Once Bitten, Twice Shy

The dial tone rang a few times before finally being answered.

Samantha was the first to speak. "Ms. Goldman, it's me, Sammy."

"Yes, Sammy," Victoria responded faintly and spoke in her usual serious tone.

She had already divorced Timothy, so the next step was to use a legitimate reason to leave the country and go abroad to raise her child with peace of mind.

Samantha said solemnly, "I've already given due consideration to what I told you that day about wanting to sign up. And I still insist on—"

Before she could finish her words, Victoria interrupted her and said, "Sammy, there's also something I'd like to tell you. I hope that you'll stay because I intend to train you to be my successor. Please reconsider it!"

Samantha bit her lip slightly.

Had the recent events not happened, she would have been absolutely thrilled to hear that.

However, she must put the interests of her baby first.

Therefore, she had to give up on some things for the moment.

Samantha's voice sank a little but still said firmly, "Ms. Goldman, I've already given it enough thought."

Victoria was clearly unhappy and said coldly, "Give me a reason. I'll agree if you can convince me!"

She knew that Samantha had put in a tremendous amount of work to enter Lychee TV and join her team, which was why she was not convinced that Samantha was someone who would give up for no reason.

On the contrary, Samantha had always been an extremely resilient girl.

Samantha remained silent for a few seconds before saying clearly, "I've divorced, Ms. Goldman."

"Divorced?"

Even Victoria, who was accustomed to shocking developments and maintained her calmness at all times, was so surprised that she raised her pitch slightly. After all, everyone knew just how affectionate Timothy and Samantha were!

When the Barker Group was being implicated along with Samantha, Timothy showed no intention of coming forth and cutting ties with Samantha to allay the crisis. As a result, it was surprising that they had divorced so silently.

Victoria seemed to want another confirmation. "Really?"

Samantha uttered softly, "Yes, really."

"When did this happen?"

"A couple of minutes ago."

Victoria was speechless.

Being the articulate person that she was, that was the first time she was speechless.

All of a sudden, she thought of what Harmony said on the live news broadcast the night before, as well as the heated discussions on the internet that were trying to guess the couple being mentioned.

The answer seemed right in front of her.

Victoria frowned. "Is it Harmony?"

Samantha replied truthfully, "Yes."

Victoria was a highly-respected person who behaved with the utmost propriety. She would not go around telling anyone, so there was no need for Samantha to hide anything from her.

Victoria closed her eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, she spoke again, "Come over when you're free and fill out the necessary forms."

"Thank you, Ms. Goldman."

Samantha smiled when she hung up.

Victoria was a good mentor who had a sharp tongue but a soft heart.

Samantha was lucky to have met her and hoped to have the opportunity to be her understudy again in the future.

On a positive note, not everything that happened to her was a bad thing after her return to the country.

At the very least, she met a good teacher and a good friend, as well as carrying a baby.

That was a gift from God.

…

Samantha went to Lychee TV two days later.

After filling out the registration form in Victoria's office, she hugged Victoria and took the elevator to the floor of the human resources department.

She handed in the registration form, and when she was waiting for her colleagues to enter it, she saw Harmony coming in too.

It was not a forced encounter like all those times in the past—Harmony came because she had to go through the resignation procedures.

However, Harmony seemed quite buoyant instead of despairing. She even smiled when she saw Samantha.

Samantha cocked her eyebrows slightly.

Harmony had never been like that before as she used to sneer and ridicule Samantha whenever they encountered each other. Surprisingly, she seemed rather fine when she came over to hand in the documents and go through the formalities.

The two of them did not take kindly to each other and did not speak to each other.

The atmosphere, however, was still filled with silent friction.

Samantha's entry was processed first. She stepped forward and took the papers handed over by her colleague, then turned around and left.

When she passed Harmony, the latter made it a point to tell her coldly, "You'll have to pay the price if you're too greedy for things that don't belong to you!"

Samantha stopped walking.

She narrowed her eyes and replied, "Save that sentence for yourself!"

Harmony would soon be able to get a taste of Samantha's last trump card.

After saying that, Samantha strode away without giving her a chance to speak.

Harmony could not contain her anger. She stared at Samantha's rear figure as an eerie smile soon appeared across her face.

It would be difficult for Samantha to escape her impending doom!

…

After handing in the registration form, Samantha's dispatch notice came soon enough. In another three days, she would be going to the country of Aharromoggh in three days to become a foreign correspondent.

There were countless riots in Aharromoggh from time to time in recent years and the situation there was chaotic. Many anchors and reporters were reluctant to go there, and thought who were willing to sign up for such a position had their ideals, aspirations, and deep appreciation of human love.

Rochelle disagreed. "Sammy, that place isn't as safe as ours. Why do you have to leave using that as an excuse?"

"Chelle, I know you're worried about me, but this is the best reason I have for now." Samantha touched her lower abdomen. "You know they won't let me leave the country if they knew that the baby is still alive."

It would not be an exaggeration to say that she would be in danger too.

That was the most flawless excuse so far.

Rochelle understood it long ago but was still rather worried.

Samantha smiled and comforted, "Don't worry, Chelle. I've already spoken with Ms. Goldman and I won't stay there too long. I'll only be there for three months, after which I'll go to a safe place."

She was not going to take a gamble on her baby's safety.

Of course, Victoria was very considerate of her and had already made arrangements.

"I see..." Rochelle thought for a while, then stood up abruptly and strode into the bedroom. She then pushed out a large luggage bag and said, "I'll join you then."

If she could not persuade Samantha otherwise, she could only follow along.

Samantha hurriedly held her hand. "Don't. You... you can't go. Jonathan won't let you."

Jonathan was overly possessive. He did not mind if Rochelle was not constantly within his direct line of sight, but he would never allow her to leave his area of surveillance.

"If you insist on following me, that means we'll all be living under Jonathan's watch. Then we can't hide the baby from him, which also means we can't hide it from Timothy."

"Agh, so annoying! Why can't Jonathan, of all people, just die already!" Rochelle kicked the big luggage bag angrily.

She took a deep breath and her beautiful facial features were all scrunched up. "But I can't be at ease if you go alone."

Samantha held her hand and smiled mysteriously. "Don't worry, I'll have company."

Rochelle was surprised. "Who's going with you?"