Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Samantha exhausted all of her remaining strength and said one final word. "LEAVE!"

Timothy opened the door and walked out without hesitation.

Ronald was standing watch at the door when Timothy came out. He felt the man's extremely cold aura and could not control his heart from trembling.

He subconsciously followed behind Timothy.

Timothy halted his footsteps and ordered coldly without looking back, "Stay here. Don't follow me."

"...Ah, okay."

Ronald stayed on the spot and watched as Timothy walked further and further away. When he heard Samantha's breakdown from the ward, he could not help but sigh deeply.

What in the bloody world was going on!

…

The door closed slowly and separated Samantha from the outside world.

She had lost all her strength and was leaning gently against the bedhead. She then shed her tears like a string of broken pearls.

There was this one time when she read a book in school that urged brave girls to hold on tight after finding someone that they loved.

Timothy happened to pass by her window when she was reading that. His tall, youthful figure radiated sunlight and she subconsciously reached out to try and grab it.

She felt that he was her love and so insisted on holding on tightly to him.

Two years ago, she believed that she had not been brave enough, which in turn made her unable to persevere until the very end and ended up causing her to miss out.

Two years later, she had done so much by striving while working hard, and being brave…but she still could not hold on tight to him...

It was a lie.

Everything was a lie.

Samantha covered her face with both hands and cried without making a sound.

Rochelle happened to see that scene when she arrived. She hurried forward and immediately hugged Samantha.

She gently caressed Samantha's head and felt heartbroken to see Samantha like that. "Sorry I'm late, Sammy."

Had she arrived earlier, she could have ripped that good-for-nothing Timothy to shreds.

Samantha had been giving him chances, excusing him, justifying his actions…all of which proved to be in vain considering how he had betrayed her!

Men were all trash!

Rochelle could not spare any more time to curse at that scumbag when she saw Samantha crying. She snapped back to her senses and patted Samantha's back while comforting, "Don't cry, Sammy. Your body is weak now, and...it won't be good for your baby."

She was one of the insiders who knew about Samantha's plan and was therefore aware of the child's existence.

'Baby…'

Samantha's hand unconsciously began caressing her lower abdomen.

She had been so emotional earlier that she could feel discomfort in her belly.

She took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed all that pain.

Rochelle let go of Samantha after hearing that Samantha's crying was getting less intense. She reached for some tissue and helped to wipe Samantha's tears. "Would you like some water? I'll pour you some."

Since the cup had shattered, Rochelle could only use a disposable paper cup. She poured some warm water into it and raised it to Samantha's lips.

Samantha glanced at her with reddened eyes and eventually took a sip.

When Samantha was done drinking, Rochelle tossed the paper cup into the trash can and said softly, "How about some sleep, Sammy?"

She stretched out her hand to help Samantha lie down.

Before she could do so, Samantha called out to her, "Chelle."

"Yes, Sammy."

"I don't want to stay here. I want to be discharged."

Rochelle frowned. "But your body..."

Samantha raised her eyes to look at her. Her voice was extremely hoarse but she still insisted stubbornly, "I want to be discharged."

She did not want to stay there any longer because all she saw was nothing but Timothy's ruthlessness and indifference earlier.

Staying there would only make her suffer.

Rochelle looked at her for half a second and gave in. "Okay. I'll help you handle the discharge procedures with the hospital."

After settling that, Rochelle borrowed a wheelchair and helped Samantha into it with the nurse's assistance. She covered Samantha's knees with a blanket and pushed her out of the ward.

Ronald looked at them and did not dare to stop Rochelle, but he had to say something because Timothy had tasked him with looking after Samantha. "Ms. Yates..."

Rochelle narrowed her charmingly beautiful eyes at him.

A gush of cold air rushed through Ronald's body from the soles of his feet. He immediately changed the way he addressed her. "Ms. Tyrell, are you just going to bring Mrs. Barker away like that? Don't you have to…let Mr. Barker know?"

Rochelle sneered. "Why does he care where Sammy's going? Tell him to look after his side chick!"

Ronald did not dare say another word after receiving such verbal reproaching.

First of all, he did not dare provoke a woman like her. Secondly, he had heard the conversation between Timothy and Samantha which made it abundantly clear that Timothy was in the wrong.

He lowered his head immediately.

Rochelle ignored him and pushed Samantha away.

Ronald did not dare to raise his head until they had disappeared. After thinking for a moment, he took his cell phone out and made a call.

In any case, he still had to report to his boss.

Timothy was leaning against the sofa in his hotel suite and was closing his eyes wearily.

When the phone rang, he opened his eyes slowly and picked up the phone to answer it. "Yes."

He heard Ronald saying, "Mr. Barker, Mrs. Yates has handled Mrs. Barker's discharge from the hospital. She took Mrs. Barker away and I... I couldn't stop her."

After a pause, he asked weakly, "Do you need me to… bring her back?"

Timothy was silent for a second before opening his lips. "No."

Ronald was speechless.

The call then ended.

Ronald put down the phone and felt a headache coming on.

Was Timothy really about to divorce Samantha? Did he only use her as a tool to give him a baby?

Could Timothy… be that terrible of a person?

…

Timothy placed the phone down and looked around. His gaze finally landed on the desk where the dictionary was placed. It was still open.

He got up and walked over.

Certain words were circled in black ink.

He looked at it calmly for a moment, raised his hand, then moved his finger to flip the dictionary shut.

After that, he picked up the thick dictionary and held it on top of the trash can.

His fingers tightened at first, but he eventually released his fingers one by one and allowed the dictionary to fall into the trash can.

…

Rochelle brought Samantha back to her apartment.

She was afraid that Samantha would break down again because of the sadness, so she had prepared plenty of comforting words just in case. However, she was surprised to see Samantha be so unexpectedly calm after returning to the apartment.

Samantha neither cried nor made a fuss. Her expression was indifferent and she was very obedient, for she ate and drank when she was told to do so.

Rochelle was immensely relieved to see that.

She thought that Samantha was doing it for the child after her motherly instincts had kicked in.

That was a positive development nonetheless. It would be ideal if she quickly rid her thoughts of a scumbag like Timothy. Being alone was much better, especially since she had a child who belonged wholly to her.

Samantha went to bed early that night and Rochelle lay down beside her to keep her company in bed after coming out of the bath.

The next morning, Rochelle turned over and subconsciously reached out beside her.

However, she did not feel anyone next to her.

Rochelle opened her eyes instinctively and did not see Samantha on the bed.

She then got up abruptly to search the whole apartment but found no sign of Samantha.

Rochelle made sure that she was sober and awake. Where could Samantha have gone to? Did something happen?