Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

As soon as Samantha walked to the front desk, the young lady there stopped her because she was not registered as a guest of the hotel’s presidential suite. If she wanted to go up, she must first get the consent of the person staying there.

Ronald had brought her up directly the previous night and the receptionist did not recognize her.

Samantha took out her cell phone. Her finger hovered on the screen for a few seconds before she dialed Timothy’s number.

Rochelle’s words had inspired hope in Samantha’s heart. During the past two years, she had not been able to rid herself of the pain she suffered when Timothy ended things with her in public. 

From then onward, the thorn had always been lodged in her. It would appear from time to time and sting her, but she was never able to pull it out.

Perhaps the only way to really be free of that was to face that matter head-on…

The dial tone sounded in her ears and sped up Samantha’s heartbeat little by little. She did not know what kind of answer she would get. Would it be the same as two years ago or was there really a misunderstanding?

During that short period of time, her thoughts were all jumbled up in a complete mess and her mind was chaotic.

The call was finally answered and her breathing stopped right at that moment.

“Hello.” The voice was not Timothy’s familiar, low, and melodious voice. Rather, it was a sweet-sounding female voice.

“Hi, who am I speaking with?”

Samantha was stunned and her first reaction was doubt whether or not she had made the wrong call. She took the cell phone from her ear and looked at the number.

Those eleven digits were infinitely familiar to her and she had memorized them well enough that she could even recite them backward. It was impossible for it to be wrong.

It was Timothy’s number.

Then why did a woman answer the phone?

The other person could only hear silence from Samantha’s end. Their sweet, feminine voice once again asked in a confused tone, “Who are you? Are you looking for Mr. Barker? He’s changing his clothes right now, so it’s not very convenient for—”

Samantha could not bear to continue listening and hung up right away.

Her impulse, confusion, expectation, and those ridiculously wishful thoughts had all turned crumbled into ash. She stood blankly at the center of the hotel lobby and everyone around her was long gone, leaving her all lonely and laughable.

Those who could enter his exclusive suite were either close to him or had received his permission.

Timothy had already called another woman over even though she had just left not too long ago. It was probably another close female friend. Given his character, he absolutely did not let anyone touch his stuff casually, especially not something as personal as a cell phone.

One could imagine what kind of relationship he had with that woman if she was allowed to casually answer the calls that he received!

If that was the case, he ought to have called that woman over the night before! Why bother pretending to be a pure-hearted man!

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that Timothy did not answer the call. Otherwise, she would have foolishly asked whether there were any ulterior motives in breaking off the marriage two years ago. If that happened, she really would have been presenting herself to be ridiculed by him.

While it was true that Timothy saved her numerous times, the reasons for that were because she was still of use to him. He needed her simply to reassure Old Madam Barker and facilitate his frolicking outside. There were no other reasons at all.

Samantha blamed herself too—she failed to control herself during that time and still retained traces of her delusion toward him.

She deserved it!

Tears somehow began to well in Samantha’s eyes. She raised her head high, took a deep breath, and forced all those tears back. After putting away the phone, she turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

…

Inside the suite, Ronald helped to change Timothy’s wound dressing before changing the latter’s clothes. He then helped his boss lie back down before walking out of the room.

The woman—a secretary whose name was Tiana Reece—heard footsteps and placed the phone down right away. She turned around casually, looked at Ronald, then asked in a soft voice, “Hey, Mr. Crawford, is Mr. Barker alright? Is the wound really bad?”

“You can leave after leaving those urgent documents,” Ronald ordered her rather than answering her.

Ronald had come to see Timothy, but not before handling some company affairs. Tiana was from the CEO’s office as well, and she happened to have some urgent documents that Timothy needed to review. When she heard that her big boss was injured, she insisted on following along.

Unfortunately, Timothy was not in the mood to meet anyone, so Ronald had to come out and ask her to leave.

Tiana was a little reluctant when Ronald ignored her question, so she craned her neck and looked at the door of the room, saying, “Don’t you think someone has to stay here to take care of Mr. Barker? He’s having difficulty moving and someone has to watch over him, right?”

Someone—or rather, Samantha—had been taking care of Timothy, but who knows what happened between the two of them. She was long gone, and she even threw the nightdresses he so carefully selected for her in the trash can. Meanwhile, Timothy’s expression was exceedingly ugly.

When he was changing his boss’s wound dressing and clothes earlier, he did not even dare to breathe too loudly.

It went without saying that there was no need for him to explain that to the secretary. Ronald’s tone started to get a little impatient. “You may go back to the company, Ms. Reece. I’ll be taking care of Mr. Barker.”

Tiana gave Ronald an angry glare.

She wondered whether he was so by-the-book that he did not understand her implications, or whether he simply pretended not to understand!

As dissatisfied as she was, she did not dare to offend Ronald. She bit her lower lip unhappily and said, “Okay, I’ll be leaving then, Mr. Crawford. Call me if Mr. Barker needs anything. I’m available twenty-four-seven!”

Tiana left reluctantly and dawdled for a bit before finally leaving.

Ronald closed the door and frowned. His boss’s charm was so great that there was always an endless stream of women casting flirtatious glances, be it overtly or implicitly.

He had sent away countless women over the years.

Initially, Penelope’s presence meant that those women did not have the guts to approach him even though that was what their hearts wanted. Ever since Penelope’s unbecoming acts went public, those women began getting restless again.

Each and every one of them spared no effort to attract Timothy’s attention: they wanted to become the Barkers’ daughter-in-law.

Little did they know that Timothy already belonged to another woman.

However, Ronald had to wonder… Where did that woman go?

…

Ronald had to tread carefully during the next few days.

He had been with Timothy for so many years that he knew the latter’s temper like the back of his hand and understood how exactly to avoid lighting the fuse.

During those few days however, he felt like he was walking on thin ice and could easily provoke Timothy regardless of how cautious he was. If it was not one thing, it was something else.

Even the way he held a cup was an eyesore to Timothy, who shot him a cold look.

Although injured people were fragile, and fragile people would easily be bad-tempered and hypocritical, Timothy’s moodiness seemed to be just too much.

Those who had no idea of the situation might have the impression that he was Timothy’s enemy.

Ronald could no longer bear the pressure and he felt like he would suffocate if it continued.

He stood by the bed and asked weakly, “Mr. Barker, was I too unprofessional in the way I took care of you? Would you prefer for me to hire a professional nurse to take care of you?”

Timothy looked up at him and squinted. In a stiff voice, he said, “You know I don’t like strangers..”