mystery man again!

Why would he call her at such a time?

What did he want to do?

The mysterious man did not seem to mind Samantha's angry tone and said calmly, "Congratulations. You found the correct answer."

His remark left Samantha stupefied for a moment but she immediately realized it.

The 'correct answer' that he referred to was her discovery of Timothy's multiple personalities and Harmony's ability to hypnotize people.

However, she had only found out the truth a second ago. How could the mysterious person know that she knew?

Chills crawled down Samantha's spine.

She clenched her phone tightly and said in a cold voice. "You've been monitoring me?"

As she questioned, she raised her head and looked around to try and find any suspicious people around her.

Unfortunately, it was almost ten at night and she was the only guest there. Other than that, there was a waiter and a cashier in the cafe. They were all doing things at the counter and did not even notice anything that happened on her end.

No odd people were outside either.

The mysterious man did not seem to have heard what she said and muttered, "I just called to remind you that only you can save Timothy."

That was the one part that annoyed Samantha the most. He always only said what he wanted to say while treating her as if she was a doll he could string around.

She sneered and replied, "How am I supposed to save him? I'm not a psychiatrist, nor am I a skilled hypnotist."

Both those statements were the truth.

Timothy suffered from multiple personalities and dissociative identity disorder. She was not an expert on either of those conditions and still did not fully grasp the concept of what they were!

How ridiculous would it be if she were to rescue him?

The mysterious man smiled. "Love can sometimes be the greatest strength of all."

Samantha laughed even more sarcastically. "Are you telling me that I can give Timothy strength to wake up because his main personality loves me very much? It's not like you're his main personality. How do you know he loves me?"

To be honest, she really could not be sure whether or not Timothy's main personality genuinely loved her...

She was very confused.

The mysterious man replied. "You should be the one to find the answer to that. Isn't the answer self-evident if you can bring back his main personality?"

"...Well, everyone knows your mother is a woman too, right?"

What kind of nonsense was he blabbering about!

Samantha took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to yank him out through the phone and beat him up. Her words took a sharp turn and she said, "Who the hell are you and why do you always want me to save Timothy? What's your relationship with him?"

She could not ascertain whether that mystery person was good or bad, but from their past interactions, he had been pushing her back to Timothy.

The mysterious man merely said, "Samantha… My identity is inconsequential. The important thing is that Timothy won't be saved if you can't bring back his main personality. You won't be able to save your son either. The killer will only act under the orders of one person, and no one else can control him."

The man hung up as soon as he said that.

The beeping sound resounded in Samantha's ears and her face turned red with anger.

Sooner or later, she would find that mysterious person and feed him to the fishes!

Rochelle arrived another five minutes later.

She saw Samantha leaning against the sofa with a sullen face and went to sit by Samantha's side. She hugged Samantha distressingly and said softly, "Are you alright, Sammy?"

Samantha was both physically and mentally exhausted at that moment. She shook her head weakly and answered, "I'm not, Chelle. I'm very tired."

It was difficult enough just to find out that Timothy had multiple personalities. Staying by his side and reawakening his main personality was equivalent to participating fully in Timothy's life. In turn, she would have to deal with a brutal Timothy and a sinister Harmony, which formed a whole-new ball game.

She could not make up her mind yet.

However, Samantha knew very well that the most important reason for that indecision was her skepticism over whether the main personality truly loved her, and whether she had the ability to reawaken it.

Rochelle rubbed Samantha's head. "I'll bring you back to get some rest."

…

Inside the apartment.

Samantha took a bath and lay down on the bed. She thought she would not be able to fall asleep but immediately drifted to sleep after she laid on the bed.

As soon as she fell asleep, she felt hot all over as if being burned by fire. Her entire body was feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Did she fall sick?

Her throat was dry and thirsty as she shouted unconsciously. "Water..."

Samantha wanted to stand up and pour herself some water, but someone came over suddenly and supported her back with long arms. The person lifted her a little and put a glass of water to her lips. "Drink up."

She thought it was Rochelle but the voice clearly sounded like a man's...

A man?

Samantha frowned. She strained to open her heavy eyelids and saw a familiar, handsome face through the little gap.

Was it....Timothy?