Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Samantha’s heart skipped a beat and beads of cold sweat began forming all over her body.

She did not want to stop, but it would definitely arouse suspicion if she just continued walking…

In the end, she did her best to restrain her urge to charge through the door. She stayed right where she stood, but her back stiffened beyond her control.

She waited for a few seconds but did not hear Timothy’s voice. However, she could sense his cold and sullen gaze falling on her, and that look of his came piercing through her like a sharp blade.

His gaze nearly broke Samantha’s apparent composure. She forced out a stiff smile and spoke weakly to break the silence. “Is something the matter, Mr. Barker?”

Timothy’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. He stared at Samantha’s masked face for a few seconds before moving his thin lips and uttered, “Bring along the chips you won.”

‘Chips?’

Samantha’s mind went blank and she could not react for a moment.

Timothy seemed to be in an extremely petulant mood and had little patience. Seeing her frozen still there, he mocked fiercely, “What’s wrong? Do you want me to deliver it to you personally?”

She could not dare to trouble him with something like that!

Samantha had a sudden realization and came back to her senses abruptly. She took a couple of steps forward and reached out to take the 25 chips she won.

“Thank you, Mr. Barker!” After expressing her appreciation in a very ‘grateful’ tone, she walked out of the room right away.

Waiting at the door was Wendy, who immediately went up to greet Samantha as soon she came out. Wendy checked Samantha carefully all over and uncovered the mask to have a look. It was only after she made sure that Samantha was safe and sound that her anxious heart finally calmed down.

She could not help saying, “I’m glad you’re fine, Sammy. I heard that crash in the room earlier and thought that something happened to you! You don’t know how scared I was!”

Samantha did not say anything after Wendy finished speaking. As a result, Wendy looked up in confusion and realized that Samantha had a startled expression. Wendy’s calm heart became anxious again and she asked, “What happened to you, Sammy? Could they have done something to you?”

Did they spike her wine? Or gave her some drugs?

As she spoke, she raised her hand and waved it in front of Samantha’s eyes, trying to snap Samantha out of it.

Samantha’s long curly eyelashes trembled and she finally came to her senses. She opened her mouth to try and say something, but felt that it was too improbable and so decided not to say what she wanted to.

She smiled at Wendy, “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

“Are you really fine?” Wendy had a skeptical look. Samantha’s actions earlier had clearly shown that she had something to say.

“Yeah!”

Samantha was not willing to talk too much about it and immediately raised the chips in her hand. “I’m just thinking about how much money I can exchange for the twenty-five chips I won.”

Wendy’s attention was drawn toward the chips.

To her surprise, Samantha not only managed to escape the hands of those men, but even won money from them. She really lived up to being Samantha Larsson!

“You’re amazing, Sammy!” Wendy was full of genuine admiration for her. “Come on, I’ll bring you to the cashier booth.”

There, Samantha handed the 25 chips to the staff, who said with a smile, “Please write down your bank account number, and we’ll transfer the money right away.”

Samantha wrote down her bank account.

A few minutes later, Samantha’s cell phone received a notification. She reached for it and clicked on the new text message.

[You have received 500,000 in your bank account.]

She already had a check for half a million from Felix, which meant that she was only half a million short of the one million she needed. Lo and behold, those 25 chips just so happened to amount to half a million!

A look of profound surprise appeared in Samantha’s eyes and she took quite some time to return to her senses.

…

Inside the VIP room on the second floor.

Timothy stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows with a cigarette held in his slender fingers. His black eyes were gazing downward, directed at a certain location on the first-floor lobby.

Zachary came over with a glass of wine and followed Timothy’s gaze, only to see Samantha standing at the cashier counter. He could not help but smile. “Timmy, what do you call this kind of behavior? You’re willingly giving out money.”

In reality, Zachary would never have accepted an invitation from a person of Felix’s stature, much less Timothy.

It was Timothy who called Zachary out of nowhere that night. He invited Zachary to accompany him to a party. Zachary initially thought the party was hosted by some important figure, but it turned out to be…just for that?

During that split second, Zachary was starting to suspect whether the Barker Group was going bankrupt. Why else would a man of Timothy’s reputation attend that party?

He realized their purpose there as soon as he saw Samantha dancing on stage.

Once again, it was all because of Samantha…

Other than her, was there anyone else who could make Timothy do something so self-contradictory that even he would look down on his own actions?

Although Zachary did not like Samantha and even resented her, he had to admit that Timothy regained some human qualities only for Samantha.

During the past two years, Timothy was in such a terrible state that Zachary did not dare to even think about it.

Since Timothy was still interested in Samantha, Zachary—in true brotherly spirit—had no choice but to help.

With that in mind, Zachary then said, “Listen to me, Timmy. If you want to get to her heart, there’s no use for you to do all those good deeds in silence. It’s always the second male lead who does good deeds behind the scenes, and they never get the woman.”

Timothy narrowed his eyes at Zachary.

Zachary, whose survival instincts were strong, quickly explained himself, “Timmy, I’m in no way saying that you’re the second male lead here. What I’m saying is…you should let her know that you helped her. How do you expect her to be grateful to you, change her view of you, and develop feelings for you if she doesn’t know a thing?”

Timothy sneered coldly.

Would Samantha be grateful if she knew? Would she view him differently? Would she love again?

Would such a heartless woman do any of that?

Or would she be smug because he helped her without her needing to speak at all?

Zachary seemed to be able to read through Timothy’s thoughts and organized his sentence before saying, “Timmy, I think…your actions were actually quite obvious. Samantha’s not a fool. She must have guessed that you were deliberately helping her.

“If you go back to the villa right now, you’ll definitely hear her express her gratitude to you. Take the hint she gives you. Isn’t that how your relationship with each other would start warming up bit by bit? The both of you are adults and you happen to be alone in the villa right now. There’s still a chance that a spark could be lit. If that spark ignites a roaring flame, who knows whether this fake husband-and-wife relationship can turn into a real one?”

Timothy’s black eyes narrowed and he declined to comment.

…

Samantha did not immediately get off the taxi when she arrived at the villa.

Her mind was still ruminating over whether the 500,000 were a coincidence or whether Timothy already recognized her and gave her that money intentionally?

Unable to figure it out that quickly, she had no choice but to pay the fare and get out of the car.

Another car—a black one—had driven over at about the same time. Timothy soon got out of that black car.

Samantha’s heartbeat quickened as soon as she laid eyes on Timothy..