Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Chapter 217: Nothing More Than a Sacrificial Lamb

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Samantha’s smile disappeared immediately.

Staring angrily at Samantha was the most anyone could do, because they had practically no time to do anything else.

Phones were ringing continuously throughout the entire office lobby so they had to keep on answering calls.

Samantha walked silently to her work station, just in time for the landline on her desk to ring. She pursed her lower lip slightly and picked up the handset to answer it.

A scathingly unpleasant remark filled her ears.

Samantha immediately understood what had happened after hearing that.

She received lavish praise from netizens when she did the news report the previous night. Most of the comments were optimistic, but her reputation had taken a big hit the following morning.

The praises she had received were replaced by a sea of negative comments.

She did not have time to look at Waybo, but she was almost certain that the negativity would plague her Waybo comments and private messages. Had that not been the case, the public would not be so angry that they would call the station just to berate and complain about her.

The reason was because Linda, at eight in the morning, had posted a statement that could be suspected of being a suicide note. She spoke about how she had neither power nor influence, hence why no one believed her even though Selby committed such a heinous act towards her. During that period of time, her personal life had been exposed and she received countless death threats. With the addition of the previous night’s news broadcast, everyone accused her of planning and instigating the whole thing. Even her parents suspected her of having mental issues, and she became incredibly depressed because she felt that there was nothing for her to live for anymore. She finally decided that the best way to clear her name was by taking her life.

The post immediately attracted the attention of netizens as soon as it was uploaded. Everyone started to worry that something had happened to her and they actively tried to contact her. At the same time, they were also helping the internet police locate her. Policemen were promptly dispatched to search for her and she was found at a motel nearby the university.

She was lying unconscious on the bed after swallowing a large number of sleeping pills.

The police immediately sent her to the hospital to get her stomach pumped. Her life had been saved, but she was still unconscious.

It was Linda’s friend and roommate who came forth to inform the public of the situation. Her words were ruthless and cutting due to the sheer anger and sadness that she was experiencing.

She posed a few questions on Waybo.

The first was directed to Professor Cornell. If he really was as innocent as he said he was, she questioned why he would call Linda to his office on a certain night and spend two hours alone inside with her. She also asked why Linda came out teary-eyed and disheveled.

Her second question was directed to Lychee TV, asking why they would broadcast the news without getting to the bottom of the truth. Lychee TV was influential enough to convince everyone that the professor was innocent and that Linda was the villain, when clearly it was Linda who had suffered!

Finally, she asked Samantha whether the latter had been too eager to climb up the ranks and make a name for herself, further questioning whether that motivated Samantha to join hands with the professor and humiliate Linda. Perhaps it was just a case of powerful people helping each other because they shared mutual interests and believed that they could achieve their goals through unethical means.

Those questions stirred netizens’ thoughts as soon as it was posted.

As if unsatisfied at the magnitude at which things were developing, they heartily began commenting and reposting, causing it to go viral in an instant. It appeared on the trending searches and continued to climb to the top.

However, the netizens’ last straw was when an official account broke the news that it was Selby’s second time committing such an act.

It implied that he was a serial offender!

The first time was said to have happened five years ago, where something similar happened between him and a female student of his. At the time, the incident was swept under the rug in the exact same manner, with the female student disappearing after being driven mad.

Only a few people knew about it because the Cornells had deliberately covered it up, but the truth was bound to come out sooner or later.

At the end of the post was a comment [Bad things never stay hidden for long. I knew the truth was going to come out sooner or later. See? It’s happening right now, isn’t it? Those who enabled the assaulter are even more despicable. Lychee TV and Samantha are all enablers!]

Netizens had become increasingly resourceful and were able to dig up all sorts of information.

The post spurred everyone into becoming detectives and a plethora of information was dug up within a short period of time.

It was discovered that such an incident did happen in the past, but no one could locate the student who was driven mad because it had been deliberately covered up.

On the other hand, Selby, Lychee TV, and Samantha were three clear entities, and everyone’s anger was concentrated upon them.

Carl walked out of the office and headed straight to Samantha’s workstation. His expression was extremely sour but he said calmly, “The general manager wants you to go to his office.”

His view of her had changed somewhat but it took only one night for her to cause trouble, and a very huge one at that.

He lamented the regrettable nature of his recent recruits.

Each one of them gave him a headache!

Samantha nodded without saying anything and got up to walk outside.

Harmony looked at her straight posture and sneered disdainfully. Samantha’s career was on borrowed time from that moment onward.

When Samantha’s figure disappeared from her line of sight, her gaze turned to the nameplate on Samantha’s workstation and smiled even more proudly.

…

As Samantha got to the door of the general manager’s office, she took a deep breath and tidied her appearance before knocking on the door.

“Come in.”

Samantha pushed the door open and walked in.

The general manager got up from behind the large desk and said to her, “Let’s go to the sofa.”

Samantha nodded and followed him there. She took her seat opposite him only after he had sat down.

The general manager had been through numerous trials before and his face remained calm at that point in time. He looked at Samantha and asked insipidly, “I’m sure you’re aware of what had happened?”

“Yes,” Samantha responded softly.

The general manager looked at her composure and wondered if she was simply pretending or whether she had something in mind.

He knew she was a bright woman and did not beat around the bush with her. He spoke bluntly, “This has swelled into such a huge issue that no one can bear to withstand the surge of public opinion.”

“I was the one who brought you in, and I have constantly been very optimistic about you. I certainly hope to keep you around in Lychee TV, but...if you can’t deal with this properly for me, I’m afraid that you’ll have to be sacrificed when push comes to shove.”

The general manager was a kind-hearted man but he also had a decisive and ruthless side.

Samantha understood what he meant. If she failed to handle the matter well, she would be discarded in the same way Walter was.

In addition to having to resign, her name would be tainted in infamy and she would no longer be able to continue down that career path!

The general manager even smiled at her and said, “I hope you don’t let me down, Ms. Larsson.”

…

After leaving the general manager’s office, Samantha went to the bathroom and washed her face.

Once her mind had sobered up, she held her cell phone and dialed Selby’s number.

The call was immediately answered as if the other side had been waiting for her call.

Before Samantha could even begin speaking, Selby spoke ahead of her.