Forbidden Passion
Chapter 645 Awake

Superstar Entertainment had three whole floors in the building, decked out with all the bells and whistles, making it one of the top dogs among the new entertainment companies.

Phoebe strolled into the office, and Lori hustled in with a tablet, dropping a document in front of her. "Ms. Ziegler, we nabbed this rumor-spreader online yesterday. He's been talking smack about Noah. The PR team wants to know if you wanna hit him with a lawyer's letter as a warning."

Phoebe skimmed the document, her brow furrowing. "Pass the evidence to the legal team and let them handle it."

Lori nodded, "Got it. Also, Ms. Watson called. She wants to chat about a new variety show over lunch. You free?"

"Tell her I'm in. Anything else?" Phoebe asked.

Lori continued, "Alfonso called. Noah's down with a nasty cold and won't be in for a few days. Good timing to dodge the reporters camped outside."

"Sick?" Phoebe recalled Noah's call last night. His voice did sound off; she figured he was just in a funk.

"Yeah, he's got a bad cold."

Phoebe pursed her lips, "Alright. Tell all department heads to meet in Conference Room 2 at 9:30. No excuses for being late."

"Yes, ma'am," Lori turned to leave but hesitated at the door. "Ms. Ziegler, Ernest's fans are going after Noah online, saying he's bullying newbies 'cause he's a senior."

Phoebe looked up, "Do I need to spell out how to handle this? If needed, hire some trolls to mess with them."

Lori grinned, "Got it!"

Phoebe's rule was simple: she wouldn't start a fight, but she sure as hell wouldn't back down from one. If someone dared to mess with her on her turf, they'd get what was coming.

Noah's fans were fierce. After his injury trended yesterday, they kicked off a wave of online battles.

Then Ernest posted on Facebook, apologizing but throwing shade at Noah, which only fired up Noah's fans more, sparking another round of clashes with Ernest's fans. The PR team kept tabs on the chaos, and now Ernest was too scared to show his face.

But Noah's fans were relentless. Those mocking Noah couldn't handle the heat and felt they were being unreasonable. After getting roasted, Noah's fans were totally pissed. Still, Noah's fans were a bit shaky.

At the disbandment concert, Noah and Phoebe's eye contact was sweet, but now Noah's fans felt uneasy.

They didn't want Noah to be some love-struck fool. He was still young and shouldn't be bogged down by feelings.

In the end, whether fans truly liked celebs or just craved a sense of power was up for debate.

Following Phoebe's orders, the PR team hired a bunch of trolls to wage an online war against Noah's haters, who quickly went into hiding.

The Facebook storm left Ernest scolded, and he faked being sick to skip program rehearsals.

Vanessa got wind of it and was fuming over Ernest's lack of backbone.

"If he can't handle this little hiccup, what's he gonna do down the line? If he can't cut it, we'll find someone who can." Vanessa's voice was dripping with anger.

Madison held the phone a bit away, "Vanessa, I'll try to talk some sense into him again. He's our top earner right now."

Vanessa, not wanting to deal with Ernest herself, passed the buck to Madison. "Fine, you handle it."

After hanging up, Vanessa grabbed a fruit basket and headed out of the elevator, making a beeline for the hospital room. She'd been bending over backward trying to win over Theodore. Too bad Theodore didn't give a damn.

Vanessa got to the hospital room door, which was slightly open, and heard Taylor's voice inside. Madison pushed the door open and walked in.

Theodore was already awake, leaning against the headboard, looking a bit better than yesterday. His eyes swept over indifferently.

Seeing it was Vanessa, his eyes darkened, and he spoke coldly, "What are you doing here?"

Vanessa walked over, her eyes scanning the room. She saw Taylor and Sandra sitting on either side of the bed, hogging the closest spots.

Vanessa placed the fruit basket on the bedside table and said, "Theodore, how you feeling today? Still hurting?"

Before Theodore could answer, Sandra butted in, "Miss Fitzroy, you still got the nerve to show up here? If it weren't for you, would Theodore be in this mess?"

"What are you getting at?" Vanessa shot Sandra a cold look.

"I heard the guy who stabbed Theodore said you were behind it. Is that true?" Sandra's tone was calm, like she was stating a boring fact.

Vanessa's face went pale. She looked at Theodore. No wonder his gaze was so complicated earlier; he suspected her too? Vanessa snapped back, "It wasn't me, Theodore, you gotta believe me!"

Theodore looked away, coughing a few times, "Whether it was you or not, we'll know when the investigation wraps up."

"You don't believe me?" Vanessa looked at Theodore, hurt and disappointed, "Theodore, I have no beef with Phoebe. Why would I do this?"

Taylor, who had been listening, looked more confused and frowned, "What does this have to do with Phoebe?"

Taylor only found out about Theodore's injury this morning. After rushing to the hospital, she was so worried about his injury that she forgot to ask why he got hurt.

In the past two years, Theodore always had bodyguards with him, and no one dared to approach him.

Sandra's face darkened. She had stayed in the hospital all night, and when Taylor arrived in the morning, Theodore had just woken up.

She and Theodore had a silent agreement not to mention why he got hurt, not wanting Taylor to know that Theodore was injured because of Phoebe.

Sandra had her own reasons. She hoped Phoebe would never be mentioned in her life, but now Vanessa had spilled the beans.

Sandra said calmly, "Taylor, here's the deal. Ms. Ziegler came back and started an entertainment company. She's got a big star under her. His crazy fans thought Ms. Ziegler was treating him badly. To stand up for their idol and break free from Ms. Ziegler's control, one of them took a fruit knife and stabbed her. Theodore happened to be there and saved her. Don't blame Theodore. He and Ms. Ziegler were married for four years. Even though they're divorced, the past feelings are still there. He couldn't just watch Ms. Ziegler get stabbed to death in front of him."

Before Taylor could say anything, Vanessa sneered, "You seem to know everything so clearly, like you were there."