Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

"He will be bailed," Dexter asserted confidently that Howard would find a way to get out of detention.

Before Eason could respond, Dexter ended the call abruptly. I glanced at him, feeling a twinge of worry. Even though I knew Sofia was innocent, if Howard and Peter were prepared to falsely accuse her...

"Don’t worry," Dexter reassured me, reaching out to ruffle my hair, easing my worries.

Honestly, I was torn and confused, uncertain about what to make of my reliance on Dexter.

"The police will call you in for questioning, but I’ve found evidence to clear your name." Dexter gave me a reassuring look, urging me to take it easy, framing it as cooperating with the police investigation. "Sofia Miller... she didn’t commit those crimes."

I lowered my head silently, then asked, "If Sofia Miller was an innocent person... is it fair that she ended up like this?"

In the end, Sofia was still dead. After being manipulated and schemed against, she still met her demise. And I, was just a parasite inhabiting her body.

"This world was never fair." Dexter then fell silent, wrapping his arms around me.

I understood what he meant. Some things were beyond our control. But for some reasons... I couldn’t shake off the guilt I felt.

Was it all just a coincidence that Sofia was manipulated and met her fate, only for me to reincarnate into her body?

That afternoon, Eason and his team arrived to take me away for questioning; it was all official business.

Aunty Lisa handed over what she claimed to be evidence to the police: a photo taken of me talking to the second victim of the murder case.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that all of this was planned, not just a coincidence.

"I wasn’t part of it. I was deceived too; I didn’t know anything." Unless there was solid proof that I was guilty, I wouldn’t confess to anything.

Howard mentioned Sofia was a good person. If so, was a person destined to be deceived, misunderstood, and falsely accused? I wanted to help myself as well as Sofia this time.

"Officer Grant, there are a few kids outside, claiming to be Sofia’s brothers," an officer suddenly reported.

I looked up at Eason in puzzlement.

Those kids... They must have been sent by Sean, here to testify for Sofia. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Sofia didn’t hurt us. Jean was sick, and Sofia wanted to help us raise money, so she contacted a local charity. But they tricked Sofia."

"They said they wanted to adopt Danny because he’s the smartest kid among us, and in return, the organization would pay for Jean’s medical bills. But after they took Danny away, they didn’t give us the money as promised."

"Sofia is a good person. She’s been taking care of us and protecting us."

Seeing these kids willing to testify for Sofia, I became even more convinced of her kindness.

"Sofia didn’t completely trust them either. So when she took Danny to meet the adoptive parents, she had us keep an eye out and secretly recorded everything with Cyrus’s phone. But Cyrus was arrested and is in juvie now," the leader of the kids provided useful evidence.

Eason glanced at me, signaling for Phil to go find Cyrus, the teenager who had tried to poison Juliet with paraquat, in juvie.

With these kids testifying and the evidence Sofia had left behind, it was enough to prove my innocence and confirm Howard’s guilt.

Everything went smoothly. I was successfully cleared of all charges, not only without any wrongdoing but also as an unequivocally good person.

As I stepped out of the police station, I felt lost.

Everything had gone smoothly, perhaps too smoothly. All my worries had somehow been resolved without a hitch, yet why did I still feel unsettled?

Although it appeared that Sofia had recorded videos and left evidence to protect herself, it felt like someone had planned out everything in advance, perhaps for this very moment.

"Sophia?" Dexter was already waiting for me outside.

He approached, holding a black umbrella in one hand, and wrapped me in his embrace with the other.

I glanced up, realizing it was already raining.

"Everything’s fine now," Dexter reassured me gently.

"You knew I would be okay, didn’t you?" I looked at him.

Dexter’s gaze flickered, then he shook his head. "I believed you’d be fine."

His words were ambiguous, and I could tell he was changing the subject.

"Let’s go home." Dexter led me to the car.

On the way home, he told me that Damien had regained consciousness. I nodded indifferently; it didn’t really concern me whether he was conscious or not.

"Juliet has been by his side all the while. It’s highly likely that he’ll think Juliet is you," Dexter said, as if he wanted to prepare me in advance, worried that I might not be able to handle the shock.

"Good for him." I nodded.

Damien had always been blinded to the truth anyway. This might be best for him too.

As Dexter and I had anticipated, Michale seemed quite certain that Juliet was "Sophia Milford" and kept her close for protection.

Meanwhile, I had been patiently waiting at home for the news about the human traffickers.

Zion mentioned that he had been called back to investigate the human trafficking lead. Violette had also visited me a few times, mentioning that Zion had left Huma for a mission, which seemed quite dangerous. I suspected it was related to the human trafficking lead.

As I had predicted, Howard took all the blame, so the police had nothing on Peter. However, I hadn’t anticipated that Howard had been diagnosed with cancer long ago and needed medical parole. In other words, he could be released on bail.

Dexter had guessed correctly; Howard did indeed have a way to get out of the detention.

"Don’t overthink it, just relax at home," Violette said during her visit.

However, I couldn’t shake the feeling that a lot had happened while I stayed home these past few days.

Terrified by the incident of being abducted by Howard, I hadn’t left the house for several days, and Dexter hadn’t been home during this time.

I worried that he might have gone to the usual place Juliet mentioned to meet her.

A surge of insecurity washed over me; I feared Dexter might fall into Juliet’s scheme. If she could deceive Damien so many times, perhaps she could fool Dexter too.

Overwhelmed by anxiety, I sat on the bed, arms wrapped around my legs.

I had had enough of this life. Was this really what I wanted? I began to question the meaning of my reincarnation, unable to comprehend it.

Was I meant to continue living in ignorance and fear just to survive? Wasn’t my initial goal to find my killer?

"Have some faith in Zion; he’ll definitely find those missing teenagers, " Violette reassured me gently, noticing my silence. "Sophia... "

"Why has the serial killer been quiet lately? Can’t he get his hands on Juliet? Or maybe... Simmie was really the killer?" I murmured, puzzled.

Why was Juliet still alive? If she didn’t die, the people behind her wouldn’t be murdered either.

I actually... hoped that the serial killer would continue his killings. As much as I wanted to catch him, I also wished for him to get rid of those people on the list, those demons from the orphanage for me.

"Sophia... " Violette seemed to see through my thoughts.

"By the way," she lowered her eyes and added carefully, trying not to unsettle me. "Juliet... seems like a different person lately."

Had she also met Juliet? Did she believe Juliet too?

"She said she’s Sophia Milford, didn’t she?" I asked nervously. "Do you believe her?"