Once Bitten, Twice Shy

When she finally asked that question, she felt as though her entire body had become much more relaxed.

At the same time, however, it was inevitable that she felt very nervous and began twiddling her thumbs unconsciously.

What could be the reason that prompted him to treat her like that?

Timothy’s handsome face wavered slightly as he listened to her question. It was impossible to tell from his expression whether or not he expected it.

After a moment’s silence, he finally said, “The day before the wedding, I received a call from that person. He told me that you were the second pawn that he planted and that I didn’t avoid you even though I managed to avoid Harmony.”

Samantha’s eyes widened suddenly. “And you believed that?”

She was unjustifiably accused of becoming that person’s pawn.

Did that person cast aspersions on her with that one phone call alone?

“Of course not.”

Timothy stared deeply at her. “You’re different from Harmony. I believe that your feelings for me are pure and you wouldn’t have been his pawn.”

That was more like it.

Timothy was not the kind of person who was brainless enough to just believe what others said.

“Then why did you break off the marriage?”

Timothy lowered his gaze and was silent for a few seconds. He then lowered his voice and said, “I wasn’t in the right frame of mind after the call ended. My mental state suffers whenever that person calls.”

“I then called over the psychiatrist who has been treating me all these years and asked him to stabilize my emotions, otherwise I won’t be able to be at my best during our wedding the next day.”

“But then... Once I woke up after a few hours’ sleep, there were some very bad memories in my mind.”

Timothy looked up at Samantha when he said that.

Samantha had an ominous feeling in her heart.

Sure enough, Timothy went on and said, “The memories of all your private contact with that person over the years came pouring out.”

Samantha had a sudden realization. “Was it hypnosis?”

Timothy’s lips twitched. “Yes, it was hypnosis. Memories of things that never happened were planted into my mind, but I just didn’t know it at the time.”

“The amount of trust I had in you since the beginning was proportionate to the severity of my breakdown.”

“That person did place a second pawn beside me, but it wasn’t you. It was...that psychiatrist, who was always by our side since my grandfather’s time.”

“When I was emotionally unstable and vulnerable, that person asked Harmony to come back and awaken my second personality. That was also the first time the second personality appeared.”

Samantha was shocked and speechless at this moment.

The second personality turned out to have forcibly awakened like that...

The reason Harmony could take advantage of Timothy was not because he trusted her, but because that person took advantage of Timothy’s love for Samantha and used it as the most powerful weapon to attack him.

That explained why several psychiatrists that she spoke with emphasized that love was the most powerful strength of all.

Love also happened to be a double-edged sword.

It took a while for Samantha to find her voice and she could not help but ask, “So... The person who broke off the marriage so heartlessly at the wedding wasn’t you, but the second personality?”

“Yes.”

Timothy spoke in a low voice, “The second personality was also the one who told Ronald to relay to you the reason why I broke the marriage off.”

Samantha was speechless.

It turned out that she had seen the second personality very early on...

All those days of suffering, sadness, and despair were all brought upon her by the second personality...

“You had already left by the time I woke up, and because I have no memory of the second personality awakening, in my mind, I was under the belief that I finally discovered your true colors. I couldn’t accept that, so I broke off the marriage angrily.”

“During that period, my mood was extremely unstable because of you, and I lived in a daze. I had intermittent slips in memory that severely affected my mental and physical health.”

“I had to receive lengthy treatment before I could gradually suppress the situation, but what I didn’t know was that the second personality would appear every so often. He maintained contact with Harmony, who hypnotized him to make sure he wouldn’t disappear.”

“That person had been planning to let the second personality slowly replace me in this body ever since he allowed Harmony to awaken the second personality. Everything was going well for them, but...you came back.”

“Deep down, I hated you. But above all that hate was love, and I loved you more than I hated you. I couldn’t control myself from getting close to you. Even though I know that you’ve betrayed me, I still wanted to take the chance and start over with you.”

“After we got back together, my mood became increasingly stable and the second personality rarely showed up anymore. That was when that person started losing control over the situation, so Harmony came out of the shadows and showed up in front of you to drive a wedge between us.”

“As for the second personality, I never realized it until after your miscarriage three years ago, when my mood fluctuated too much, and the second personality suddenly appeared.”

“I investigated in private before piecing every single thing together.”

“It turned out that my biggest enemy was myself.”

The second personality had no weaknesses at the time and only wanted to replace him. He knew that Samantha would not be spared once the second personality appeared.

Everything belonging to the main personality would be replaced.

He knew at the time that he could no longer control the second personality, and since he did not know when he would become perpetually dormant, he could only think about Samantha first.

He prepared all the escape routes for her.

Timothy’s tone at the time was so dull that it seemed as though he was talking about an unimportant matter. However, Samantha felt like she was riding a roller coaster, almost to a point where she felt like she was being driven mad.

His biggest enemy was himself...

No one would have dared to write a novel like that...

It never occurred to her that everything the mysterious person said was true.

From the first email he sent to her up to their last conversation, everything had been confirmed!

...

That mysterious person was also the one that had been leading her to reawaken Timothy’s main personality. Had that not happen, the current body would be inhabited by the second personality.

Then the man behind Harmony would be successful.

Samantha sighed severely and could not stop herself from feeling a chill down her spine.

Who was that person?

What was his relationship with Timothy?

Why was he doing all that?

Timothy seemed to have become the target ever since he was born!

Samantha bit her lower lip and looked at Timothy while asking, “Timothy... The person you’re talking about, this man behind Harmony... Who is he?”