Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

Eason was being a menace.

He was mocking families like the Blacks. If a prestigious family like the Blacks would rather get rid of their children born with defects, who was to say regular families wouldn’t do the same?

"Furthermore, these two sets of parents who didn’t give up on looking for their children refused to accept any donations. They sold all their property and spent their whole lives feeling regretful."

"They regretted allowing their children to participate in the genius competition. They also regretted putting so much pressure on them and blamed themselves for their incompetence..."

These parents truly loved their children.

But unfortunately, they ended up being manipulated.

They had turned into weapons of murder. They became sacrificial lambs on someone else’s chopping board.

They were innocent, yet they ended up in such a pitiful situation.

Misfortunes always came in a series. The silent cries of despair coming from powerless regular people like them were depressing.

Those parents must have felt desperate enough to walk the path of becoming murderers willingly.

"The families received donations from the public? Which families received them? And which charity did all the donations come from? Who was the one who initiated it?" I asked Eason with a frown.

"I checked and found that the donation campaigns were organized by Angel Fund. Their aim was to provide comfort and relief to those families. Angel Fund has always been something the lower class in Huma went to for help. The organization has a good reputation in the charity industry."

"Nowadays, if a child from a regular family falls ill, they’re eligible to apply to Angel Fund for help," Eason replied with a shrug.

I took a deep breath upon hearing that.

Angel Fund was something that I was all too familiar with.

"That charity was first established by Damien’s mother..." I murmured softly. My voice was hoarse and trembling.

I hoped that everything was just a coincidence.

Otherwise, it meant that there was much more at stake. There were more pawns on the playing field than we realized.

How could small fries like us make it through to the end?

"Society is much like a huge spider web. There is no absolute good or absolute evil. The world we live in is not simply black or white," Eason said indifferently.

"The person you consider to be unforgivable might be someone who respects their parents a lot. The good Samaritan you know might have blood on their hands in secret."

"Something sinister must lay behind every person’s immense wealth. Do you think that all the world’s billionaires have clean backgrounds? Do you really think that they have no skeletons hidden in their closets?"

The world was essentially dark like that. One could only find great happiness and freedom if one lived a mediocre life in ignorance.

"Can you find out who funded the luxurious cash prizes behind the genius competition?" Zion asked Eason.

"I’ve already done that. It was Angel Fund," Eason answered with another shrug.

It wasn’t really a secret.

Angel Fund was dedicated to treating and supporting children with congenital deformities as well as genetic and rare diseases. As such, it attracted widespread attention from society.

The Colemans were also constantly praised by the media and newspapers for this good deed. This laid a solid foundation for Damien’s takeover of the Coleman Group later on.

No one could achieve success overnight, after all. If Damien hadn’t used the Coleman Group’s predecessor as a stepping stone, he wouldn’t have acquired the position he was in today.

I took a deep breath and rubbed my brows.

It turned out that Angel Fund, the Colemans, and Damien were somehow involved.

So, Damien wasn’t the only one who deliberately lied to me back then. Perhaps I had also approached him with the intention of deceiving him as well.

I couldn’t help but wonder what my relationship with Peter in the past was.

"Sophia, you don’t look too well. Let’s head home so you can lie down," Dexter said as he looked at me with concern. He wanted to bring me home.

"Simmy’s birthday is coming up in a few days. When you guys go visit him, could you help wish him a happy birthday for me? I won’t be going..." Eason said in a huffy tone.

Whenever Simeon was ever mentioned, it made Eason feel uncomfortable all over.

Dexter didn’t say anything. He lowered his gaze, looking unusually pained and sad.

Simeon had died for him, after all. This was the nightmarish truth Dexter would never ever forget in this lifetime.

"Why is Eason so afraid of Simmy?" I asked quietly after getting in the car.

"He’s afraid of me as well," Dexter said softly. He tried to hold my hand without me knowing.

I smacked his hand away, causing him to lower his head with an aggrieved look on his face.

"He thinks that Simmy and I aren’t normal, that we’re monsters..." Dexter said.

