Forbidden Passion
Chapter 594 Phoebe in His Memory

Theodore cracked his eyes open, locking onto James with a cold, ruthless stare. A weird smile crept across his face.

"You made me save her first. I did. Now you want me to clean up the mess? Mr. Fitzroy, do I look like I got nothing better to do?" James's face went pale, his lips quivering.

He begged, "Theodore, I know you hate me and Sophia. I know Phoebe's still in danger, but please, understand a father's heart. She's my only daughter left. Can you just go see her, just for a moment?"

Theodore looked away, like staring at James any longer would drag up bad memories. "Leave. I think I've repaid any debt I owed you."

James never thought Theodore would cut ties so cleanly. He looked at Theodore, shaking. "Theodore, Vanessa got kidnapped because of you. How can you just walk away?"

Grace came back with a lunchbox and caught James's accusation. She was instantly pissed and stormed over.

She yelled, "How can you be so demanding? Theodore didn't save Phoebe first; he dropped five billion dollars to save Vanessa. Now she's well-fed and recovering in the hospital, with all the bills covered by Theodore. What more do you want? Should Theodore be her servant to repay her debt for being kidnapped?"

James, usually a nice guy, had spoken out of line. He blushed at Grace's comeback.

James shot back, "Vanessa went through hell for no reason. Isn't it right for you to pay for her rescue? If Theodore hadn't pushed the kidnappers to the edge, they wouldn't have beaten her half to death."

Grace was fuming, pointing to the ICU. "The one beaten half to death is Phoebe. She's still in the ICU, unlike Vanessa, who's already up and causing trouble."

James's face turned ghostly. "I'm not talking to you."

Grace was livid, seeing James's unreasonable behavior. No wonder Vanessa turned out to be someone who'd steal another's husband.

What a messed-up family.

"If Miss Fitzroy is sick, she should see a doctor. Theodore is not a doctor. Don't come to him for everything. He's busy and has no time for these trivial matters." Grace made a shooing gesture. "Please don't bother Theodore anymore." James's pleas got him nowhere. Thinking of Vanessa's situation, he steeled himself and knelt before Theodore with a thud.

James pleaded, "Theodore, I'm begging you. Just go see her, just for a moment."

The last time James knelt before Theodore, it nearly cost Theodore Phoebe. Theodore had developed a psychological aversion to James's kneeling.

He didn't help James up but stood, his voice icy. "James, please have some self-respect. Don't exhaust the last bit of respect I have for Sophia." With that, Theodore walked away, turning his back on James.

James looked at Theodore's cold, resolute back and wept. After a long while, he stood up, supporting himself on the ground, and stumbled away. Grace pursed her lips.

Even though she thought Vanessa was no good, seeing James's gray hair and his kneeling for Vanessa made her feel a bit sympathetic.

She looked at Theodore's back, then at the closed ICU door, and that bit of sympathy vanished.

Phoebe was still lying in the ICU; she didn't need to feel any sympathy for James.

In the afternoon, Evelyn came to the hospital. Seeing Theodore still guarding the ICU door, she walked over and sat beside him. "Still worried about her?" Theodore turned to look at Evelyn. She was way calmer now than when she first found out Phoebe had been kidnapped and tortured into the ICU.

Evelyn had weathered a lot of storms in her life. The tougher things got, the stronger she became.

"She's been out for three days. I don't know when she'll wake up or if she'll even want to see me when she does," Theodore said.

Evelyn sighed. "Phoebe's always been a smart cookie. I remember when she was in elementary school, we were staying with the Vanderbilt family. My paycheck barely covered sending two kids to school. During the school's anniversary, Phoebe got picked as the cheerleading captain but had to buy her own uniform."

Evelyn continued, "She never mentioned it at home, quietly collecting trash to sell at the recycling station. When I found out, I felt she had embarrassed me. Without asking why, I beat her and sternly told her not to collect trash again. She's so stubborn. Since I wouldn't let her sell trash, she used the money she had already earned to buy popsicles and sold them outside the amusement park on weekends." Theodore listened quietly. It was the first time he heard Evelyn talk about Phoebe's childhood. Phoebe had been smart and business-minded from a young age. "And then?" Theodore asked, his voice rough.

"It was scorching hot back then, and she came back tanned. When I asked what she had been doing, she wouldn't say. She earned enough money to buy the uniform, but the teacher thought she was too tanned and didn't fit the school's image, so they gave the captain position to another girl. She came home and cried, and that's when I found out why she had been collecting trash."

Theodore's heart ached.

Evelyn added, "The biggest difference between Phoebe and Donovan is that Phoebe never says what she wants. She quietly works for it, while Donovan clearly tells me what he wants, even if it makes things harder for the family." Theodore's nose tingled, and his heart felt like it was being torn apart.

Indeed, if Phoebe hadn't been kidnapped, if she weren't on the brink of death, she would never have confessed her feelings for him.

Phoebe hid her feelings so deeply that he thought he had never touched her heart, but she had liked him for a long, long time.

He took a deep breath, his voice trembling. "Why didn't she say anything?"

Evelyn looked at the closed ICU door and sighed. "She saw me working hard for others since she was little. She felt sorry for me. With Donovan being so thoughtless, she had to be sensible to make me worry less. Over time, she developed a nature of only giving and not asking for anything."

Theodore's insides were in turmoil, his heart aching with every beat. Reflecting on the past four years, Phoebe had never asked him for anything.

And whatever he wanted, as long as Phoebe had it, she gave it to him, even if his demands were often absurd and unreasonable. She never turned him down.

Evelyn exhaled, seemingly finding the atmosphere too heavy. She pretended to be light-hearted. "Theodore, do you want to see Phoebe's childhood photos?"

Evelyn opened her phone's photo album and found pictures of young Phoebe. She handed the phone to Theodore. "Look, the dress she's wearing is the cheerleading uniform she worked so hard to buy. I found it in Donovan's room while organizing the album."

Theodore looked down at the photo of the rosy-cheeked Phoebe, his eyes tightening, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.