Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Chapter 190 – Her Traces Had Disappeared

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Samantha was in a buoyant and bubbly mood when she stepped out of Lychee TV.

Justice did exist in the world, and what was rightfully hers would always belong to her. No one could take that away from her regardless of how they plotted against her.

Whenever she was happy, her first thought was to share that happiness with Timothy.

She picked up the phone and glanced at the time, noting that it was almost five in the evening.

It would take roughly 40 minutes for her to reach the Barker Group from Lychee TV and her arrival would be just in time for dinner.

She could go for a candlelight dinner with her husband.

Samantha acted on her thoughts and booked a taxi through her ride-hailing app. Her car arrived in due time, and after she got in, she sent a WeTalk message to Timothy.

Unfortunately, Timothy did not respond to her message. She figured that he was busy and so did not bother him anymore.

When the car arrived at the gate of the Barker Group, she got out of the car and walked straight in.

Samantha entered without being stopped because both the doorman and the receptionist recognized Samantha as the wife of the CEO. She then took the CEO’s exclusive elevator up to Timothy’s floor.

Ronald had been notified by the front desk and came over to greet her. He smiled and said, “Hello, Mrs. Barker. What brings you here today?”

“Oh, I just happened to be running some errands nearby so I came over to have dinner with Timothy. Is he busy?” Samantha explained and asked.

Ronald nodded. “He’s in a meeting right now.”

He looked at his watch and continued, “It’ll take probably another half hour before he’s done. You can wait for a moment at his office, if that’s alright.”

“Sure.”

Ronald led Samantha to the CEO’s office. Samantha could see that Ronald was very busy, so she did not keep him around and stayed in the office by herself.

“Let me know if there’s anything you need.”

“Okay.”

Ronald exited the office and closed the door gently.

Samantha used to be very familiar with Timothy’s office because she went there often during their relationship together in the past. She was in her university days at the time but Timothy had already begun to take charge of the Barker Group.

She was considerate of his heavy workload, so the majority of their dates were held in the office because she wanted to see him.

While Timothy was hard at work, she sat on the sofa to read, took video lessons, or laid down to watch television series.

Spending time with each other even without talking was already sweet enough for them, although they did look up and glance at each other on occasion.

As time passed, more and more of her belongings were left at the office and it practically became her second home.

That explained the various cute objects that looked markedly out of place with Timothy in the office. For example, when a guest sat on the sofa to drink coffee, they would be surprised to see a stuffed doll in the corner of the sofa.

Another example were the all-pink curtains. When they were drawn closed, the entire room looked very dreamy…

A couple of years have passed since then and the layout of Timothy’s office changed a lot. The color became much colder, and the furnishings were more refined, cold, and stiff.

All traces of her seemed to have disappeared…

Samantha felt hints of unease in her heart. She got up from the sofa and looked around in an attempt to find something that was related to her.

In the end, she walked over to his desk and saw various papers scattered all over. Timothy’s cell phone was also there.

That would explain why he did not reply to her WeTalk message.

She then glanced across the tabletop, only to find that the photo of them which she once placed on his desk was all gone.

It was not really that big a deal.

After all, they were both starting anew. If the stuff from the past was gone, all she had to do was make new ones. It could form the symbol of a new beginning.

Samantha remembered the photo she took with Timothy on Barrkjaer Island and decided that she would get it printed. Then she could choose a beautiful photo frame for it and place it on his desk.

Thinking of that improved her mood.

Samantha started to feel a bit thirsty, and since she did not want to bother Ronald, she decided to go out of the office herself and walk toward the pantry.

After returning with a cup of warm water, she heard Timothy’s phone ringing on the desk.

She glanced at the device and hesitated.

Neither she nor Timothy were the kind of people who looked at each other’s phones, but Samantha was a little worried that it might be a work call that involved something urgent…

After some hesitance, she walked over and looked at the screen.

The caller ID above wrote: Bunny.

Such a contact did not remotely look like it had anything to do with work matters. It sounded more like the nickname of someone close.

Samantha recalled the names of Timothy’s friends and could not seem to place her finger on anyone that had a name like ‘Bunny’.

‘Bunny… …ny… …mony… Harmony?’

Samantha’s heart skipped a beat when that thought appeared briefly in her mind.

That was impossible. Was her imagination so vivid that she associated completely unrelated things?

She had once paid a surprise visit to the office to try and confirm her suspicions, but there was nothing to be found. Could it be yet another episode of overthinking?

Samantha could not help but purse her lips as she stared at the phone screen without blinking.

The easiest way to stop thinking about it was to answer it. Listening to the caller’s voice would answer her question once and for all.

However, it was inappropriate for her to answer Timothy’s calls like that.

Despite her conflicted feelings, Samantha’s heart eventually prevailed over reason. She stretched out her hand slowly and picked the device up.

The call, however, hung up automatically a second before she swiped to answer.

When that happened, Samantha did not know whether she felt more relieved or whether her curiosity was piqued even more.

The sudden sound of footsteps was heard from the direction of the door, so Samantha quickly hid her emotions and placed the phone back down.

As soon as she looked over, she saw Timothy pushing the door and walking in.

Samantha smiled at him and asked, “Have you finished the meeting, Timothy?”

“Yeah.” The man strode over and reached out to embrace her slender waist. He planted a gentle kiss on her forehead before gazing down at her and asking hoarsely, “What’s the matter?”

Samantha placed her arms around his neck and raised her head slightly to look at him. “Lychee TV’s general manager called me this afternoon to inform me that I’ll be crowned as the winner of the competition. He also invited me to join Lychee TV, and I agreed. So, I was thinking, if…you have time to have dinner together tonight?”

Timothy frowned slightly when he heard that. “There’s another meeting later.”

“I see…” A flash of disappointment streaked through Samantha’s eyes. “Well, work is important. We can always do it next—”

Before she finished speaking, Timothy had already picked up the landline and dialed an internal number. He ordered right away, “Postpone tonight’s meeting, Ronald. I’ve been invited to a very important dinner at the last minute.”

Ronald was surprised. “What dinner is that?”

Who could have the power to compel Timothy into postponing the meeting?

Timothy replied solemnly, “Mrs. Barker’s celebration dinner.”

Ronald was speechless.

He knew he should not have asked. Asking was a surefire way to get himself drowned in all those affectionate lovey-dovey acts.

Ronald hung up the phone silently.

Timothy put down the handset and looked back at Samantha with a smile. “No matter how busy I am, I will always have time to accept my wife’s invitation.”

Samantha’s eyebrows curled into little arches as she smiled. She then tiptoed and kissed him on the lips.

…

As the car drove out of the Barker Group, Samantha glanced at Timothy from the side. He was paying attention to the road ahead as he manned the steering wheel and drove. All of a sudden, the question of who ‘Bunny’ was popped up inadvertently in her mind.

Samantha wondered to herself, ‘Should I just ask about it?’