Forbidden Passion
Chapter 514 Sleep and Discard

Phoebe bolted out of her apartment building, yanking out her phone to hit up Cindy. First call? No answer. Second try? A guy answered the phone. "Cindy?" Phoebe asked, a bit thrown off.

"She's still snoozing," the guy said, sounding way too cozy. Phoebe's brain hit pause. Who the heck was this guy?

"Alright, I'll ring her later," Phoebe mumbled, hanging up.

Standing in the freezing cold, Phoebe's mind raced. 'Who's this dude? Cindy's new man? Since when does Cindy have a boyfriend?'

They were besties, and she had no clue Cindy was seeing someone. The guy's tone? Yeah, they were definitely a thing. This was huge!

Phoebe stood at the crossroads of her life. Left led to Cindy's place; she could totally bust in on them. Right led to her office, but she was so not in the mood to see Theodore. After yesterday's drama, the last thing she needed was him trying to kiss her again. No way.

Phoebe hesitated for a moment, then smirked and headed left. Forget about work; she was feeling off and didn't need anyone's approval.

In the dim bedroom, Patrick put the phone on the nightstand, grabbed his shirt, and started getting dressed. He noticed Cindy stirring in bed. Cindy was a wild sleeper, and the blanket had slipped down.

Patrick's breath caught. He leaned over and pulled the blanket up. "Didn't get enough last night? Stay still."

Cindy's eyes were half-open, still groggy. "Who was that?"

"Phoebe," Patrick replied.

Cindy buried her face in the blanket, then suddenly shot up. "You answered Phoebe's call? Don't you know your voice is a dead giveaway?" Patrick eyed Cindy, who was totally exposed. He narrowed his eyes. "Cindy, if you don't want to be stuck in bed all day, quit messing around." Cindy freaked out.

Feeling Patrick's eyes on her, Cindy grabbed the blanket and wrapped herself up. She stuck out her arm. "Give me the phone." Patrick sighed, bent down, and handed her the phone. Cindy unlocked it and saw a message from Phoebe sent two minutes ago. Phoebe: [I'll be at your place in ten. Hide the evidence.]

Cindy was speechless.

She tossed the phone aside, grabbed a nightgown, and started putting it on. "Patrick, hurry up. Phoebe's on her way. I don't want her to see you." Patrick paused while fastening his belt. "Am I not good enough to be seen?"

Cindy ruffled her hair. "It's not you, it's me. Don't you have a shoot this morning? Get moving."

Patrick felt a pang in his chest, super uncomfortable.

Cindy was already tidying up. Even though Phoebe wasn't a kid anymore, Cindy didn't want her to see any mess from her encounter with Patrick.. She quickly cleaned the bedroom and sprayed some perfume to cover any smells.

Seeing Patrick slowly buttoning his shirt, Cindy got anxious. "Can you hurry up? Let me do it."

Cindy rushed over, slapped Patrick's hand away, buttoned his shirt in record time, stuffed his sweater and coat into his arms, and pushed him out of the bedroom. Patrick got shoved all the way to the door, barely managing to slip on his shoes before Cindy booted him out with the trash.

"Take the trash with you," Cindy added, slamming the door shut.

Patrick stood in the hallway, the cold wind biting through him. A famous actor, kicked out like yesterday's garbage. If this got out, his fans would roast him for a year! Grumbling, Patrick threw on his sweater and coat, grabbed the trash, and headed for the elevator. Just as he got in, Phoebe burst out of another elevator like a whirlwind. Downstairs, Patrick's assistant saw him get into the car, wrapped in cold air. "Patrick, the paparazzi have been all over us. We can't keep visiting Ms. Croix so openly." Patrick's eyes barely opened, his sharp features looking even more intense. "Let 'em snap pics if they want."

The assistant sighed, "If they catch something, Laura will have my head. Patrick, didn't you say you were over with this? Why come back?"

Patrick shut his eyes, done with the conversation. "Just drive."

"Okay." The assistant buckled up. They were in a low-key Jetta, a perfect disguise. No way the paparazzi would guess Patrick would roll up in a Jetta to see his girl. Feeling pretty clever, the assistant was about to start the car when he noticed something in the rearview mirror. "Patrick, you..." "Shut up!" Patrick snapped.

The assistant fell silent. He wanted to mention, "Your shirt buttons are all tangled up," but hesitated. Instead, he ignited the car and gradually drove out of the compound. Back upstairs, the doorbell rang like crazy. Cindy thought Patrick had forgotten something. She opened the door, saying, "Why are you back? Oh, Phoebe, what are you doing here?" Phoebe was about to step in but paused, looking around and spotting another elevator descending.

She quickly ran over, peeking out the hallway window. She saw a tall, slender figure leaving the building. Phoebe craned her neck, trying to get a better look, but the floor was too high. She couldn't see clearly. Cindy stood at the door, shivering. "Phoebe, can we go inside? I'm freezing."

Phoebe hurried back and stepped into the apartment.

As soon as Cindy closed the door, Phoebe pinned her against the wall, eyeing the marks on Cindy's neck. "Who is he?" Cindy flinched. Under Phoebe's intense stare, she turned her face away. "We signed a confidentiality agreement. I can't say." "Confidentiality agreement?" Phoebe looked skeptical. "Aren't you two dating?"

"No, we're just... satisfying each other's needs." Cindy pulled Phoebe's hand off her shoulder. "Come on, let's take a seat."

Phoebe let Cindy lead her to the living room. She took off her coat and draped it over the sofa, still eyeing Cindy. "Cindy, do you like him?" Cindy sat cross-legged. "Yeah. If I didn't, I couldn't... you know. Phoebe, chill. I know what I'm doing."

Phoebe asked, "Does he look like Caleb Quinn?"