Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Ronald trembled uncontrollably on the other end of the line.

He wanted to tell her, 'Mrs. Yates, if you…have something to say about that scumbag— I mean, Mr. Barker, you should just go to him! There's no reason for you to come and punish a tiny little assistant like me.'

Ronald immediately felt lowly, weak, and pathetic.

Rochelle continued, "Are you free tomorrow night? How about we have a cup of coffee together?"

That question came as a bolt from the blue!

Could it be that Rochelle still did not give up on her intentions to hire him as an assistant?

Even though he loved money, he cherished his life even more!

Besides, he could still earn plenty of money while working for Timothy!

Ronald refused unhesitatingly. "I've been very busy recently, Mrs. Yates. Very, very busy. I don't even have time to sleep, let alone have coffee."

"Hehe." Rochelle's voice became colder. "What are you so busy with that you don't even have time for coffee? You'd better convince me with a good reason, or else you're obliged to have coffee with me!"

"I'm not lying to you, Mrs. Yates. I genuinely have no time tomorrow night!" Ronald quickly thought about his schedules, "I have to accompany Mr. Barker to a banquet tomorrow night and I really have to go!"

"Is that so?"

"Yes. I can assure you! If you don't believe me, you can verify it for yourself." Ronald told her the time and place of the banquet, as well as the organizer and all other related information in one breath.

He was worried that Rochelle would not believe him!

"Sigh, that's unfortunate," Rochelle said in a very regretful tone. "Another time then. Goodbye."

Ronald's anxious heart finally felt at ease after hearing the click on the other end.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and thought to himself, 'No next time. Please.'

…

Samantha poured a glass of warm water and handed it to Rochelle, saying, "Thanks for your trouble."

Rochelle took it and immediately titled her head back to drink it all in one gulp.

After piecing together Ronald's information, there was a 50% chance that Samantha's personal belongings were still kept at Timothy's place. The coming night was a perfect opportunity for them to act because Timothy would be out socializing.

Samantha thought about it for a moment and frowned again.

Rochelle asked immediately after seeing that, "Are there still any problems?"

Samantha said, "I'm just wondering whether or not my personal belongings will be kept in the villa or in the hotel that he always stays in."

"I can answer that for you: they're in the hotel!" Rochelle replied immediately.

"Why are you so sure?"

A cold smile appeared on Rochelle's lips. "Because Timothy is disobedient. He argued with Old Madam Barker because of what happened to you and he doesn't go back to the villa too often."

That was the last thing Samantha wanted to see. It was also why she agreed with Timothy that she would hide the divorce.

She never expected things to reach such a stage!

Samantha found it difficult to comprehend Timothy's disobedience.

Although Timothy treated Samantha terribly and was very cold to outsiders, he was extremely dutiful and caring to Old Madam Barker. How did everything end up like that?

Could it be that he was acting not only in front of Samantha but in front of the old lady too?

Did he really love Harmony so much that he would do anything for her at everyone's expense?

'Enough!'

Samantha shook her head and avoided thinking about Timothy.

Her utmost priority then was to find out whether she had divorced Timothy. Whoever he loved had nothing to do with her!

She should stop worrying about his affairs!

After calming herself down, Samantha said, "In that case, we'll go directly to the hotel tomorrow night, find a way to get into his room, and locate that divorce certificate!"

Rochelle nodded. "Yes!"

The phone rang all of a sudden and Rochelle glanced at the caller ID. There was a touch of impatience in her expression when she saw that Jonathan was the one calling.

Although she was given a bit of freedom, she generally still lived under his watch most of the time.

It was very annoying.

Rochelle did not want Samantha to worry too much about her affairs and squeezed out a smile. "I have to go back, Sammy. You can stay here with peace of mind. Jonathan's people won't be here, and no one will discover you. I'll come by to pick you up tomorrow morning after getting Blockhead off my tail."

Samantha answered, "Okay. Go back then. You don't need to worry about me. I'll see you tomorrow."

After she left, Samantha took a quick shower and leaned on the bed to give Matthew a video call.

After chatting with Matthew for more than an hour, she reluctantly ended the call but did not feel sleepy even as she lay down on the bed.

She was unsure what the cause of her insomnia was. It could be because she was separated from Matthew, or because she was going to steal the divorce certificate the next day, or maybe because...she had returned to Capital City again.

Capital City was a place where all her bad memories were made and she had somewhat of an aversion to it.

However, it was also apparent that Capital City was where she made the best moments in her life and was once happy, albeit only for a short time. All of that came from Timothy too.

The irony was uncanny.

Samantha could only hope that things went smoothly the next day so she could bring an end to her stay at Capital City.

…

At eight o'clock the next evening, Rochelle drove Samantha and arrived at the hotel.

Rochelle used her connections well in advance and Samantha was able to change into a housekeeping staff's clothes. Samantha put on a Bluetooth earpiece and pushed a housekeeping trolley upstairs.

Meanwhile, Rochelle stayed in the hall downstairs so she could be notified in time if anything untoward happened.

Since she had lived there for a certain period before, Samantha was already familiar with the place. She took the elevator upstairs, went directly to the door of the room, and swiped the key card to enter.

As soon as the light was switched on, the room in front of her burst into her eyes.

The layout was the same as three years ago, and some of the lingering memories seemed to play right in front of her.

Samantha closed her eyes abruptly.

'Things aren't the same as they were three years ago. Whatever happy moments I experienced here were all a lie.'

'They're all big fat lies that broke my heart to pieces!'

She reopened her eyes after a few seconds and her emotions were no longer fluctuating.

Time was of the essence, so she searched the room swiftly.

She had no choice but to search in every nook and cranny because the suite was rather huge.

She could not find it in the table, the chair, the cupboard, or the dressing room...

However, she was a little surprised when she looked at the dressing room.

She thought that Harmony would have at least stayed there at some point during those three years. After all, they were about to marry. To Samantha's amazement, there were no women's clothes in the dressing room.

Of course, it could also be possible that Timothy spent his nights at Harmony's house.

It was probably a good thing that Harmony never stayed there, or else Samantha would feel her eyes turn sore if she saw Harmony's clothes there!

She searched the entire room and found none of her belongings. All that was left was the safe in front of her.

However, she respected Timothy's privacy back then and never asked him for his password.

Her only recourse was to guess blindly!

Just as Samantha was about to do a proper guess, Rochelle's anxious voice came from the Bluetooth earpiece.. "Bad news, Sammy. The scumbag's back!"