Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Aunt Julia had been serving Old Madam Barker for many years and it was natural for her to show dedication in caring for the old lady. As a result, she thought that Samantha's words were quite reasonable.

General doctors were able to treat patients with physical illnesses, but psychological afflictions would require effort on the part of the patients too.

Although she was reluctant to talk about a person as vile as Harmony, she would not mind it as much if doing so would help Old Madam Barker.

However, she frowned slightly and mumbled, "Where do I begin..."

Seeing Aunt Julia finally giving in, Samantha stepped up her efforts and said, "I heard that Harmony…grew up with Timothy and that grandma used to like her very much. How did things…suddenly end up like this between them?"

With Samantha's words leading the way, Aunt Julia replied, "Harmony did grow up with Mr. Barker. She stayed in the villa just next to the Barkers' old residence and was alone in the country. The old lady treated Harmony well because she sympathized with Harmony's loneliness."

Rochelle had found out earlier and told Samantha that Harmony lived in the same villa that Samantha once lived in, but Samantha never knew that Harmony grew up alone in such a big home.

She could not help but wonder out loud. "Harmony was already living alone when she was just a kid?"

Aunt Julia replied. "She stayed with an old servant, who acted as her guardian. I'm not sure about her parents though."

'I see,' Samantha thought.

She was uninterested in Harmony's background, so rather than continue that topic, she shifted it back to the main point and asked, "What happened after that?"

Aunt Julia had an expression of disgust when she recalled the past. "There's nothing much to tell, really. The old lady has always been very good to Harmony, and even...intended to accept Harmony as her granddaughter. But Harmony, that woman, was an ungrateful person who took advantage of the old lady's kindness and was never satisfied. The old lady wasted all that kindness on her."

'Accept her as a granddaughter...'

It tallied exactly with what Harmony said.

Samantha tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

She suddenly asked, "Is Harmony unable to get pregnant because she injured herself to save Timothy?"

The question came out of the blue and caused Aunt Julia to blurt out subconsciously, "Yes."

It was only after she had replied that she realized the significance of that question. Her eyes widened and she quickly turned to Samantha, "Mrs. Barker, how do you know that?"

Samantha's expression became so stiff that even her lips did not twitch.

She decided to extract that information from Aunt Julia because she did not want to immediately trust Harmony's words without hearing it from someone else. Deep down, she still hung on to the last trace of hope that Harmony might be lying.

She never imagined that it would all be true.

That would explain why Harmony was not afraid of Samantha verifying that information with Old Madam Barker.

After all, there was no point in making statements that could easily be exposed as a lie.

Samantha forced a smile to pretend that all was fine and said, "Timothy once told me some things about his past. That's how I came to know about it."

"Ah, so he told you," Aunt Julia's nervous expression relaxed. "It's great that there aren't any secrets between the two of you."

As she said that, she smiled and said, "As long as you and Mr. Barker are on the same page, no other woman will ever come between you two. If you both are fine, then the old lady will be fine too!"

"Yeah," Samantha responded, but her eyes looked to the other side as her eye sockets turned slightly red.

She wanted to be on the same page as Timothy, but Timothy…did not feel the same way.

There was another woman in Timothy's heart, or perhaps more accurately, there had always been another woman in his heart...

After returning from the supermarket, Samantha went back to her room and collapsed weakly onto the bed.

She lay there with her eyes wide open and stared blankly at the white ceiling. It was difficult for her to not recall the sweet memories she and Timothy had made recently.

Each scene and frame of the happy moments that she experienced had turned into a dense mat of needles that battered all the corners of her heart.

The pain was suffocating her.

Her stomach began aching slightly, probably due to the strong fluctuations in her mood, and cold beads of sweat began forming on her forehead.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and needed some time to calm herself a little.

She put her hand on her lower abdomen and stroked it gently.

A conflicted expression appeared and eventually turned into resolve. She opened her lips and gently uttered three words, "I'm really sorry."

Her phone then started ringing and Samantha grabbed it to see that it was a call from Rochelle. She answered directly, "Hey."

Rochelle's concerned voice came through, "Have you confirmed whatever it was you needed to?"

"Yes."

"Then... what about the baby..."

Samantha sat up slowly and leaned against the headboard behind her. There were a few seconds of silence before she said, "I don't want the baby."

"I... I can't have the baby either."

How cruel and saddening would it be if the child was born into the world simply because it was a 'tool' that was born for a plot.

Rochelle was silent on the other end.

Neither of them said anything and they would have assumed the call had ended if not for the faint sound of each other's breaths.

About a minute later, Rochelle eventually spoke up, "If you want me to be honest with you, I certainly hope you'll keep it. I'll never be able to have a child, and your child will be like mine. I'll treat them as if they were my own."

She then chuckled softly, "But I can understand the decision you made. This child came at the wrong time. I'll support you, Sammy, no matter what decision you choose to make."

"It's such a pity, but you must always come first!"

"Thank you, Chelle. I'm glad I have you," Samantha said sincerely.

"Of course, silly."

After a pause, Rochelle said in a serious tone, "What are you going to do next? Are you just going to let that dog and his b*tch go?"

Samantha smiled and said nothing.

Although Samantha did not answer, Rochelle did not ask any further and ended the call with her usual phrase, "Call me if you need me."

"Definitely."

After hanging up, Samantha got up from the bed and walked to the window to open the curtains.

The sunlight shone in from outside and she stretched her hand out to feel it.

Then, she picked the phone up again and sent a message to Timothy on WeTalk.

[Come home tonight. There's something really important I have to tell you. You're not allowed to say no.]

His reply came after about ten minutes.

The text contained only one word: [Okay.]

…

Timothy drove back to the villa at 7:30 that evening.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw Samantha standing at the door to welcome him and raised his eyebrows slightly. He said with a smile, "Looks like it's really important."

Samantha tilted her head slightly and replied with a smile, "It is. It's really, really important."

Timothy changed his shoes, walked in, and put his arms around Samantha's waist. He gazed down at her and said in a smoky, sweet voice, "Tell me.. I'm listening."