Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Chapter 238: A Comeback Against All Odds

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Harmony picked her phone up and looked at the screen. There was a notification from Waybo that caused a sudden change in her expression as soon as she glanced at it.

She set down her glass of red wine with a bang and clicked into Waybo. She then went to Samantha’s profile and saw that she was starting a live broadcast.

The title was ‘Exclusive Interview with Professor Cornell: The Truth Is Out!’

Although it was almost midnight, many people kept tabs on the developments, and netizens had flooded into Samantha’s live broadcast.

They were curious to see if she had found any key evidence that could absolve Selby of the accusation or whether she simply wanted to play tricks.

Busybodies like them loved it when things snowballed.

Harmony frowned. She did not think that Samantha could still dig out any news at such a point.

She had carefully planned each stage and Samantha had been resoundingly constrained in the past few days.

Did Samantha really intend to attempt a last-ditch struggle?

Harmony wanted to see how far Samantha was going to argue about it.

Since there were too many people entering the live broadcast, it took several clicks before Harmony could get in.

A couch was displayed on the screen, with Selby sitting on the left and Samantha sitting on the right. The camera was pointed in their direction.

Samantha first gave a brief account of the entire incident and turned the camera to Selby so he could say everything he wanted to say.

The barrage of comments began with mocking, scornful comments and there were various unsavory remarks leveled at them. However, everyone was soon overcome with shock as Selby began to reveal the truth.

None of them expected the hidden hand behind everything to be Selby’s parents Brian and Sarah. They had a reputation for always being upright, yet they had committed countless acts that went against human morality and even violated the law.

More astoundingly, Selby decided not to act in the interests of his family and chose not to protect his parents’ misdeeds. He renounced their so-called familial affection and chose to stand on the side of justice at the expense of his flesh and blood.

Netizens’ comments gradually became more and more positive.

After Selby revealed the truth, his honesty seemed to have rubbed off on Linda as well. She uploaded a post online that said: [I’m sorry, Professor Cornell. I’m sorry, everyone. I lied. Professor Cornell is a good person and he didn’t molest me. I was the one who failed my thesis and was afraid it would affect my offer, so I went to look for him at his office that night and begged him to change my grades. He didn’t want to, so I got angry and faked this entire act. I’m sorry, I’m really, really sorry.]

Public opinion did a 180-degree turn as soon as she posted that statement.

Selby had changed from a heinous villain to a deeply affectionate kind angel, bore the burden of disgrace, and was willing to bring his own family to justice.

Everyone felt distressed to see the extent of his kindness and righteousness.

Those who had commented nasty things about Samantha in the past also apologized to Samantha in the live broadcast.

One of them wrote: [I’m sorry, Ms. Larsson. I was a narrow-minded person. You truly are a good anchor who only insists on the truth.]

A second wrote; [I was blind. I apologize for the things I said before, Ms. Larsson. Thank you for your dedication. We would’ve lost two good people without it.]

The third wrote: [I’ll reflect on myself and learn not to just repeat what everyone says in the future. I hereby apologize to Professor Cornell, Ms. Larsson, the Barker Group, and the always perfect Timothy Barker!]

It did not take long for topics such as ‘Selby bringing his parents to justice’, ‘Apologies to Ms. Larsson’ to shoot up the trending searches. All related news had occupied the top ten spots.

At long last, they had finally reversed the crisis and secured a comeback against all odds.

…

After watching everything, Harmony swept her hands across the table and sent her wine crashing onto the floor. Both the bottle and glass fell to pieces, with the bright red liquid inside spilling all over the floor.

Destroying her wine did nothing to quell her anger and she was so incensed that her resentment was suffocating her.

It would have taken just a tiny bit for Samantha to be completely defeated by her. Why did Samantha have to be so lucky every time?

The phone rang suddenly.

Harmony looked over fiercely and saw that the caller ID was ‘him’. It seems that ‘he’ found out about it as well and called her at first instance.

She could already guess what kind of nasty things ‘he’ was going to say to her. She did not want to answer the call just for someone else to remind her of her failure.

Unfortunately, she could not afford to provoke ‘him’ at that moment.

Harmony bit her lower lip and took a few deep breaths. She suppressed her anger as best as she could and reached for the phone to answer the call.

She was reprimanded and ridiculed before she had even said a single word.

Harmony’s expression had soured to a point where she looked downright hideous, but she listened quietly to the rant without retorting. Once the other side was done, she gritted her teeth and said, “Please give me another chance!”

‘He’ said bluntly, “Do you deserve one?”

She had let ‘him’ down again and again even though the plans and the opportunities were perfect every single time!

“It won’t happen a third time.” Harmony’s tone was firm. “Sir, you wouldn’t have to lecture me if I fail again. I’d be so ashamed of myself that I wouldn’t be able to bring myself to continue serving you in this capacity.”

“When the time comes, I’ll go back to where I came from.”

She would never allow herself to revert to the person she used to be.

Having worked so hard for so many years, she was determined to get power, status, and... Timothy!

‘He’ said nothing and hung up after a few seconds’ silence.

Harmony breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the dial tone. That was a sign that ‘he’ was willing to give her one last chance.

Failure was not an option.

Harmony had to succeed or die trying!

…

It was already past midnight at Selby’s villa and the entire residential area was quiet.

Timothy walked to the car with Samantha and opened the door of the passenger seat for her. He shielded her head as she got in, then walked around to the driver’s seat and started the engine as soon as he hopped in.

He glanced at Samantha from the side and said softly, “Close your eyes and sleep if you’re tired. The journey home will take more than an hour.”

Timothy’s cell phone rang before Samantha even had time to speak.

He took out his phone and answered, “Hello.”

Samantha did not know what the other person was saying, but she noticed a slight change in his handsome face.

When she saw such an expression on his face, her initially relaxed body tensed up right away. She stared intently at him and asked rather nervously, “Timothy, did... Did something…happen?”

She was feeling a little more fearful than usual at that moment.

Was another storm about to come shortly after they had just weathered through one?

Timothy listened to what the other person said and ended the call. He then slammed his foot on the gas pedal and replied concisely to Samantha, “Something happened to Ronald.”

‘Ronald?’

Samantha had forgotten him completely.

Ronald had helped her and Renee to lure the bodyguards away. Did Ronald end up being captured by those bodyguards?

Could those bodyguards have killed Ronald after failing to catch Samantha and Renee?

Samantha grew more and more afraid as she thought about it. She covered her mouth with both hands and asked in a faltering voice, “Is Ronald… Could he...be.... Is he…dead?”