?Chapter 1398:


    Phoebe shuddered, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. “Are you implying that Colby might be dead? Then who is the person pretending to be him, talking to these women on the phone? That person can’t meet people in person to pretend he is Colby. Everyone knows exactly what Colby looks like!”


    “That’s exactly the problem—none of this adds up, and I can’t make sense of what’s going on with Colby,” Eileen muttered, her brow creasing in thought.


    “Fine, I’ll ask Jacob’s cousin. If she’s not serious about talking to Colby, I’ll have her send me his number to pass on to you,” Phoebe said, grabbing her phone and moving aside to make the call.


    “I’ve got a new number. I’ll text it to you,” Eileen said. She knew she couldn’t risk using her own number—if it really was Colby, he would know it was her right away. After all, he had messaged and called her plenty of times before.


    About five minutester, Phoebe came back, shing Eileen an “OK” sign. “All set,” she said.


    Eileen smiled and passed her a cocktail. “I know this is your favorite, so I made sure to bring it along just for you.”


    “I can’t have it now,” Phoebe groaned, throwing her hands up in frustration. “This is all because of Bryan. Why did he have to brag about his second baby? Ever since Jacob heard you’re expecting again, he has been obsessed with having another child.”


    Eileen felt awkwardly tongue-tied, unsure of how to respond.


    “I can’t stop him!” Phoebe said, exasperated. “Every single night, he tosses the condoms I open straight into the trash. I’ve cried, yelled, and even threatened him, but it doesn’t matter. He refuses to use protection.”


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    All she could do was tolerate it, knowing that if she did end up pregnant, drinking would no longer be an option for the baby’s sake.


    Eileen tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and remarked, “Once this starts, it’s indeed impossible to put a stop to it.”


    “If I get pregnant again, Bryan better take full responsibility. And if it’s another boy, Bryan owes me a luxury house,” Phoebe dered, sounding a bit unreasonable.


    As the evening breeze cooled the air, both women took their children back to their homes.


    The moment Eileen stepped inside, Ruby took Gabri off her hands and began sorting through the things she had brought home.


    Eileen noticed that her newly activated phone had received a few messages about thirty minutes earlier.


    The messages were from an unknown number iming to be Colby and asking her to introduce herself in return. Eileen replied, introducing herself as a member of the Meyer family.


    Just two minutester, Colby responded, “Let’s take some time to get to know each other.”


    “Let’s meet,” Eileen responded bluntly. “I don’t want to drag this out. Let’s find out right away if there’s any chemistry between us.”


    Maybe she hade off too blunt because the other person left her waiting without a response for quite a while.


    Eileen slumped into the sofa, her body feeling heavier than usual as she kept her eyes glued to the chat screen, waiting for a message toe through.


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