Forbidden Passion
Chapter 329 Want Her Dead

Phoebe's temples throbbed. She was silent for a few seconds before saying. "Do you have a bit of conscience? I'm in a completely unfamiliar place. If I don't check in first, do you want me to sleep on the street tonight?" Evelyn knew her previous words were a bit harsh. She said, "I'm worried about Donovan. Since you're already there, find him first. I'm sure he has a place for you to stay."

"What if I can't find him?" Phoebe asked.

Evelyn, "That's impossible. Don't curse Donovan."

Phoebe closed her eyes tightly in frustration. "Not once since I got off the plane have you asked me once if the flight was tiring or if I felt airsick. I know you probably think I am picked up off the street, but you don't have to show such obvious favoritism."

With that, she hung up the phone.

John looked up and saw Phoebe in the rearview mirror, her chest heaving with anger. He said, "Phoebe, what you just said..."

Phoebe saw the confusion in his eyes and gave a bitter smile. "I'm her biological, not adopted."

John nodded thoughtfully.

Phoebe explained helplessly, "She really is my mom. I am feeling a bit upset and deliberately snap at her."

John chuckled. "I understand."

Children became very angry when facing obvious parental favoritism, and so did he, which was why he preferred to work outside rather than at his family's company.

The taxi soon arrived at their booked hotel. Many of the folks who came to Starfall City to gamble decided to dwell in this residential area.

After they checked in, Phoebe had a terrible headache and was jet-lagged, leaving her completely drained.

John escorted her back to her room and said, "Phoebe, rest for two hours first. I'll gather some information. There are a lot of people here, and many come and go from the casinos. We should be able to find out something." "Okay," she replied.

With a splitting headache, Phoebe took a quick shower and collapsed onto the bed.

She did not know how long it had been. When she woke up, the setting sun was casting a golden glow over everything outside.

Still feeling dizzy, Phoebe checked the time on her wristwatch, only to realize it was still set to her home country's time. She then checked her phone. It was six in the evening. She had slept for five hours.

She struggled to sit up, her temples still aching, but she knew she couldn't waste any more time. She had to find Donovan.

He had been missing for several days. If he had run off and was hiding, at least he was safe.

The real fear was that loan sharks had gotten hold of him. Those people would stop at nothing for money, and if Donovan really fell into their hands, he might not come out whole. As she got out of bed, she heard the doorbell.

Phoebe walked over and saw John standing outside through the peephole. She opened the door to let him in. Seeing her still pale face, John asked, "Phoebe, are you still unwell?" Phoebe shook her head. "I'm okay, not too bad."

John was carrying some food. He placed it on the round table, took the takeout boxes out of the paper bag, and opened them all.

The room was instantly filled with the aroma of soup. Phoebe, who hadn't eaten anything on the plane, realized how hungry she was at the smell.

She sat down and started unpacking the utensils, asking, "John, do you find out anything about Donovan?"

"Yes, eat while I tell you." John sat across from her, his eyes softening as he watched her sip the soup.

Phoebe drank the soup and listened to John recount what he had learned.

Near the casino, there was a loan shark from whom many people borrowed money every day. In two hours, John had finally spoken with an insider. The individual told him that Ziegler had borrowed five million dollars from them.

Phoebe felt dizzy at hearing that number.

"How much do you say?" Phoebe asked.

Seeing her even paler face, John said, "Five million dollars. With interest, it's nearly six million now. If we don't pay it off soon, it's going to keep snowballing." Phoebe felt a sudden blackout. After a long pause, she gritted her teeth and said, "John, buy tickets to go back home. I'm not dealing with this." Nearly five million dollars was an impossible amount for her to come up with.

John pursed his lips. "Phoebe, calm down and listen. Besides the loan sharks, Donovan has also embezzled five million dollars in corporate project funds." Phoebe's spoon fell into her bowl. She was utterly devastated.

Despite years of hard work for the Reynolds Group, she had yet to earn five million dollars in total. While Donovan had managed to squander nearly ten million dollars in just a few months in Starfall City. Was he trying to ruin her and Evelyn?

"John, find out what the tallest building in Starfall City is," Phoebe said.

John asked, "Why do you want to know that?"

"I want to see if jumping off will get me a million dollars to pay off Donovan's debt." Phoebe was in despair.

Donovan had always considered himself superior. Though he didn't have noble status, he had the vices of one.

He had been working in Nova's finance department. Out of their long-standing friendship, Nova had promoted him to finance director, just waiting for him to get the Starfall City business off the ground before giving him a raise and promotion.

Instead of working properly, he had embezzled funds to gamble.

When she called Nova a few days ago, they seemed unaware of the situation. Now, two days had passed, and Donovan still had yet to show up. It was likely that Nova would find out soon.

Sure enough, speaking of Nova, he called as soon as she turned on her phone. She bit her lip and didn't avoid the call, resolutely answering it.

Nova sounded agitated. "Phoebe, have you found Donovan? He took off with the company's project funds!"

Phoebe said, "I just found out."

"What's with Donovan? I only allowed him to go to Starfall City because he's Theodore's brother-in-law, and I plan to promote him when he gets back. Now, does he run off with the money? He's betrayed my trust." Phoebe frowned. "Didn't you say it was because he's Theodore's brother-in-law? If your intentions weren't pure, to begin with, there's no trust to speak of." Nova was speechless.

After a moment, he relented, "Phoebe, return the money Donovan took within three days, and I'll let him go. Otherwise, I'll have to call the police." Phoebe hung up the phone immediately.

Problems followed one uopn the other, Phoebe felt something was off but couldn't pinpoint it. The only option now was to find Donovan and investigate. "John..." Phoebe started, but her phone rang again. She glanced at the caller ID and continued, "Did you find out where Donovan is?"

"Not yet. Both the loan sharks and the Adams Group are looking for him. He's afraid to show up, but at least we know he's not in their hands."