Forbidden Passion
Chapter 614 That Person Looked a Bit Like Theodore

The car rolled to a stop outside Golden Apartment. Dawn was just breaking in Kedora, painting the sky a fiery red and lighting up the whole place.

Phoebe cracked her eyes open and mumbled to Edward, "Thanks for the ride. I'm heading up."

Just as she was about to step out, Edward grabbed her wrist, his eyes glued to her face. "Phoebe, can I see you again?"

Edward's eyes were full of hurt. "Don't shut me out. I just wanna be there for you, that's all. No pressure."

Phoebe sighed, "I'm beat. I'm going up."

Edward bit his lip. After a beat, he let go of her wrist and said softly, "Go rest. Don't stress. It'll all blow over."

"Okay." Phoebe pushed the door open, got out, and walked into the apartment complex without looking back. Once she was out of Edward's sight, she leaned against a tree and started to retch. Her hand clenched into a fist, the room card digging into her skin, blood dripping from the edge.

Tears welled up in Phoebe's eyes.

She slowly opened her palm and stared at the blood-stained room card. It read 1888. How did she mistake it for 8888?

"Phoebe," Evelyn's voice came from behind. Phoebe's body stiffened. She quickly clenched her hand, hiding the room card, and turned to face Evelyn.

Evelyn was carrying breakfast and hurried over. "Why are you just getting back? Where were you last night? I couldn't reach you."

As she got closer, Evelyn caught a whiff of alcohol on Phoebe. She waved her hand in front of her nose, looking at Phoebe with disdain. "Why were you drinking? Didn't you say you had a business dinner?" Phoebe's throat was dry, and she struggled to speak. "Business dinners always mean drinking. You know that."

"Did you forget what the doctor said? No late nights, no drinking. Did you even listen?" Evelyn nagged.

Phoebe watched Evelyn head towards the building and casually tossed the blood-stained room card into the trash. "I need to work. If I don't, how will we eat?"

Evelyn got mad. "Who told you to divorce Theodore? Now you see how tough it is?"

""I didn't say it was tough," Phoebe replied wearily.

They walked into the building and waited for the elevator. Evelyn glanced at Phoebe and noticed a fresh bite mark on her neck.

Evelyn asked, "Phoebe, what happened to your neck?"

Phoebe raised her hand to cover her neck, looking awkward. "It's nothing, probably a mosquito bite."

"A mosquito bite with teeth marks? Seriously?" Evelyn almost shouted.

Phoebe pressed her throbbing temples, knowing she couldn't fool Evelyn. Not wanting her to know she was assaulted, she pretended to be indifferent. "I'm a normal woman with needs. I just hired a male escort." Evelyn slapped Phoebe's back.

Evelyn was about to yell, but the elevator doors opened, and their neighbor was inside. Evelyn immediately went quiet.

When they got home, Evelyn was fuming. "Phoebe, have you lost your damn mind? Do you know how filthy those male escorts are? If you catch something, you'll regret it big time."

Phoebe was too wiped out to deal with Evelyn's rant. She kicked off her shoes and headed straight for her bedroom.

Evelyn trailed behind her, grilling her about where she found the escort and what his name was, insisting they drag him to the hospital for a check-up.

Phoebe shut the door and locked it, tuning out Evelyn's loud knocking. She made a beeline for the bathroom to take a shower.

The marks on Phoebe's body were brutal, clear signs of severe abuse. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the memories.

The more she tried to forget, the more the details clawed their way back into her mind.

Room 8888 was supposed to be the presidential suite of that hotel. Guests on the top floor were either loaded or important, definitely not someone she could mess with.

Phoebe rubbed her aching temples, feeling totally frustrated. She tried to convince herself it was just a freak accident, nothing more.

But the guy had a minty scent, just like Theodore's.

That thought freaked her out, and she shook her head hard to get rid of the crazy idea.

Why did she keep thinking everyone she met was like Theodore? Was she losing it from all the stress?

After her shower, Phoebe sat on the bed and picked up her phone, opening the delivery app to order some birth control pills. Her finger hovered over the screen for a long time before she tossed the phone back on the bed.

Phoebe lay on her pillow, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The doctor had already told her she couldn't have kids. Why torture herself with birth control pills? She couldn't get pregnant anyway.

For the next couple of weeks, Evelyn nagged Phoebe every day, telling her to respect herself and not to hook up with random guys, being irresponsible to herself.

Phoebe was fed up with Evelyn's nagging and regretted her lies. She kept promising she wouldn't do it again, and eventually, Evelyn let it go.

The company had a five-day holiday for the festival. Cindy invited Phoebe to go camping by the lake. Phoebe, thinking she hadn't had any fun in years because of work, happily agreed.

The camping site wasn't far from Kedora. Cindy drove to Golden Apartment to pick up Phoebe. Seeing that Phoebe had put on a little weight since the last time they met, she was pleased. "Phoebe, why didn't you bring Evelyn?" Cindy asked as Phoebe buckled up and they drove off.

Phoebe said, "She's got plans to play cards with her friends. No time to hang with us."

"Evelyn's pretty hooked on that, huh?" Cindy said with a smile.

"Yeah," Phoebe thought about how unreliable her mom was, playing cards non-stop even when Donovan had an accident.

Cindy glanced at Phoebe, noticing the dissatisfaction in her eyes. "Don't be so resentful. It's good she has something to do. Keeps her from nagging you to remarry."

Phoebe sighed, "If she didn't nag, she wouldn't be my mom. Just a few days ago, she tried to set me up on a blind date with her friend's brother's son, saying he works in software and has a bright future. I turned it down."