Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Penelope could conceal the dagger easily due to her wide sleeves. The crowd was massive too, so many did not notice the two women because everyone was concerned only about the disaster in front of them.

Samantha was starting to panic because she was afraid of hurting her child. However, panicking was a useless reaction at that moment and she had to calm down if she wanted to protect herself and her baby.

It seemed that she was not being overly suspicious when she felt that someone was watching or following her during the past few days. That person had turned out to be Penelope.

Judging from the situation, Penelope had been planning the attack for a long time now.

She decided to attack her at the exact moment when there was a huge crowd and everything was chaotic!

Samantha tried her best to keep up with Penelope's pace without confronting or provoking her.

She gulped and reminded in a soft and gentle voice, "There are plenty of people here, Penelope. You can't run away."

"Tch." Penelope was not afraid at all and even smiled oddly.

Samantha turned her face slightly to look at her and saw a touch of madness in addition to the resentment.

That expression seemed familiar.

Samantha searched her memories and finally remembered.

Penelope had the same look of madness in her eyes when she attacked Samantha at the bar. She had the same unexpected strength then as she did now.

Based on Samantha's previous altercations with Penelope, the latter was nothing more than a pampered little rich daughter who had little strength. However, Penelope had practically turned into a different person during the two occasions in which she attacked Samantha...

Samantha felt that the contrasting change was familiar. Penelope looked as though she was under some kind of mind-control or drug influence.

Samantha frowned lightly and keenly noticed that something was off.

She asked out of the blue, "Who's controlling you from behind, Penelope?"

Penelope seemed surprised that Samantha would ask such a question and had a fleeting expression of shock. In the blink of an eye, however, she acted as if nothing had happened.

Samantha still noticed that brief change.

Her guess might not be entirely correct, but she was not that far off the mark either.

Penelope was in a very bad frame of mind.

That was not good news for Samantha, because it meant that Penelope was a very dangerous person to be around at that moment!

Samantha then realized that Penelope was dragging her further and further away from the crowd.

Rather than going to a safe area, Penelope was heading towards the fire without so much as a second thought.

Samantha's expression sank and she finally understood why Penelope had that weird smile earlier.

Penelope...was planning to commit murder-suicide.

Samantha took a deep breath and asked calmly, "What is it that you want, Penelope?"

Samantha's expression had changed and she could no longer hide her faltering tone. Penelope probably caught on to that and spoke contentedly without answering the question, "You get scared too, don't you Samantha?"

She spoke with her face nearly pressed against Samantha's nape. Her voice was cold and she exhaled all over Samantha's nape, causing the latter to get goosebumps all over.

Samantha clenched her hands tightly and continued to remain calm. "You don't have to go this far because of the grudge you have against me. You're being made a scapegoat by someone else, Penelope!"

"If you and I die together, that person would be smiling because they're the one who stands to gain the most from our deaths!"

Unfortunately, Penelope continued to grin uncannily, either because she did not listen to Samantha or because she did not care at all even after hearing what Samantha said. "You were the one who couldn't let go of me. You snatched Timmy from me, helped that b*tch Sheena seduce my father, made my mother lose her mind and threw me in jail. What more do you want? How much more ruthless do you have to be?!"

As she was talking, she snickered and said, "You're just lucky I didn't manage to kill you the last time around. There's no way in hell I'd let you escape again!"

She looked down from Samantha's face, stared at Samantha's stomach, and exerted more pressure on the blade.

"Two for the price of one… what a steal!"

"Let's go to hell together, Samantha!"

After saying that, Penelope dragged Samantha more forcefully and walked quickly towards the fire.

As soon as they approached, the heat crashed against Samantha's face and she turned pale due to the choking, suffocating feeling.

She immediately felt an onset of physical discomfort.

Samantha knew that her physical response and stamina were at an all-time low due to her pregnancy. Once Penelope dragged her into the fire, she would not be able to protect herself or her baby.

There was nothing more she could do in that situation other than to give it her best shot.

Samantha looked up, scanned the surrounding area, and discovered that the nearest police officer was about 50 meters away.

She closed her eyes, summoned all her strength, and bit down hard on the hand that was holding her neck.

Penelope retracted her hand immediately once she felt the pain.

Samantha seized the opportunity to grab the arm that held the blade and twisted it in the opposite direction to direct the tip away from her stomach.

She then opened her mouth and yelled at the top of her lungs at that policeman. "HELP—"

Before she could yell a second time, Penelope had already return to her senses. She grasped Samantha's hair firmly with one hand and pulled her head back.

Samantha groaned in pain.

Luckily for Samantha, the policeman had heard Samantha's cry for help and noticed that something was wrong after looking over. He quickly called his comrades, "Hey! There's a situation here! Come over quick!"

Penelope became flustered when she saw that the police were starting to gather there.

She could not go back to that prison again.

She spent her days there being insulted, beaten, and bullied.

She was never able to sleep and was losing her sanity due to the nightmares she had daily!

She would rather die than be captured and stuffed back into that hellhole!

The reason why she experienced all that was because of Samantha! If Samantha had never existed, she would have been married to Timothy and had children by now.

She would have become the respectable and venerated Mrs. Barker!

Sadly, that had all been taken away by Samantha!

There were many things she did not get, and she would make sure that Samantha would never be allowed to get them either. She would gladly destroy everything and die together with Samantha!

Penelope's strength increased explosively in an instant and she forcefully dragged Samantha by the hair to the edge of the fire.

Samantha could already feel the scorching fire right behind her. It was so hot that she felt as though it could melt her skin from behind.

The police quickly surrounded Penelope and Samantha. Their chief used a megaphone to yell at Penelope, "Young lady, please let go of your hostage and surrender at once!"

Penelope sneered but could not care less. She continued dragging Samantha towards the fire.

After the policeman abided by the protocol to issue the earlier warning, he ordered his sniper, "Shoot!"

While the bullet was traveling straight towards Penelope, she seemed to have expected that would happen and used the last of her strength to push Samantha into the fire.

Penelope collapsed to the ground in an instant, while Samantha was engulfed by the sea of flames!