Chapter 21
Theodore's agile figure was getting closer and closer to her.
In an instant, Phoebe felt a sense of happiness she had never experienced before. She hurriedly reached out her hand, trying to grab him, but all she caught was cold water, nothing else.
As she floated and sank, in the hazy light, she saw Theodore pulling the soaking wet Vanessa toward the poolside, getting farther and farther away from her.
That back was so determined and resolute.
At that moment, Phoebe felt all her strength leave her body. She no longer had the energy to struggle and slowly sank to the bottom of the pool. Many people were gathered around the pool, exclaiming in shock. They saw Theodore swimming back to the poolside with Vanessa in his arms and quickly reached out to lift Vanessa onto the ground.
Sophia and James knelt beside the unconscious Vanessa. "Vanessa, Vanessa, wake up."
Theodore, gasping for breath, looked at the unconscious Vanessa with a panicked expression. Just as he was about to perform first aid, someone shouted, "Mrs. Reynolds fell into the water, too! Why isn't anyone saving her? She can't swim!"
The crowd gasped and became chaotic. Theodore quickly turned his head and saw that the water's surface seemed to have calmed.
His heart sank, and he dove back into the water.
Sunlight refracted into the water, creating a dazzling array of ripples. He saw Phoebe slowly sinking to the bottom of the pool, lying there motionless.
Theodore's heart raced with panic. He swam quickly to Phoebe's side, grabbed her, and swam back to the surface.
When Phoebe was brought to the poolside, Vanessa had already coughed up water and regained consciousness.
Her pale face was wet, either from the water or tears, as she cried and looked at Theodore coming out of the pool.
"Theodore, I almost didn't get to see you again." Vanessa knew she had won. Theodore had saved her first. She cried pitifully, but inside, she was laughing triumphantly. Indeed, Theodore had saved her first, not Phoebe. She had won this bet.
But what Vanessa didn't expect was that, despite her crying, Theodore didn't even glance at her. He laid Phoebe flat on the grass and began performing CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, his urgent and panicked demeanor completely different from his usual calm self.
There was a dead silence.
Just when everyone thought Phoebe was beyond saving, she suddenly coughed up some water.
"Alright, alright, she's fine now that she's coughed up the water," everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Taylor, still shaken, said, "Hurry up, call an ambulance."
Phoebe, pale-faced, saw Theodore looking at her anxiously as she finished coughing up the water.
She faintly smiled and then lost consciousness again.
Two days later, Phoebe woke up in the hospital. The afternoon sunlight streamed through the window, glaringly bright.
The room was empty except for her.
Phoebe stared at the dust in the air, lost in thought. She felt a bit desolate. Even if Theodore and the Reynolds family weren't there, at least Evelyn should have come to see her.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened.
Phoebe heard Taylor's voice. Taylor walked in with a bouquet of flowers, joyfully sitting beside Phoebe. "Phoebe, you're awake. You scared us to death these past two days."
Phoebe turned her head and saw Taylor looking at her with concern. She felt both touched and disappointed.
Phoebe's voice was still a bit hoarse, a lingering effect of the water, and she softly said, "Mom, I'm sorry for worrying you. Your birthday party..."
Taylor patted Phoebe's thin shoulder and said nonchalantly, "As long as you're okay, nothing else matters."
Phoebe bit her lower lip and said nothing.
Taylor went to wash an apple, then sat down and started peeling it. "How did you and Vanessa fall from the second floor that day?"
There were no cameras on the balcony, and the servants by the pool hadn't noticed anything upstairs. When Vanessa and Phoebe fell into the pool, they were all shocked. It was only after the chaos subsided that people remembered to ask what had happened.
Taylor had later asked Vanessa, but Vanessa just kept sobbing and didn't say anything.
Phoebe gently closed her eyes, recalling Vanessa's crazed look that day. Even now, she still felt a lingering fear.
Vanessa would do anything for Theodore.
Clearly, she had won.
At that moment, Vanessa was closest to Theodore, and he chose to save her without hesitation.
After all, Vanessa was Theodore's first love. If it were her, she would also save the person she loved first.
Choosing between two people was always such a cruel and real decision.
Taylor sighed, "Neither of you is willing to talk. Did you agree on this beforehand, or is there something you can't say?"
Phoebe shook her head. "Mom, please don't ask."
Taylor cut the peeled apple into pieces, set up the small table in front of her, and felt a bit angry.
But in the end, Taylor couldn't bring herself to continue blaming Phoebe. She just said mildly, "I won't force you to talk if you don't want to, but there won't be a next time, okay?"
"Yes."
Taylor not pressing for details didn't mean Theodore would let it go.
Vanessa and Phoebe didn't want to talk, and how would Theodore react?
After Taylor left, Phoebe lay on the hospital bed, staring at the sunset outside the window.
Finally, she got out of bed weakly and went to the bathroom. The atmosphere here was too oppressive, and she decided to go for a walk. She didn't want to stay alone in this cold hospital room.
In the garden below, patients were strolling with their families. Phoebe, in her hospital gown, was the only one alone. People passing by couldn't help but glance at her.
Phoebe's thin body couldn't fill out the oversized hospital gown, making her look even more frail.
She stood by the lake for a while, hoping to process the hurt caused by Theodore's heartlessness.
Then she felt someone standing behind her.
Phoebe turned around quickly and saw Vanessa standing there, draped in a man's suit jacket.
Phoebe recognized the jacket; she had bought it for Theodore.
If she had known it would end up on Vanessa, she would have rather bought it for someone else..
She looked at Vanessa almost numbly.
"I won." Vanessa looked at Phoebe's cold and aloof demeanor and suddenly smiled triumphantly. As if showing off, she tightened the jacket around her.
Phoebe, having just escaped death, didn't want to argue with her and turned to leave.
But Vanessa blocked her way, her smile growing brighter as she saw Phoebe's pale face.
Vanessa leaned in close, her face full of pride, and said, "Ms. Ziegler, won't you just accept it? Theodore has always loved me. Despite being closer to you, he still chose to save me first." ."
A trace of pain flashed in Phoebe's indifferent eyes. She didn't understand what Vanessa wanted. Vanessa had already won, so why come to gloat? Did enjoying Theodore's affection not compare to the pleasure of mocking her?
"Three years of marriage can't compare to our decade-long love. Are you still going to hold on to him?" Vanessa's words were piercing, oblivious to Phoebe's shifting emotions as she kept on talking.
Vanessa knew exactly how to hurt Phoebe the most, to make her give up on Theodore.
Phoebe clenched her fists. "You're despicable!"
Vanessa laughed joyfully, not feeling ashamed at all, but rather looking smug.
"Ms. Ziegler, you owe me thanks. Without my intervention, how would you have realized Theodore's true feelings and moved on in time? Loving a man who can never love you back is a world of hurt. You've wasted three precious years—why prolong the agony? I'm here to help you."
Shameless!
Phoebe's chest heaved with anger. "Vanessa, do you know I almost died because of you?"
Vanessa glanced behind Phoebe and then lowered her voice, saying menacingly, "Wouldn't it be better if you died? It would save a lot of unnecessary trouble."
Phoebe's pupils dilated in shock. Without thinking, she reached out to push Vanessa away, wanting to get away from this crazy and obsessive woman.
But before she could touch Vanessa, Vanessa fell to the ground.
"It hurts!" Vanessa cried pitifully.
Phoebe was about to tell her to stop acting when a cold voice sounded behind her.
"Phoebe, what are you doing?"
