Forbidden Passion
Chapter 694 Phoebe's Unease

Patrick wandered over to the cabinet, grabbed a decanter and some wine glasses, and poured the whole bottle of red wine into the decanter. He glanced over at Theodore, who was sprawled out with his legs stretched long. Theodore yawned like a lazy cat.

"Why do you think the kid Cindy's holding is mine?" Patrick asked, confused. Knowing Cindy, if she was really pregnant with his kid, she wouldn't have kept it a secret. Cindy would have come straight to him, demanding he pay half the abortion fee.

"What else could it be?" Theodore raised an eyebrow. "Phoebe's kid? Do you really think that's possible?"

Back then, Theodore was desperate to get Phoebe pregnant. He even forced himself on her despite her serious injuries.

But luck wasn't on Theodore's side.

Theodore had double-checked with Riley that Phoebe wasn't pregnant before agreeing to the divorce. If there had been even a tiny chance, he wouldn't have let her go. Patrick looked at Theodore's self-righteous expression and his mind wandered. "Theodore, do you have issues with your sexual performance?"

Theodore was speechless.

He grabbed a tissue box from the coffee table and chucked it at Patrick. Patrick caught it effortlessly. "My bad. Don't get mad."

Theodore shot him a sidelong glance. "If you're so capable, why isn't the kid yours?"

His words hit a nerve. Patrick lowered his eyes and poured two glasses of wine from the decanter. "What could I do?"

"Is it really not yours?" Theodore frowned.

Patrick shook his head. "Not my kid."

"That's weird." Theodore sat up a bit. What was with that strange and tense atmosphere back then? "What's weird?" Patrick asked.

Theodore couldn't put his finger on it, but something about Phoebe and the others seemed off.

Patrick saw Theodore's expression and said, "I think you're overthinking it. If Cindy had secretly given birth to my kid, would she dare bring it to you?"

Seeing Theodore still frowning, Patrick added, "Come on, it might just be her neighbor's kid."

"Yeah." Seeing Patrick so sure, Theodore let it go. After all, it couldn't possibly be his.

Thinking of this, Theodore felt a bit down. He picked up his wine glass and downed it in one gulp.

Patrick followed suit, not wanting to be outdone. They sat on the sofa, drinking glass after glass, finishing the bottle of red wine like it was water.

Phoebe was so startled by Cindy that her slight tipsiness vanished. She spent the whole night anxious and came downstairs yawning the next morning.

Cindy was downstairs playing games with Hubert, Boris, and Noomi. Laughter filled the air. When Phoebe came down, the kids rushed over, each hugging one of her legs. "Mommy, hug me." Noomi, unable to outcompete Hubert and Boris, stretched out her chubby little arms, asking Phoebe to pick her up.

Phoebe bent down to pick her up and kissed her soft, fragrant cheek. "Cindy came over early to play with you. Are you happy?"

"Happy!" Hubert said, standing on tiptoe to pull Phoebe's arm. "Mommy, Hubert wants a hug too."

Boris chimed in, "I want a hug too."

Phoebe squatted down, put Noomi on the ground, and had them stand back to back. Then she picked up all three of them in one go. The kids squealed in surprise.

Despite Phoebe's slim figure, she had developed some serious arm strength over the years from carrying the kids. Cindy clapped and laughed on the side. "Phoebe, you're getting stronger." Phoebe put Hubert, Boris, and Noomi on the sofa, where they laughed and rolled into a heap. The living room was filled with joyful laughter.

Cindy said, "I bought breakfast. Go eat something. I'll watch them."

Cindy hadn't joined a new project recently and was just shooting some video content for her studio to post online. She was on vacation at home and came over early to help with the kids. Phoebe yawned again and rubbed her tear-filled eyes, saying, "I didn't sleep well last night. I still have to go to the office later."

Cindy said with a faint smile, "I'm free. I'll drive you."

Phoebe nodded in agreement.

After breakfast, Phoebe went upstairs to change clothes. She saw the dress she had taken off last night and put it in a bag, planning to take it to a professional dress care center for cleaning over the weekend before returning it to Theodore. When Phoebe came downstairs, Pamela and Evelyn were in the living room watching the kids. The kids waved goodbye to Phoebe as she was about to leave.

Phoebe and Cindy got into the car. Seeing the dark circles under Phoebe's eyes, Cindy said with a touch of guilt, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought Boris in front of Theodore last night and made you worry all night."

Phoebe opened her mouth but then closed it, tears welling up in her eyes. She said, "It's okay. I'm just too scared."

Cindy was amused by Phoebe, saying, "Why are you so afraid of him?"

"You haven't seen him go crazy," Phoebe said, still shaken. "He may seem normal now, but when he goes crazy, he can do anything." Cindy was at a loss for words.

What had Theodore done to make Phoebe so afraid of him?

Cindy said with a sigh, "I knew you'd overthink it, so I came over early to find you. Last night, Patrick barged into my house like he was catching me cheating, probably tipped off by Theodore, thinking I secretly had Patrick's child." Phoebe looked at Cindy speechlessly. "If I remember correctly, my children were already born when you broke up."

Cindy said, "Yes, maybe Theodore miscommunicated, making Patrick think it was his child. Anyway, no matter how they communicate, Mr. Reynolds won't suspect you. So don't worry."

"That's good," Phoebe replied.

Cindy glanced at her and said with a beaming smile, "Get some sleep. I'll wake you when we get to the office."

"Okay."

When Phoebe got to the office, she called Alfonso to tell him that Vanguard Magazine had reserved the December cover for Noah and asked him to coordinate the photoshoot schedule with them.

Alfonso admired Phoebe greatly and expressed his concern about Noah's recent state. "Ms. Ziegler, did Noah recently go through a breakup? He seems distracted lately. A few days ago, he locked himself in the recording studio and sang sad songs all day."

Noah's feelings for her were obvious, but as long as Noah didn't say anything, she couldn't either. She had to play dumb.

After hanging up, Phoebe leaned back in her chair and sighed heavily.

Before she could finish her sigh, her phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, Phoebe tensed up and quickly answered, "Mom, what's wrong?"

Evelyn's voice trembled a bit. "Phoebe, is that dress in the bag in your bedroom expensive? The diamonds on it are fake, right?"