It felt like karmic retribution.

Once Mrs. Reynolds found out about her husband’s infidelity, she was curious to see whether she could still so easily claim such matters were none of her concern. “Vanessa, come on up; it’s scorching outside,” Ruby called from the second-floor window ledge, waving at Vanessa.

Vanessa looked up, saw her, and hurriedly put her index finger to her lips, signaling for her to be quieter, “Don’t be so loud. I’m coming up.” Ruby stuck out her tongue playfully.

Vanessa quickly appeared at the door of the second-floor private room, and Ruby welcomed her in, “What were you doing just now?”

“Guess who I just bumped into?” Vanessa walked in, closing the door of the room behind her.

Seeing the excitement in Vanessa’s eyes, Ruby ventured a guess, “You didn’t happen to see Phoebe and Edward in a secret rendezvous, did you?”

“Something even more explosive than that.” Vanessa poured herself a glass of water and gulped it down before recounting everything she had just witnessed to Ruby.

Ruby was shocked, “No way, the Reynolds are known as a loving couple in high society circles. Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?”

“I couldn’t have been mistaken,” Vanessa asserted with certainty.

Ruby propped her chin on her hands as her mind raced to concoct some sort of scheme. Then she suggested mischievously, “Vanessa, do you want to see a good show unfold?” “What do you mean?”

“You said before that Mrs. Reynolds likes Phoebe a lot, right? Guess what would happen if Phoebe knew about Brandon’s affair but didn’t tell Mrs. Reynolds. Would Mrs. Reynolds still treat her as well after finding out?” Vanessa almost immediately grasped Ruby’s implication.

Still…

“Isn’t this plan difficult to execute?” Vanessa frowned.

Ruby patted her chest confidently, “Leave everything to me. Don’t get involved; just wait and watch the drama unfold.”

Vanessa leaned over and hugged her, “Ruby, you’re too good to me. How can I ever repay you?”

Ruby laughed, “I am your most loyal supporter; your happiness is the best reward for me.”

“Eh, if you were a guy, I’d stop having a crush on Theodore and start loving you instead,” Vanessa said candidly.

Ruby embraced her gently, “With words like that, I’d go through fire and water for you without hesitation.”

All afternoon, Phoebe had a nagging feeling that something was off.

When John brought in some documents, he noticed her concerned expression and tried to make light of it, “Miss Ziegler, are you worried about something?”

“I have this gut feeling that something is about to happen,” Phoebe said.

The last time she had this strong sense of foreboding, she ended up having a miscarriage the day after attending a class reunion.

John handed her the documents, trying to ease her mind, “Don’t worry, there’s only one reason for your concern: stress. I just bought some steam eye masks and eye drops. I have extras; let me get them for you.” “Hey…”

Before Phoebe could stop him, John hurried out and soon came back with the eye drops and steam eye masks, placing them in front of Phoebe.

“These are really helpful; give them a try.”

“Thanks, I will,” Phoebe said, opening the eye drops and tilting her head back to apply them. She rarely used eye drops, so she missed several times.

Seeing her struggle, John hesitated for a moment but eventually walked around the desk to help her, “Miss Ziegler, let me help you with that.”

Phoebe paused, “Oh, thank you.”

John took the eye drops, gently pulled down her lower eyelid with his finger, and applied a drop. As he prepared to administer the second drop, a cold male voice suddenly echoed from nearby. “What are you doing?”

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