"And?" I wondered if that was all.

"Well, he got everyone in class to call me and Simmy monsters. So, Simmy and I decided to fight him back. We would play small tricks on him every time. He couldn’t detect or figure out what was happening most of the time," Dexter said.

He let out a low laugh, as if he had recalled some funny memories of the past. His eyelashes fluttered.

Simmy had probably been one of the few good memories Dexter had of his past.

I suddenly felt a huge pang of sympathy for Dexter. I instinctively reached out to hold his hand, but I recoiled in the end.

I didn’t know what sort of person I really was, after all.

I wondered if Dexter and I could even have a future together.

"Sophia, you’re not a bad person," Dexter said as he held my hand firmly.

Even at times when I doubted myself like this, Dexter chose to believe in me.

"Do you know why Eason changed his name?" Dexter asked. He seemed eager to cheer me up and was trying to change the subject.

"It was because he kept having nightmares after Simmy’s death. He kept feeling like Simmy’s ghost was following him around or something, as if he were by his side all the time. He even got electrocuted at home once and said he saw a ghost."

Dexter chuckled and continued, "His parents tried bringing in all sorts of exorcists to exorcise the ghost. But a psychiatrist ultimately said that he was just hallucinating due to being electrocuted.

"But he was still worried, so he had a fortune teller change his name to get rid of Simmy’s ghost. Simmy died in a fire..." Dexter paused and tightened his grip on my hand.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he continued, "Anyway, the fortune teller told Eason that his old name was too easy for ghosts to latch onto, so in the end, Eason became his new name as it was shorter."

I stared at Dexter, who was telling me what should have been a funny story. However, I couldn’t bring myself to laugh.

I could tell that Dexter was trying hard to cheer me up. I found his clumsy attempt rather endearing.

"I just want to make you happy, but I always end up messing things up," Dexter said in a hoarse voice as he slowly released my hand.

We remained silent for the rest of the journey.

Once we were back home, I locked myself in Dexter’s basement.

I stared at the linked clues on the wall and lost myself in thought.

I wondered who Dexter was protecting by being so evasive.

At the moment, the two people who seemed to matter most to him were Simmy and Sophia.

However, both of them were "dead".

I fell into a daze as I stared up at the wall covered in clues.

I had started off distrusting Sofia and ended up suspecting Sophia now. It felt as if I had fallen headfirst into a conspiracy that was spinning out of control.

Perhaps unraveling this mystery wasn’t as simple as recovering my memories.

Behind the fog lay even greater mysteries, and there was more to come where those came from.

When I finally left the basement, Ewan saw me and let out a sigh as he said, "Sir is drinking"

I was taken aback to hear that Dexter was drinking alcohol.

He shouldn’t be drinking with the injuries he was sporting.

I wanted to check on Dexter right away, but I suddenly recalled the event with the Crowdstar Group’s president. "Mr. Bart, the charity banquet..."

I wondered if the charity banquet was successful.

Ewan seemed surprised. "Oh, didn’t Sir tell you? Well, I suppose he drank too much before he had the chance to..."

Ewan paused and continued, "Sir sold all the shares he had legally inherited to the president of Crowdstar Group. It seems that the accident involving you and the baby has deeply affected him. He’s willing to give up everything as long as your safety can be assured."

It didn’t matter whether Dexter and I survived or not at this point. After what Dexter did, the Black Group’s ownership would change hands.

I was shocked to hear Ewan’s words. This was an extreme measure I had not imagined Dexter to take. Dexter had actually sold the Black Group.

He was such a fool. Without those shares, it meant that he had lost his only means of protection. Martin could take his life at any moment if Dexter ever angered him.

Even though Martin no longer had a reason to kill me, Dexter would become the scapegoat of the Blacks.

They surely wouldn’t let him off the hook.

I couldn’t understand why Dexter always had to bear all the pressure by himself.

Suddenly, a loud bang sounded. It came from the bedroom. Then, incessant barking in the backyard followed.

Both Ewan and I ran toward the bedroom in a panic.

Maybe something happened to Dexter.