Forbidden Passion

Phoebe had lived for almost thirty years and had met all kinds of people, but she had never met anyone like Sandra.

Suppressing her discomfort, Phoebe pulled away from Sandra's grip and said flatly, "I don't care who you want to be friends with, but I won't be your friend." Sandra seemed regretful, "Ms. Ziegler, I don't mind, so why do you?"

Phoebe felt a burning sensation where Sandra had grabbed her. Phoebe said unhappily, "Goodbye."

Sandra watched Phoebe's figure fade into the distance, a mocking smile playing on her lips. 'Who wanted to be good friends with you?' she thought.

Sandra said this just to disgust Phoebe. Even if Phoebe wavered because of Theodore's words, Sandra's words would disgust her enough to give up the idea.

As for her kids, Sandra wouldn't tell Theodore about their existence so soon. They were her trump cards, and she had to keep them in hand; they might come in handy someday.

Sandra returned to the tea room. As she pushed the door open, a strong smell of alcohol hit her. Theodore, who was sitting in a chair, turned around sharply at the sound of footsteps. "Phoebe!"

When he saw it was Sandra, Theodore's face filled with disappointment, and his expression turned cold again. "What are you doing here?"

Sandra sat down opposite Theodore, smiling, "I heard you were eating here, so I thought I'd drop by. Can you finish all this food by yourself?"

Theodore picked up the decanter, poured half a glass of red wine, and drank it in one gulp. He put the glass back on the table, "Phoebe barely touched her food. If you don't mind, you can stay and have some."

With that, Theodore stood up, grabbed the suit draped over the back of the chair, and walked towards the door without a second glance at Sandra's displeased expression.

Sandra's face turned grim, "Theodore, instead of giving your heart to someone who will never reciprocate, why not look at the people around you?"

Theodore's back stiffened. After a long pause, he said, "Sandra, if you have truly loved someone, you will find that after everything, the person you still love is the one you loved from the beginning. Don't waste your time on me, and don't pry into my schedule. I'm not interested in you."

Sandra clenched her fists, glaring at Theodore's back, "Fine, when you regret this decision in the future, you'll realize how deep my feelings for you are."

Theodore sneered, opened the wooden door, and quickly left the Golden Harvest Diner.

After deciding to become a kindergarten teacher, Ruby went to the bookstore and bought many books on early childhood education, planning to find time to read them and refresh her forgotten knowledge.

When she returned to the villa area from the bookstore, she happened to run into Francis from the property management.

"Ms. Adams, I have a favor to ask," he said.

Looking at the chubby property manager in front of her, Ruby felt a sense of familiarity, reminding her of a high school classmate. "Francis, go ahead."

"Well, our property management picked some oranges from a farm to give to the residents. We're short-staffed today. Could you pick them up yourself?"

"Sure, I'll put these books away and come over. Thanks, Francis."noveldrama

"No problem, it's just a way to give back to the residents. Freshly squeezed orange juice will be great for the kids." Francis said.

Ruby thanked him, quickly ran back to the villa, put the books under the eaves, and headed to the property management office. When she arrived, there was only one person there.

Ruby registered her building number and signed her name. The property staff brought out two boxes of oranges, "Ms. Adams, the oranges are a bit heavy. I'll help you load them onto the shopping cart. When we have more staff, I'll have someone bring them back."

Ruby smiled and said, "Thanks, but wasn't it just one box?"

"Yes, this other box is for Building Three. The resident asked us to deliver it, but I'm the only one here, and I'm really busy. The resident is about to go out, and it's stressing me out." The property staff said worriedly. "Building Three? It's on my way. I'll help you deliver it." Ruby said.

The property staff immediately beamed, "Ms. Adams, you're so kind. If it's too much trouble, I'll lock up the office and deliver it myself later."

"It's not a big deal. It's on my way. Put it on the cart." Ruby waved her hand.

The property staff quickly put the box of oranges on the cart and pushed it to the intersection with Ruby. They parted ways, and he went back to call Building Three. "Mr. Ziegler, Ms. Adams is on her way."

Unaware of this, Ruby pushed the shopping cart forward. It was an overcast day, and the weather was a bit stuffy. She was sweating all over after walking for a while.

Following the signs, Ruby found Building Three. After a moment, the door opened directly without any use of the intercom.

Ruby was surprised that they didn't use the intercom to confirm her identity first. Weren't they afraid she might be a bad person?

After a moment's hesitation, Ruby picked up a box of oranges, pushed the door open, and walked in.

This villa had the same layout as the Ziegler family's. Ruby walked along the cobblestone path to the villa's entrance. "Is anyone home? The property management asked me to deliver these oranges. I'll leave them at the door." Ruby's voice echoed at the entrance. For some reason, she suddenly felt a bit scared. She bent down to place the oranges on the steps when the door creaked open.

Ruby was startled. She saw a pair of dark blue slippers at the door. Her gaze followed the person's long, straight legs upward.

The person was wearing dark trousers and a black shirt. When she saw the person's face clearly, the box of oranges in her hands fell to the ground with a thud.

Ruby stared in shock at the familiar face in front of her. She even thought she might be seeing things and rubbed her eyes hard. When she looked again, the person was still there.

The person looked at her coldly, "What, surprised to see me?"

Ruby's legs went weak, and she staggered back a couple of steps. She stared in disbelief, tears welling up instantly. "Donovan!"

Donovan's face twisted with sudden rage. "Ms. Adams, do you have any idea how many times I've wanted to kill you over the past three years?"

Ruby stared blankly at the hatred in Donovan's eyes, so intense it seemed like he wanted to tear her apart. Tears suddenly streamed down her face, "You're still alive! Oh my God, that's wonderful!" Donovan sneered, "You're quite the actress. Do you think I'll let you go because of this? Ruby, I'm back, and your good days are over."

Ruby stared blankly at Donovan, not hearing his sarcastic remarks at all.

'Am I dreaming, or is Donovan really standing in front of me?' Ruby thought.

Ruby pinched her arm hard, gasping in pain. She laughed and cried, "It hurts. I'm not dreaming. You're really alive. That's great, Donovan..." Before she could finish, Donovan strode over and grabbed her by the neck, his expression ferocious, "Stop pretending!"

Despite the discomfort, Ruby made no move to struggle or resist. It was as if no matter what Donovan did to her, she would accept it willingly.