Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Rochelle said nothing and put on her sunglasses as well before getting up. She hooked Samantha's arm and the two of them walked out together without even glancing at the men.

Ronald and Clive subconsciously turned to Timothy, as if to ask him if they should just let the women leave like that.

After all, Samantha's two conditions to Timothy were made in private, and agreeing to them would not cause him to bear the brunt of any public embarrassment.

However, things were much more difficult when it came to the request she made to Harmony.

Harmony is an anchor—a proper one at that—and her reputation was very important. The public frequently had extremely high moral expectations for such anchors. If she really said that during a live news broadcast, she would be putting herself on ice forever and would never be able to pursue that career.

The dream she had been fighting so hard for would come to an end.

Timothy stared at Samantha's back and a dark undercurrent began flowing in his eyes. In the end, he kept quiet and simply allowed them to leave.

…

At eight o'clock that evening, Samantha sat on the sofa and reached for the remote control. Once the television was switched on, she tuned in to Lychee TV.

Rochelle brought some cut fruit into the living room and placed the platter down on the coffee table. She sat next to Samantha, stabbed a piece of apple on the fork, then handed it over to her.

For herself, she took a big red strawberry and ate it while asking teasingly, "Hey, Sammy. Do you think Harmony will say those words?"

Samantha ate her apple without answering.

On the television screen was Harmony and another male anchor, both of whom were reading the news in front of the camera.

Harmony looked no different from usual and had an indifferent expression.

Rochelle frowned lightly when she saw that. "Judging from the looks of it, I don't think anything's going to happen. Come on, is Timothy really that reluctant to let his little mistress embarrass herself in public and ruin her future?"

She could not help herself from feeling contemptuous and angry when she said that.

He was so ruthless toward Samantha and yet so protective of a pretentious b*tch like Harmony. Rochelle immediately felt like hiring a murderer to wrap Timothy in a burlap sack and pummel him to bits!

Samantha finished her apple and moved on to eat the strawberries without expressing any opinion.

Before they knew it, it was already half-past eight.

News broadcasts generally lasted half an hour, so Harmony and the male anchor were already reading the closing remarks at that time.

Rochelle could not help but cock her eyebrow. "Is Harmony going to hold out until the end?"

…

Inside Lychee TV's studio, the male anchor had begun to collect his scripts after making the final remark. However, he was a little surprised to see Harmony looking motionlessly at the camera. He hurriedly reached out from under the table to pull her clothes, signaling to her that it was already the end.

They had to pack up and leave.

Harmony bit her lower lip and clenched her hands tightly. Her unwillingness and conflicted feelings flashed in her heart for a second but she suppressed them forcefully.

She strained to open her lips and speak but eventually said, "I have something to tell everyone!"

The staff present there were all confused.

Everyone turned to each other and asked puzzlingly. "Do we have this segment? What's the situation?"

"Not that I heard of. Was it added at the last minute?"

"Should we cut then?"

They, together with the male anchor, were stunned for more than ten seconds and immediately lowered their heads to read their news scripts. Could they have missed that segment?

Since none of them were sure whether it was a last-minute addition, the director did not stop rolling and continued to aim the camera at Harmony.

Harmony looked at the camera and said word for word. "What I want to tell you is that… I've made a mistake. I'm a mistress who destroys other people's families and I'm morally corrupt. I don't deserve to be an anchor and I'll permanently retire without ever showing myself in public again!"

She practically said it all in one breath without pausing for even half a second.

She was worried she might not be able to continue if she stopped.

Once she was done speaking, her face sank and it looked quite clear that she was being bullied.

Everyone gasped when they heard that.

No one thought that she would actually say such a thing.

It was a live broadcast—a live news broadcast—that everyone all over the country was watching. Saying that in public was tantamount to telling the entire world about her scandal.

Did she lose her mind? Or did she fall under some kind of voodoo spell?

Once the initial shock passed, everyone looked at Harmony differently.

Destroying other people's families and willingly becoming a homewrecker were things that anyone would despise. Some of her female colleagues cursed out loud, "Wow, shocking. I've never seen such a shameless woman before!"

"I feel disgusted being colleagues with her. God help me."

Harmony had always valued her reputation and frequently assumed an elite air in front of everyone. Although she could not listen to other people saying all that stuff about her, she had no way to refute any of their words at that time.

She blushed, got up quickly, and left the studio.

Everyone looked at her and pointed fingers as she ran, but she could only pretend not to have seen or heard anything. She rushed back to her work station, grabbed her bag, then went out of Lychee TV. She immediately got in the car and left.

After driving some distance away, those ugly remarks and mocking gazes still seemed to surround her and her eyes became even redder.

She raised her head slightly and took a deep breath.

Then, she controlled herself from thinking about what just happened and thought instead of a phone call she had received that afternoon.

It was a call from Timothy.

Harmony did not expect that Samantha would be so shameless to add the condition that Harmony was to say all that in front of a national audience before Samantha would sign the divorce papers!

She felt aggrieved at the time and said pitifully, "Tim, I was angry for your sake. During your marriage to her, you never treated her badly, gave her food and shelter, and even helped to deal with her rotten parents. What else did you do to let her down? What right does she have to ask for half of your net worth and to prevent you from remarrying within three years?"

She was getting angrier.

Samantha's two conditions were clearly aimed at her, and if Samantha could not get Timothy, then Harmony would not be allowed to have him either!

Timothy did not speak on the other end of the line.

Harmony forced herself to keep a level head. Regardless of however angry she was with Samantha, the fault did not lie with Timothy. Taking out her anger on Timothy would only be letting things go Samantha's way.

Samantha was too naive to think she could use that method to stop Harmony from being with Timothy.

When Harmony thought of that, she softened her voice and said, "I'll agree because I don't want to make things difficult for you, Tim. Doesn't matter if I give up my dreams, as long as it's for you."

"But Samantha humiliated me repeatedly. I've endured it time and time again, but all I get in return is her crossing the line. I feel sad and hurt, and I… I can't just take it like that!"

"Which is why I want you to promise me one thing! If you can do that, then I'm willing to do anything for you!"