Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

Ewan drove to a villa in the city center.

The houses there were really pricey.

Dad mentioned before that it was a fancy neighborhood built by the Black Group. It was a place we couldn’t afford even if we worked hard for an extra 20 years.

Even though Dexter had been making money from prizes, scholarships, and his jobs since he joined the advanced classes at 14, he still couldn’t afford a house here.

And ever since Mr. Andy passed away, the Blacks didn’t seem like they would give

Dexter any money.

And even though Dexter had recently taken over the Black Group, he didn’t have much real power yet and was still being suppressed. He was simply stuck in a passive state.

"How... did he afford to buy a house here?" I asked Ewan in disbelief.

Ewan remained silent for a while, seemingly avoiding my question.

Then, he said, "Mr. Black is just awesome. He’s a genius."

The car soon came to a stop at a villa in the middle of the lake.

I was stunned by the surroundings.

This place was definitely the priciest spot in Huma.

This house of Dexter’s... He couldn’t have bought it himself, right?

As I stepped into the yard, I was stunned.

The yard was filled with my favorite tulips, and the walls were covered in blooming roses.

"Sophia, we’ll have our own place.

"Sophia... I’ll keep you safe. I won’t let anyone hurt you again."

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over me.

That familiar headache returned, and my memories slowly resurfaced.

Every memory I recalled was related to Dexter.

"Dexter..." I went into the house and dashed into the living room looking for Dexter.

This bedroom was locked, the curtains pulled shut tight, and not a glimmer of light was slipping through.

"Dexter! Open the door!" I was getting anxious, afraid that Dexter would keep hurting himself.

"Mr. Black isn’t doing too good. I’ll send someone to knock on the door," Ewan said, sounding a bit worried.

"Hey, Dexter, I gotta talk to you," I whispered. I was really scared now.

"Whether you’re Sophia or not–save him," Ewan bowed his head and said in a low

tone.

Ewan’s plea was in the word "save".

It felt like Dexter’s time was running out.

"Dexter..." I banged on the door.

"Don’t come in and don’t look at me," Dexter said urgently. He didn’t want me to

witness his distress.

This time, I didn’t avoid it. I admitted that I was Sophia.

"Dexter, I remember... the first time we met at the orphanage."

All of a sudden, the room went quiet.

Then, the door swung open.

Dexter stared at me in a panic. His hands were stained with blood, and he trembled as he held my face.

"Sophia... You remember everything?"

What was he so scared of? Was he hoping I’d remember everything, or was he dreading it?

I said, "Dexter... I only recall us meeting at the orphanage when we were kids."

"During the year of our college entrance exam, it felt like I’d asked you to wait for me. What’s our relationship, really?" I asked Dexter as tears started to well up in my eyes.

Dexter’s eyes reddened. "You remember me now..." Even though it was only of our past encounter.

"Nothing else matters as long as you remember me." Dexter suddenly hugged me tight, his fingers still dripping blood.

I caught a whiff of the blood emanating from him and suddenly felt a wave of unease.

"Sophia... The bad guys are almost dead," Dexter whispered.

I tightened my grip on Dexter’s clothes. "Dexter, please tell me you didn’t do anything wrong... Tell

Tell me, you’ve got nothing to do with the serial murders. You didn’t kill"

Dexter shook his head. "I swear, I’ll never leave your side."

I held Dexter’s hand and led him back to his room to tend to his wounds.

By then, he’d reverted back to that obedient demeanor of his and quietly sat in front of me.

"Can’t you last a minute without me?" I chided softly.

"Sophia... Don’t go out of my sight," he pleaded softly. This was a form of moral manipulation.

Feeling resigned, I simply nodded and pretended to go along with him. "Okay."

"Sophia... I’m not mad at you," Dexter suddenly said.

"You forgot about me, but I’m not blaming you," he spoke again.

For some reason, tears welled up in my eyes.

I couldn’t hold them back, and I didn’t even know why I was crying.

"Sophia... Please don’t cry." Dexter awkwardly wiped away my tears and pulled me into

his embrace. "Sophia, it’s all in the past now. Can you give me another chance?"

"Dexter, I’ll get to know you again," I whispered.

"Alright," he said, sounding pleased.

It seemed like things were finally getting better. Everything was going to be alright.

"I went to see Carol today. Although she’s not as smart as the others, she seems to be involved in some shady business," I whispered.

I wasn’t sure if Dexter was aware of this or if he would lend a hand. But she was Simeon’s sister, after all.

Dexter paused for a moment, a flicker of panic crossing his eyes. "You went to see her?" I nodded.

"Don’t trust a word she says. Stay away from her." Dexter looked nervous as he held my face. "Sophia, from now on, don’t trust anyone but me."

I saw Dexter starting to panic, so I quickly nodded. "Okay, I trust you.".

Dexter finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Just then, my phone rang.

I glanced at it and saw that it was Juliet calling.

Well, that sure was something.

"Sofia, I’m getting discharged from the hospital," she said.

"Are you crazy? Why are you calling me? You should call Damien if you’re getting

discharged," I retorted, I wasn’t in the best mood.

"I know you’re with Damien."

Now, wasn’t she good at figuring things out?

"He’s in the shower. Want me to call him over?" I teased,

Provoked, Juliet took a deep breath. "Tonight, I’ll be working with the cops to lure out the murderer. Don’t you want to see who the murderer is?"

"Don’t worry, I won’t miss it." I snorted. "Make sure you don’t die too easily."

"Sofia, you imitated Sophia well, but there are some secrets about her that you

don’t know."

"Come see me tonight, and we’ll wait for the murderer together. I’ll spill a secret about Sophia. Those who know about it have almost ended up dead at the hands of the murderer."

Juliet’s words sounded intriguing, as if she was holding onto some incredible secret.

Huh? But what secret could there possibly be that I’m not aware of?

"And even if you’re Sophia, there are secrets you’re not aware of. Sophia had amnesia and forgot a lot of things," Juliet added.

I frowned and recalled the first time I crossed paths with Juliet. She’d looked at me nervously and whispered, "Sophia? Do you... remember me?"

She was probing me.

But back then, I genuinely didn’t remember her.

Considering how Juliet was also raised in the orphanage, there must have been some connection or encounter between us previously too.

"If you care so much about Sophia, don’t you wanna know why Damien was so harsh on her? Don’t you wanna know... what I did to make Damien hate Sophia so much?"

"If it was just me accusing Sophia of pushing me down the stairs, Damien wouldn’t have hated her so much."

So, Juliet knew a lot of secrets Sophia wasn’t aware of.

I remained silent for quite some time.

I stood by the window and observed Dexter.

He was patiently sitting on the bed waiting for me.

He was such a good boy. It felt like he hung on to every word I said.

"I also know about the connection between Sophia and that lunatic, Dexter, and their involvement in the recent serial murder case!"

"If you want to know the truth, come see me!" Juliet’s voice trembled, her will to survive evident.

I knew she was afraid of dying.

She was convinced that Dexter was the murderer, so she brought me along. She thought that her chances of survival would be greater with me by her side.

After all, Dexter would hesitate to hurt me and the baby I was carrying.

I knew Juliet intended to use me as a hostage when the situation got tough.

Not a word she said could be trusted.

Then, she added, "I’ve always known about the secret underground room in the orphanage. And I know of all the hidden dark secrets of the orphanage too. Don’t you want to know?"

She really got me with that one.

These were the things she wouldn’t spill to the cops, no matter how hard they pressed her.

But today, out of fear, she might just spill it all to me.