Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

"I don’t buy it." Violette shook her head. "Sophia Milford will never reincarnate onto Juliet. Even the thought of it is gross! She’d rather die."

I burst into laughter, dispelling the gloomy mood that had surrounded me for days.

Lowering my head, I wiped away the tears at the corners of my eyes. "Yeah, if I woke up and found out I had become the person I hated most, I’d probably choose to die straight away."

Seeing me smile, Violette held my wrist and said, "Don’t overthink it. Juliet may think she can fool everyone, but those who truly care about Sophia Milford won’t be deceived. Does she seriously think she can imitate every detail and feeling of a person?"

I agreed; Juliet was just wasting her time.

However, her disguise wasn’t meant to make Violette and the others believe her; it was to deceive Damien and Dexter.

Damien had been brainwashed and manipulated by Peter long ago, so I wasn’t surprised he would fall into Juliet’s disguise.

But Dexter...

I gave Dexter a call, but he declined it. This was the first time he had ever declined my call, which worried me.

"There’s no way Dexter will be fooled by her." Violette sighed. "Sophia... you really should try to have some faith in him sometimes. Isn’t it exhausting to keep suspecting someone?"

Violette always seemed to see through my thoughts.

"But what if... there’s something suspicious about him?" I asked.

Indeed, there were simply too many suspicions about Dexter. Not only was he covering up the murderer, but he also secretly harbored Simmie...

"Try trusting someone unconditionally for a change, will you? After all, life is a gamble. Who knows, you might make the right bet?" Violette looked into my eyes, then added, "Can I tell you a secret?"

I nodded.

"Actually, I’m in love with Zion... " Violette lowered her head, her ears slightly reddened.

I opened my mouth, not very surprised; in fact, I had somehow sensed it.

"What about Zion?" I whispered nervously. All women were born to be curious creatures.

"He... " Violette took a deep breath and sighed slowly. "He doesn’t like me."

"Impossible! I think he’s pretty nice to you," I exclaimed in shock.

"Sophia, sometimes, you can’t be with someone you like, even if he has feelings for you too. Zion told me he didn’t like me. In other words, even if he truly has feelings for me, he didn’t really want to be with me," Violette analyzed rationally.

Zion had a strong sense of duty, so it was understandable that he would choose to return to the police force over staying with Violette, especially given the high-risk nature of his occupation.

"That day, my mom suddenly showed up at my rented place. She knocked, and Zion answered the door, so they met. I told her Zion and I were just sharing a place, but my mom didn’t believe it. She insisted on discussing marriage matters, urging Zion to marry me... " Violette sounded helpless.

I was aware of Violette’s family situation; her father wasn’t a good person and her mother was conservative, paranoid, and controlling.

"Zion didn’t want to burden me, so he moved back to the dorm," Violette said, lying beside me, just like she used to do.

Staring at the ceiling powerlessly, she remarked, "Sophia, life is so tiring."

"What are you planning to do?" I gently stroke her head.

"I want to get married, then I can escape from my mom’s control," Violette replied softly.

I knew Violette well. Back when we were students, she confided in me about her desire for a new life. She planned to get married right after graduation, and if neither of us found a partner, we agreed to live together.

But now that I was married to Dexter, Violette probably felt left out.

I looked at her, feeling somewhat guilty but uncertain how to comfort her.

"I asked Zion if he’s willing to marry me, and he moved out," Violette said, with a chuckle tinged with a hint of sadness.

Zion had given her the answer by moving out of their shared house, denying the possibility of them getting married; he knew he couldn’t give Violette the life she wanted.

"Were you two dating? At what stage were you?" I asked softly.

Violette rolled her eyes. "What are you thinking? We’re just ordinary friends sharing a palace... nothing more than that."

They hadn’t even started dating, yet she already wanted Zion to marry her? It was no wonder Zion got scared and ran away.

Nonetheless, it was evident that Violette had realized her feelings for Zion.

"Will marriage bring you happiness?" I asked Violette gently.

Violette sat up and looked at me. "Asks the one who rushed into marriage first!"

I felt a little guilty under her gaze.

"Are you happy?" Violette threw the question back at me.

I pondered for a moment before responding, "Habit is a scary thing."

Glancing at the screen of my phone, I recalled how panicked I was when Dexter declined my call.

Was I truly happy after getting married? Well... It felt like "happiness" was just beyond my grasp.

First, I was inexplicably murdered, then inexplicably resurrected... or rather, reincarnated into the body of a completely stranger woman. And, inexplicably, the person lying next to me was the person I had mistaken as the murderer — Dexter.

It seemed as though all the dramatic events one could possibly experience had happened to me.

I couldn’t help but wonder: if these things happened to someone else, how would they cope? Could they handle it better than me?

In such a tense, suspicious, and dangerous environment, I struggled to find a way to survive, let alone find happiness.

"I don’t yearn for love anymore." Violette shrugged. "I promised my mom to go on a blind date. It’s at seven tonight, so I’ll be leaving soon."

Though Violette agreed to the blind date, I could tell she wasn’t happy about it.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I wanted to talk her out of it, but I didn’t know how.

"If I don’t get married soon, my mom is going to drive me crazy." Violette sighed, feeling suffocated by her family.

"For Zion’s sake, I have to get married as soon as possible. You know my mom. She won’t stop bothering him until I do, " Violette said helplessly.

Her mother had grown paranoid and controlling after experiencing heartbreak. During Violette’s school days, she once publicly scolded a male student in Violette’s research group, which made Violette extremely embarrassed.

Indifferent to Violette’s emotions, she consistently imposed her own notions of what was best for her daughter, an approach that felt stifling and suffocating.

"I want to take a bet too." Violette took a deep breath. "Who knows, maybe marriage is my reincarnation, right?" She smiled at me.

I remained silent, recalling what she had just told me a while ago: "Try trusting someone unconditionally for a change, will you? After all, life is a gamble. Who knows, you might make the right bet?"

Indeed, even if she lost the bet, she had nothing to lose either.

Nodding in agreement, I picked up my phone and dialed Dexter’s number once more.

I wanted to take the bet... to try trusting him unconditionally for once.

Yet, Dexter declined my call once again, sending me into a state of panic.

Could he have fallen into Juliet’s deception too?

Violette departed for her blind date.

Under the gloomy, rainy sky, I watched her leave and noticed a car parked nearby. I was Zion’s, I could tell at a glance.

It was evident that Zion harbored feelings for Violette too, but the two seemed like prickly hedgehogs, afraid of hurting each other with their spines if they got too close. So, they chose to maintain their distance, staying where they were.

Standing in the rain, surrounded by the earthy scent of the rain, I couldn’t shake off the feeling of impending doom.

Leo motioned for me to come inside, away from the rain.

Returning to my room, I sat in the empty bathtub and continued calling Dexter.

With each call he declined, I redialed. After several attempts, his phone was permanently switched off.

I buried my head in my knees.

Trusting someone unconditionally, as simple as it might sound, was proving to be an insurmountable challenge.