Forbidden Passion
Chapter 590 Her Heart Shattered

In the apartment, Phoebe was barely hanging on. Those lashes had almost done her in. Plus, she'd trekked a long way in the freezing night, wearing nothing but thin clothes. Battered and burning up with fever, Phoebe was totally out of it.

Her wrists, tied up, were numb from the pain. She had no clue what time it was or when Theodore would come to save her.

Phoebe clung to consciousness with sheer willpower, refusing to pass out.

The door creaked open again, and someone walked in, stopping right in front of her. Phoebe could feel the person staring at her. After what felt like forever, they finally spoke.

"Ms. Ziegler, I offered a five-billion-dollar deal for each person, but Mr. Reynolds only managed to scrape together five billion. He can only save one of you. Do you think Theodore will save you or Vanessa first?" Phoebe's heart plummeted.

He could only save one. Would Theodore pick her?

"Honestly, I'm curious too. Let's not waste time. I'll call him, and we'll find out."

The kidnapper's voice dripped with malice. Phoebe's hands clenched into fists. She heard the phone connect and instinctively lifted her head.

Her eyes were covered, so she couldn't see a thing.

But through the light from the window, she vaguely noticed that this kidnapper seemed taller and more rugged than the one who whipped her last night.

The kidnapper from last night had been silent, but from the height of the whip strikes, she figured it was a woman.

The kidnapper put the phone on speaker. It rang forever without anyone picking up, and the kidnapper started pacing, clearly annoyed.

At the last second, the call was answered. Before the kidnapper could speak, Theodore's calm voice came through, "I choose Vanessa. Where do we exchange the hostages?"

It felt like a tidal wave crashed into Phoebe's ears, drowning out everything. Theodore's words, "I choose Vanessa," echoed painfully in her head.

Even though Phoebe had always known Theodore didn't care about her and only saw her as a tool, hearing him choose Vanessa so easily at the brink of life and death made her truly grasp the depth of her pain and despair. She had been fooling herself all along.

The kidnapper's voice came in and out, but Phoebe didn't register it. The moment Theodore abandoned her, she had already fallen into an abyss.

Phoebe's heart shattered.

Phoebe's feelings were dead.

The kidnapper hung up and walked up to Phoebe, his tone almost pitying. "It's a shame. You're the one who got left behind." Phoebe didn't react.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you. Your injuries should last a few days. Let's see if you can hold on until someone finds you."

With that, the kidnapper left the room.

The door closed, and Phoebe heard the people outside leaving. These kidnappers were smart. They had kidnapped two people but never put her and Vanessa together.

They were probably afraid that, like in TV shows, the two of them would team up to escape.

Soon, it was quiet outside. The kidnappers had all left. They didn't want to drag her along; even they had abandoned her.

Phoebe thought wryly, 'How laughable you are. 'Faintly, there was singing outside the window, a familiar melody, a familiar voice. It was Noah singing.

Phoebe's eyes filled with tears. Was she destined to die to the sound of Noah's song? If she had known love was this painful, she wouldn't have fallen so easily.

Theodore hung up the phone and stormed out of the office.

After a few steps, Theodore suddenly stopped and turned to Carol, who was trailing him. "I just heard a song in the kidnapper's call. The lyrics went something like, 'The North Star knows I love you.' Any idea who sings that?" Carol stared at his sharply defined profile, stunned. 'Seriously? At a time like this, Mr. Reynolds is worried about a song?'

Carol replied, "I need a moment to think."

"I'll give you three seconds," Theodore said, not breaking stride as he passed by James. But James suddenly grabbed his pant leg.

"Theodore, you have to bring Vanessa back safely," James pleaded.

Theodore closed his eyes for a brief moment, shook off James's grip, and kept moving.

Carol jogged to catch up. Three seconds later, she said, "The song is by Noah. He did a commercial recently where he sang it a cappella. It's on LED screens in all the big malls every day."

Before Carol could finish, Theodore, who was walking briskly ahead, came to an abrupt stop. Carol almost crashed into him.

"Mr. Reynolds?"

Theodore furrowed his brows, thought for a few seconds, and called out, "Lawton, check all the malls in Kedora playing Noah's commercial on their LED screens. Get the surveillance footage from after midnight last night and look for any suspicious vehicles or people. Narrow it down fast. I think Phoebe's hidden somewhere in the city. Go!"

"Yes, sir!" Lawton didn't waste a second and bolted out.

Theodore left the Reynolds Group with his team. The kidnappers were slick, making him place the five billion dollars in five different spots. Only after they got the money would they tell him where Vanessa was.

Theodore was worried Phoebe was still in the kidnappers' hands, so he couldn't risk any tricks. He followed their instructions, placing the five billion dollars in five different briefcases and dropping them at the specified locations.

But Theodore wasn't about to let them get away scot-free. He'd hidden trackers in the seams of the briefcases, ensuring that once the kidnappers took them, their movements would be exposed.

All the final locations of the briefcases pointed to the port. Theodore immediately led his team there. On the way, he got a call from Lawton.

"Mr. Reynolds, I've tracked Bishop's movements. He's at the dock right now."

Theodore punched the leather seat and cursed. He'd been played. The kidnapper was Bishop. He stared ahead with a grim expression. "Have you found Phoebe?"

Lawton replied, "Not yet. There are over 30 malls in the city with LED screens, and seven of them are playing Noah's commercial. There are eleven residential areas near these malls where you can hear the music. We're checking the surveillance footage in those areas."

Theodore furrowed his brows in frustration. "Hurry up."

After hanging up, Theodore grew increasingly anxious. Phoebe's voice had sounded very weak. She said she was in pain. Bishop might have tortured her.

How long could Phoebe hold on?

Theodore closed his eyes tightly, not daring to think further. He could only pray in his heart, 'Phoebe, hold on. I'm coming to save you.'

Several black cars sped into the dock. Black-suited bodyguards jumped out and, following the tracker, found the container at the dock.

The bodyguards rushed to the container, forming two lines on either side. Theodore walked briskly over, stopping a few steps away from the container, and said in a deep voice, "Open it!"

The bodyguards quickly moved to unlock the container. As the door opened, sunlight streamed in, revealing five neatly stacked briefcases inside. Vanessa lay deeper in the container, her body showing no signs of breathing.