Forbidden Passion

Madison looked at Vanessa in disbelief. "What do you mean?"

What was the truth behind that kidnapping years ago? Why did Vanessa say the person Theodore saved was never kidnapped? Was she saying Vanessa orchestrated the whole thing? Vanessa lifted her eyelids and looked at her nonchalantly, "You already guessed it, didn't you, Madison? If you want something, you have to stop at nothing."

Madison's heart pounded as she looked at Vanessa. She had never realized Vanessa was so ruthless.

Back then, Phoebe was whipped to the brink of death. If Theodore had been a little later, she wouldn't have survived that day.

If all of this was Vanessa's doing, it was horrifying.

"Vanessa, there are plenty of men out there. Why are you so hung up on Theodore??" Madison couldn't understand why someone would go to such lengths for one person. Was it worth it? Vanessa sneered, "I could ask you the same. There are plenty of men out there, and you've been with quite a few. Why are you so hung up on Edward?"

"I'm not like you," Madison said, feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable. "I never had Edward. The unattainable always seems the most desirable."

"And you think I had him?" Vanessa's voice was softened, as if she was questioning both Madison and herself.

Madison rolled her eyes, "You didn't have him? Then who was dating Theodore since high school? If you hadn't gone to Nyxonia, would Phoebe have had the chance to marry Theodore?" Madison was furious.

She used to be young and naive, thinking Vanessa was like a princess from a fairy tale, destined to marry Theodore and live happily ever after.

Madison was so invested in this fairy tale ending that she was very unfriendly to Phoebe, whom she thought was beneath their family's standards.

Vanessa scoffed, "You think I wanted to go to Nyxonia?"

She had chosen to go to Nyxonia, hoping it would force Theodore to come after her, confess his love, and promise to marry her. But after three months, she received the news of Theodore and Phoebe's marriage. At that moment, her world fell apart.

Madison pinched the bridge of her nose. "Now is not the time to dwell on the past. I just want to know, what are you going to do about Queen Entertainment?"

Vanessa was taken aback by the question, then slumped back on the sofa like a deflated balloon, "What can I do? Sell it. While the market is good, it can still fetch a decent price."

Madison looked at Vanessa in disbelief, "Vanessa, how can you casually talk about selling Queen Entertainment? Do you know how many people's dreams are tied to that company?" "What do other people's dreams have to do with me?" Vanessa rubbed her brow, "I have a headache. Can we not talk about this right now?"

Madison glared at Vanessa.

How could there be such an unambitious woman in the world?

Madison thought she was already unmotivated, but Vanessa was even worse. Over the years, following Vanessa, she increasingly understood why Theodore didn't like Vanessa. Vanessa was indeed beautiful but weak inside, needing to rely on men to survive. However, truly excellent people admire strength.

The ones who could conquer them were equally strong women.

So when Theodore chose to marry Phoebe, it wasn't because Phoebe succeeded in getting pregnant with his child, but because Phoebe had what he needed.

Madison stood in the living room for a long time until she heard Vanessa's snoring. She then turned and left helplessly.

Phoebe drove home after work, and as her car entered the neighborhood, she saw a tall figure standing at her doorstep from a distance.

As the car lights flashed, the person quickly turned and left. When the car stopped at the door, Phoebe got out and saw the figure disappear around the corner, making her frown.

She looked back at the house, past the small garden, and saw Ruby playing with Hubert, Boris, Noomi, and Ethan in front of the floor-to-ceiling window on the first floor.

Phoebe withdrew her gaze, wondering what that person was looking at.

Guadalupe, sitting in the car, saw Phoebe not going inside and rolled down the window, "Ms. Ziegler, is something wrong? Why aren't you going in?"

Phoebe pressed her lips together. The neighborhood had strict security, and outsiders couldn't easily get in. The person didn't look like a bad guy. But she felt uneasy.

Phoebe walked to the car, opened the passenger door, and got in, "Guadalupe, drive a bit forward. I need to go to the property management office."

Regardless of whether that suspicious man was a threat or not, she couldn't afford to let her guard down. Her family was vulnerable too old, too young, and no match for a grown man in terms of strength. Guadalupe drove her to the property management office. The manager, seeing her come in, greeted her with a smile, "Ms. Ziegler, what brings you here so late?"

"Mr. Gonzalez, there was a suspicious stranger at my door. Can you pull up the surveillance footage for me?"

Every corner of the neighborhood had high-definition cameras, and entering the community required strict identity verification. There were also security patrols at night, making it hard for unauthorized people to enter.

So when Francis Gonzalez heard about a suspicious stranger, he quickly said, "Ms. Ziegler, wait a moment. I'll take you to the surveillance room."

"Thank you."

Phoebe followed Francis to the surveillance room, where an entire wall was covered with screens. Two uniformed security guards were diligently watching the monitors.

Seeing them enter, the guards stood up to greet them. Francis waved his hand, "Pull up the surveillance near Ms. Ziegler's house."

The guards didn't ask much. The residents here were either rich or powerful, and even if a cat went missing, they had to help find it.

So with Francis's command, they acted quickly.

The footage was soon pulled up. Phoebe gave the time frame, and they quickly locked in and started fast-forwarding. Soon, the suspicious person Phoebe mentioned appeared on the screen. "Stop, slow it down from here," Francis instructed.

The guard switched to slow motion. The person seemed to intentionally avoid the cameras, never showing his face, but his formal attire didn't make him look like a bad guy.

"Ms. Ziegler, do you know this person?" Francis asked Phoebe.noveldrama

Phoebe stared at the screen, her scalp tingling. If the others hadn't seen the person in the video, she would have thought she was seeing a ghost.

No wonder she found the figure familiar when she got out of the car.

But Donovan had been dead for three years. The police searched for a long time and found nothing. Donovan couldn't have survived.

Francis, not getting a response from Phoebe, turned to see her pale face and trembling lips. He was startled, "Ms. Ziegler, are you okay?" Phoebe shook her head. "I'm fine. No need to look further. Can you copy this footage for me?"