Forbidden Passion
Chapter 574 A Murder Case Without Suspects

Phoebe shot up from her seat. Even though she had suspected all along that Donovan had been set up, she had only suspected Darlene, who was missing. She never saw it coming that Ruby and Vanessa were scheming behind the scenes, trapping Donovan deep.

"Why'd she do it?" Phoebe's voice shook.

Bishop shrugged. "Beats me. You should ask Ruby. But I heard she's tight with Vanessa. Maybe messing with Donovan was just to mess with you."

Phoebe stumbled back into her chair, staring blankly at Bishop. "So Donovan overheard Ruby and Darlene talking, had a huge blowout, and when her scandal hit, she offed Donovan?" Bishop stifled a laugh. "Ms. Ziegler, this ain't a gangster flick. It's not all about whacking people. From what I know, Ruby didn't have the time to pull it off."

"Then why'd Donovan die?" Phoebe was baffled.

The cops called it a murder, but with no solid evidence, they couldn't pin it on anyone and had to close the case.

The whole thing was a dead end. The brake pads were messed with, and a small timed bomb was put in the fuel tank, but no suspects.

It was just nuts!

Bishop shook his head and sighed. "I don't know. Maybe it was just his bad luck. Ms. Ziegler, the real villain here is Theodore. Why don't we team up and take him down?"

Phoebe squinted at him. "Mr. Reynolds, that's why you wanted to meet, huh? Sorry, even if I'm not with him, I'm not with you either."

Bishop blinked, looking a mix of disappointed and resigned. "What a shame."

Phoebe couldn't help but stare at Bishop's eyes. He and Theodore had similar features, but their eyes were totally different.

Theodore's eyes were sharp and cold, full of authority, while Bishop's were rounder, making him look more carefree and reckless. No point in talking anymore.

Phoebe stood up. "Mr. Reynolds, whether you had a hand in Donovan's death or not, I'm gonna keep digging. Goodbye!"

Bishop picked up his coffee, took a sip, and watched her leave, a cold smile creeping on his lips.

Bishop thought, 'We'll meet again for sure.'

Phoebe got back to her car, her mind spinning with all the info. She'd kept it together in front of Bishop, barely holding back a breakdown. She'd been too careless.

When Donovan had his accident in Starfall City, she thought that he was acting out of infatuation, missing the bigger plot.

Turned out Vanessa and Ruby had been plotting against her all along.

After all that scheming by Vanessa and Ruby, what were they really after?

Phoebe sat in the car for a long time. When she picked up her phone, her hands were shaking. She took a deep breath, found Ruby's number, and called. Ruby answered quickly, her voice weak. "This is Ruby."

Phoebe pressed her lips together. "Where are you? We need to talk."

Ruby didn't waste time and sent her an address. Phoebe punched it into the GPS, tossed her phone on the dash, and drove off.

Ruby's apartment complex was near Donovan's workplace. The place was big, with snow-covered greenery, and the vibe was pretty nice.

Phoebe parked her car and headed into the complex, taking the elevator up.

When she got to the apartment door, she barely raised her hand to knock when it swung open. Ruby stood there, looking rough.

"Come in, no need to change shoes." Ruby turned and walked inside. Phoebe followed, shutting the door behind her.

The place was small but cozy. There were a bunch of photos on the TV cabinet and a photo wall nearby.

Phoebe wandered over to the photo wall. The pics were clipped up all artsy-like, mostly of Ruby and Donovan together.

Seeing all those photos, Phoebe realized Ruby and Donovan had been to a ton of places and snapped a lot of pics. Meanwhile, she barely had any photos with Donovan on her phone. She couldn't even remember the last time they took a photo together.

Ruby came back with a glass of water. Seeing Phoebe by the photo wall, she walked over. "Donovan wasn't into taking photos. At first, he'd only snap pics of me. Sometimes, I'd sneak a shot of him. Later, he probably didn't want to let me down, so he always went along with it."

Phoebe turned to Ruby, noticing the sadness in her eyes. The harsh words she had planned to say got stuck in her throat.

She had come to grill Ruby, to demand answers. But now, all she felt was a shared sadness.

Ruby bit her lip, tears welling up. She took a deep breath. "I'm the one who deserves to go to hell, not him. Is it to punish me for all the bad things I've done?"

Phoebe looked back at the photos. Donovan looked genuinely happy with Ruby.

But the happier he had been, the more crushed he must've felt when he found out Ruby had betrayed him.

What was Donovan thinking before he fell into the sea?

Phoebe couldn't reconcile with Ruby, nor could she comfort her. She said, "Everything that happened to Donovan in Starfall City was your doing, wasn't it?"

Ruby looked shocked. "How did you know?"

Phoebe turned, her gaze icy. "Ruby, drop the act. I just want to know, since your target was me, why did you go after Donovan?"

"The Reynolds family cares about status. Your marriage to Mr. Reynolds was already a stretch. If you had a brother who was always causing trouble, they'd see you as a burden." Phoebe stared at Ruby in disbelief. "You're all nuts."

"Yeah, looking back, I was crazy. Why did I listen to Vanessa? I caused Donovan's death." Ruby's tears fell, full of regret.

Phoebe turned away. "Ruby, one last time. Was Donovan's death planned by you and Vanessa?"

"No!" Ruby said firmly. "I'd rather die than hurt him. And Vanessa said she didn't do it."

Phoebe frowned. "Aren't you her right-hand woman? Don't you know if she killed Donovan?"

"Since I started dating Donovan, things changed with Vanessa. She was wary of me betraying her but still had me do stuff. But she never hinted at wanting to hurt Donovan."