Secretly Married (English)

Chapter 39

"That bitch!" Elisa said as her manager sent her the posts on several gossip sites and the video of their confrontation in the coffee shop. "So that nicey-nice video she planted in my party—that was just to get people on her side! So that everyone will think of me even more badly! Ugh!" she shouted into the phone as she thrashed about in her room.

She spent all of last night feeling guilty about the things she'd done to Phoebe even as she still felt this deep-seated jealousy over her, but now this! She couldn't believe how sneaky Kent's wife was.

"Well, let's see who's sneakier," she said. "I have to go. We'll deal with this after class." She dropped the call and found the photo she took when she kissed Kent while he was drunk. She looked at it one more time and sent the photo to Phoebe.

Kent drove Phoebe to school that morning. Though he didn't expressly say to Phoebe that she was partly responsible for the film tanking, she still felt guilty. If only she hadn't let Jhone persuade her into it, there wouldn't have been a video. Of course, that's not to say that Elisa hadn't been a real pain in the ass, but she could've let the universe exact its revenge on her behalf.

"Kent, I'm so sorry. I don't know how it got out. I told Harley not to push through with it," Phoebe said as they pulled into the parking lot of the school.

Kent looked over at her with his brows furrowed, but his expression softened when he saw her face.

"Hey, hey, I know it's not your fault. Anyway, it's just a movie. We'll survive, right? Plus, I can't exactly say that Elisa didn't see this coming," he said. Then he unbuckled Phoebe's seatbelt. "Don't forget to drink your prescription, okay? I'll pick you up after class. I just have a crisis meeting with the producers."

Phoebe nodded. Kent kissed her and patted her on the head. "Stop worrying, okay? This is not as important as you are to me," he said.

Elisa was supposed to attend the crisis manage- ment meeting as well, but she didn't know how to face the producers and explain her own side. And plus, she wanted some face time with the bitch who's destroy- ing her name—a wolf in sheep's clothing that Phoebe was, she thought as she watched her get off Kent's car.

She watched in her car as Phoebe met up with that loud-mouthed Jhone. Then she got out of her car. She wondered if Phoebe had already seen the photo.

"I heard about your video for Elisa last night," Jhone said as they walked toward the restroom.

"Classy move, friend." She put up her palm for a high five, but Phoebe ignored it.

"I don't know why, Jhone. I told Harley that I don't want the video to be seen anymore."

"Huh?"

"The video of me confronting Elisa—the one edited by Philip."

"Well, it wasn't shown at the party as planned, right?"

"It wasn't shown at the party, but it's posted all over the Internet. That's why Kent skipped class. They had a meeting about it."

"Shit, really?"

Phoebe went into a stall and started peeing. Being pregnant made her pee every five seconds. She sat there for a while and then checked her phone to see if she had a text from Kent.

But she saw something else—an MMS from an unregistered number.

"Jhone?" she called out. She opened the stall but sat on the lid of the toilet as she looked at the photo sent to her.

At first, she couldn't see it clearly. It was a dimly lit photo. But when she looked at it more closely, she could see it was Kent kissing Elisa. It didn't look like a still shot from any of their movies. It looked real.

Tears started falling involuntarily as Phoebe looked at the photo.

"Friend, hey, what's wrong?"

Before Phoebe could show the photo to Jhone, her abdomen started hurting again. It was inexplica- ble. She dropped the phone as she doubled over.

"Hey! Did you take your prescription already? Phoebe shook her head.

"Hold it right there! I'll buy some water." Jhone looked panic-stricken. Then she ran off. She dialed Kent's number. "Kent?" "Phoebe, hey, baby. Are you okay?" "Do you love me?"

Kent laughed. "Of course, why do you even need to ask that? So random. Hey, I have to—hey, are you all right?"

"Are you being completely honest with me right now, Kent?"

"Of course I am. Why would I lie to you?"

Phoebe dropped the call. She couldn't believe how easy it was for Kent to lie to her.

Just a few seconds later, she heard footsteps. She got up from the toilet seat, thinking it was Jhone, but instead she saw Elisa, who had a sneer on her face.

"Did you like the photo?"

Phoebe couldn't believe her nerve. She thought she could forgive Elisa, but she didn't know that Elisa could be capable of such deceit. And that Kent would be in cahoots with her through all of this.

Phoebe slapped Elisa on the face as hard as she could.

"Ugh!" Elisa said, massaging her cheek. "Don't touch me! This is all your fault!" She hit Phoebe on the shoulder and pushed her over and over until Phoebe lost her balance and fell on the floor.

As Elisa looked at her in disgust, she saw the trail of blood seeping underneath Phoebe.

"Oh my god! What's happening to you?"

*later*