Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Samantha leaned closer to listen to what he was saying, and her body froze slightly when she finally heard him.

He called out, "Daddy."

After a few seconds, she lowered her eyes and treaded softly out of the room.

She knew that Matthew was unhappy when she told him not to call Alan 'daddy' earlier that evening.

Despite all the love she had showered on him, she was still unable to fill the fatherly hole in his heart.

She remembered when Matthew still did not speak and was a little autistic at the age of two. Many other children in the residential area started making fun of him, saying that he was afraid to speak because he did not have a father.

Even if Samantha could scold those children and get them to leave, Matthew would still be in a bad state of mind.

She wanted to communicate with him during those times but there was nothing she could do if he neither spoke nor responded to her.

When Alan found out about it, he brought Matthew to look for those bullies and told them that he was Matthew's father. He then threatened to beat up anyone who dared to bully Matthew in the future!

From then onward, Matthew became much closer to Alan.

Samantha felt that it was somewhat inappropriate and talked to Alan about it, but Alan told her that it could be considered a form of treatment. If things were not allowed to continue that way, Matthew's autistic tendency might be aggravated.

In the end, she decided to listen to Alan's advice for Matthew's sake.

When he first spoke, the first word he said was when he called her 'mommy', while his second word came when he called Alan 'daddy'.

She corrected him many times and told him that he should be referring to Alan as 'Uncle Alan'. Most of the time he only addressed Alan as 'Uncle Alan' in front of her and continued to call Alan 'daddy' behind her back.

In hindsight, the reason why Matthew so stubbornly called Alan 'daddy' was simply because he wanted a father like any ordinary child.

Other children had a father, but he only had a mother.

Although he did not understand the adult world that much, he still knew that he was different from all the other children.

As a result, he had no friends his age and had only the superhero action figure that Alan gave him as his companion.

He made stubborn remarks, saying that he disliked playing with other children because he found them to be too dimwitted. In fact, he was probably afraid that he would not be able to get along with the other children.

Matthew had reached three years old that day and it would not be long before he had to go to kindergarten. He would have to integrate into normal life sooner or later, and there was always a risk his autism would relapse and cause him to return to his previous state again if he was made fun of by the other kids. If that happened, the blow it would have on Samantha was truly unimaginable.

She...had never viewed that issue seriously.

Although she could do away with love, Matthew still needed a complete family. In that respect, she felt as though she had been...a little too selfish.

…

When the plane arrived at Capital City, Timothy and Ronald walked out of the airport. Harmony was already waiting for them, and her eyes filled with delight when she saw the man's tall and straight posture. She stepped forward, stood in front of him, then smiled and said, "You're back, Tim!"

"Yeah." Timothy raised his head slightly.

Ronald—who was dragging his luggage bag a couple of steps behind—rolled his eyes secretly.

After thinking about it for three years, he could never figure out why Timothy would abandon someone as beautiful, generous, capable, and kind-hearted as Samantha in favor of someone like Harmony.

As a diehard supporter of Timothy and Samantha, he still did not like Harmony even though Timothy's relationship with Samantha had ended badly.

Furthermore, the past three years allowed him to experience Harmony's true character first-hand. It was difficult for him to like Harmony, not even by a little bit.

Reporters, who had been lying in ambush for who knows how long, came charging towards them from all directions and surrounded the three people at once.

Timothy's remarks at the summit had already made its way back to the country, and it was clear that such a hot topic would never slide past the reporters.

One of the reporters went first. "Mr. Barker, regarding the marriage announcement you made at the summit, will Ms. Harmony Johnson be the future Mrs. Barker?"

A second asked, "Mr. Barker, there hasn't been any news about your intention to get married. Why announce it so suddenly? Could there have been…a happy accident?"

The implication in his words was markedly obvious and everyone's attention was drawn to Harmony's lower abdomen.

They were insinuating that the marriage happened in such a rush because she had gotten pregnant.

Harmony's face became stiff but it was rather fleeting.

A third questioned, "Mr. Barker, your grandmother—Old Madam Barker—once publicly stated that she would not accept Harmony. Has she given her approval prior to your announcement of the wedding date?"

The reason for that question could be traced to three years ago, when Old Madam Barker finally found out about Timothy's secret divorce with Samantha that resulted from Harmony's meddling. Samantha was then reported to have died sometime later, and Old Madam Barker kicked up a mighty storm at the Barker Group.

The old lady insisted that Timothy distance himself from Harmony and wanted Harmony to disappear from his side completely.

Her efforts were clearly unsuccessful.

Then came her harsh statement that she would never accept Harmony as a member of the Barkers.

Timothy frowned when he heard those reporters' questions. He was undoubtedly displeased and impatient since he was never fond of gossipy reporters to begin with.

It was even more frustrating when they got in his way just to ask him those questions.

Harmony saw the situation and was afraid that he would get angry. It would be bad if anything untoward happened since she had been doing charity work and established good social relations during the past few years.

Her relationship with those media companies was quite good too. Almost all of them accorded her with the necessary respect.

She smiled sweetly and said to the reporters, "My friends, thank you for showing your concern for myself and Tim. I'll sincerely invite everyone to the ceremony on the first of next month."

Her answer was a positive response that confirmed her marriage to Timothy on the first of next month. By then, she would officially become Mrs. Barker!

"As for any false speculations, I believe that experienced reporters like yourselves will know not to carelessly write news, right? I hope to receive your well wishes, everyone. Thank you."

That remark made it clear to the reporters that they would not be able to ask any further questions. At the very least, they had confirmed the bride and the wedding date: that news was already worth their fare to the airport!

The reporters stopped when they were ahead and congratulated the couple before getting out of the way.

…

After getting in the car, Ronald asked in a low voice, "Mr. Barker, will you be going back to the company?"

Before Timothy could speak, Harmony seized the opportunity and said, "It's been a few days since we last saw each other, Tim. I bought a lot of fresh food today and I'd like to cook something delicious for you. How about you have something to eat?"

By the time they finished the meal and had some post-meal fruit or whatnot, it would already be very late at night.

Ronald was speechless.

Harmony was simply too eager to seize every single moment she could get. Ronald had never seen such a desperate and reprehensible woman before!

Seeing Harmony staring wide-eyed and eagerly at Timothy, Ronald did his best to blink his big eyes at Timothy too.

'Choose me, Mr. Barker! Choose me!'

Timothy raised his gaze and was about to speak when the phone rang.. An inexplicable emotion appeared fleetingly within his dark eyes when he glanced at the phone screen.