Once Bitten, Twice Shy

A dial tone was heard as Harmony was happily wondering how she should tell Timothy about the news. All of a sudden, however, her expression changed slightly as a sudden thought occurred to her.

She swiftly swiped her fingers to end the call.

She could not let Timothy know about it.

Although she could be certain that Timothy did not like Samantha, the child in Samantha's womb was still his and it might be possible that he still wanted it.

The Barkers were an influential family who valued the passing down of their bloodline. Samantha was an insignificant person if she was not pregnant, but there was already a baby in her belly and Harmony had to face that problem head-on.

Harmony had gone through so much just to reach that stage with Timothy, and she did not want to argue or have any conflict with him for any reason whatsoever, even if the chance of that happening was only one in ten thousand...

With that thought, she held her phone up again and decided to call 'him'.

A second later, she shook her head again.

She had to keep it secret from 'him' too.

Her past failures had led 'him' to be extremely unhappy with her, and 'his' impression of Samantha was so high that Samantha was now on the verge of surpassing her.

If she told 'him' about her plan and he happened to have other ideas, it would only be a tremendous hindrance to her.

Taking into account the situation as a whole, the only way her plan would be foolproof was if she destroyed the child in Samantha's stomach without any outside help.

Once that was done, she would naturally be together with Timothy.

Getting rid of Samantha and becoming Mrs. Barker would be equivalent to completing the deal with 'him'. Finally, 'he' would look at her with admiration.

She no longer needed to fear anyone if she had both 'his' backing and Timothy's love.

That included the old hag!

It was not as though Harmony was determined to go against Old Madam Barker and never tried getting on the latter's good side. Unfortunately, the old lady had poor judgment and preferred a vile woman like Samantha over a better granddaughter-in-law like Harmony.

Old Madam Barker never showed her any respect despite her untiring efforts to please the old lady, so she decided not to waste her time on it anymore.

By the time Harmony became Mrs. Barker, she would not need to worry about not being able to handle that bag of bones!

Harmony could not resist smiling when she fantasized about the beautiful future in front of her.

The next day, Harmony drove to Northred Prison where Penelope was serving her sentence.

A prison guard walked into the visiting room and brought Penelope along, who was wearing a gray prison uniform. Harmony glanced through the transparent glass and looked at the sorry state of the girl who used to be pampered while growing up.

The prison uniform looked huge as Penelope's thin arms extended out of the armholes. One could visibly see that she was just skin and bones, while her eyes were fragile, dull, and had a touch of craziness.

Harmony was not too surprised by that. She sat on the chair expressionlessly and waited for Penelope to sit down before slowly picking up the telephone handset.

She then raised her hand to knock on the glass and motion to Penelope.

There seemed to be a brief lag in the speed at which Penelope reacted as she finally reached for the handset. She placed it against her ear but did not say anything.

Harmony did not mind and said lazily, "I'm sorry for not visiting you sooner, Penny. I've been very busy recently. How are you doing?"

Penelope kept quiet as if she had not heard a single thing. Her eyes remained fixed at the desk and no one could decipher her thoughts.

"Your mother is doing pretty well, by the way." Harmony continued.

'Mother.'

Penelope's stiff eyes moved slightly. She looked up and made eye contact with Harmony while asking in a hoarse voice, "How's Mommy?"

Harmony smiled. "I promised you I'd take good care of her, so I did. She has a place to stay after I got someone to rent their place to her, and I gave her just enough living expenses every month. You don't have to worry about her."

There was a hint of gratitude in Penelope's eyes. "That's good. Thank you. You're the only one who's willing to help me."

All those so-called friends who once surrounded her were the same ones who trampled over her after her downfall. Harmony was the only one willing to help her, from the past up to the present.

However, Harmony sighed deeply and had a sad look.

Penelope frowned slightly. "What's the matter?"

Harmony bit her lower lip gently and hesitated for a moment before beginning her words, "Penny, Tim already has…a child with Samantha. Samantha is scared of Tim's relationship with me and is using the child as leverage. She insists that Tim distance himself from me and even wants him to send me abroad again without ever allowing me to return."

"I can still take care of your mother because I'm in the country right now, but there are many things I can't do if I'm abroad. I'll be too far to help if something happens to your mother. If it comes to that, then... "

She kept quiet and sighed once more, but that sigh had conveyed everything she wanted to say.

Once she was kicked out of the country, she would no longer be responsible for Penelope's mother.

Penelope grasped the microphone tightly and spoke in a sharp voice. "Why... why does Samantha want to kill every last one of us? She snatched everything from me and she has everything. Why is she still not letting me go?"

Harmony immediately showed concern after seeing Penelope's agitation. "Don't get too worked up, Penny, this is just a worst-case scenario. It hasn't come to that yet, so don't worry. I'll continue to take good care of your mother as long as I'm still in the country."

None of her words seemed to get to Penelope, who became more frantic and asked, "Why does Samantha have to treat me like this? Why can't she just give me a break? What on earth does she want?"

"Calm down, Penny!" Harmony's voice changed suddenly. It became icy, sullen, and uncanny. "Look at me. Look into my eyes. Hey! Look at me!"

Penelope subconsciously looked into Harmony's eyes.

Harmony stared deep into her eyes and spoke sincerely. "We've been friends for many years, Penny, and I do sincerely hope that you'll be well. I introduced Tim to you back then because you liked Tim, and Tim has a good impression of you too, hence why I paired the two of you up. You almost had everything too, if it hadn't been for Samantha who reappeared all of a sudden and disrupted everything."

"I don't understand why Samantha still had the nerve to continue pestering Tim even though he already broke off the marriage with her... You, or I for that matter, could never bring ourselves to do such a thing, which is probably why she succeeded…"

Harmony said regretfully, "But things have already reached this point. Tim and Samantha have a child now, and all you can do is accept reality. Be well here. I'll take good care of your mother. You must be tired today, so make sure to get some rest. I'll visit you again some other time."

Penelope's emotions calmed down a bit as she nodded gently.

Harmony got up and was about to leave, but a sudden thought occurred to her and she added one final remark.