Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

"Dexter, it’s been so many years, and you haven’t changed a bit," Jimmy said with a smile.

Though he made it sound like Dexter hadn’t changed at all over the years, I could tell he was mocking Dexter for not growing up.

"Who’s this? Your younger brother? I didn’t know your dad had other illegitimate children," I asked Dexter, my tone clearly unfriendly toward the uninvited younger brother. Dexter tightened his grip on my hand and replied, "He’s nobody."

"Looks like my brother’s wife holds some enmity against me," Jimmy chuckled, his hand still extending toward me for a handshake.

"The purpose of my return is not to become your enemies. Instead, I want to cooperate with you." Though he sounded sincere, I didn’t buy it.

"My brother has sold the Black Group to Crowdstar Group, which means the Blacks have lost the privilege the Black Group provided them until now." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"That was very brave of you, Dexter. You’ve just declared war against all the Blacks, you know?" Jimmy’s smile remained.

While I was pondering the meaning of his words, Jimmy suddenly leaned closer to Dexter and spoke in a voice that only the three of us could hear.

"Some of the recent killing sprees have impacted the core operations of the black market industries behind several conglomerates, and Peter Jones is just a small-time doctor..."

"He and his entire team, the Genome Society, are merely puppets controlled by capitalists. The real root of evil... remains untouchable until you become one of the rich and powerful."

I gazed at Jimmy, understanding what he was getting at.

So, Peter was merely a lackey raised by the rich and powerful... To unearth the hidden truth and expose the mastermind lurking in the shadows, we needed to assume the role of the powerful backer first. That was probably the reason why Dexter had agreed to return to the Black family.

"Dexter, I told you three years ago that the only way to confront all of this is for us to work together. But you refused. I’ve been trying to prove my loyalty to you all these years. Surely, you can feel my sincerity?" Jimmy looked at Dexter

Dexter remained cold, shielding me alertly as if guarding something important.

Noticing Dexter’s reluctance, Jimmy

backed off and added with a smile once more, "Chill, Dexter. The recent incident has already impacted the core interests of the upper echelons. Soon someone will step in to clear those and resolve everything

The arrogant clowns behind the killings will soon be wiped out."

Jimmy was referring to the mastermind behind the serial killings, wasn’t he? In other words...

"Such a perfect masterpiece..." Jimmy glanced at me meaningfully, then left.

The mention of "perfect masterpiece" sent a chill down my spine.

Before "Sophia Milford" was murdered, the killer also referred to her as the perfect masterpiece he had ever seen...

I knew Jimmy wasn’t the murderer, but that phrase simply held too much significance for me.

"Who’s that guy? He’s so dashing... " Violette was still captivated by Jimmy’s demeanor and appearance. "But why do I have a feeling that he’s not one of the good guys? More like a movie villain."

"Hmph," Dexter grunted, clearly dissatisfied.

Seeing Dexter’s reaction, Violette giggled. "Oh, you know what? He’s nowhere near as handsome as Dexter."

Dexter glanced at me, as if seeking my agreement.

I was speechless. Was now really the time to compare who was better looking?

Jimmy mentioned that the rich and

powerful behind the scenes had

been thoroughly angered by the mastermind of the serial killings. In other words, they were going to take action.

"Everything looks good. You can be discharged today," the doctor, wearing a mask, said after examining me and reviewing my test results and medical records.

Perhaps... I was being too cautious. The sight of hospitals and doctors always put me on edge. I couldn’t shake the feeling of being observed by everyone around me. "Sophia?" Dexter noticed my unusual behavior and came over to touch my forehead.

I looked up abruptly, belatedly coming to my senses. "I’m fine..."

"Your health is fine. Everything’s good," the doctor reassured. "Oh, and the results from the health department’s tests came back clear too."

"Phew! We really dodged a bullet... "Violette sighed in relief.

"The health department?" I furrowed my brows.

"They discovered that the crazed headmaster from the special school has AIDS. Also, among the people who were locked up with us, one has AIDS, and three have infectious diseases," Violette explained. "Quinn was found to be a carrier of the AID virus. Her husband, Callum, was promiscuous and abusive. Not only did he engage in high-risk sexual intercourse, but he was also abusive and alcoholic... Quinn was infected by him."

I gasped in disbelief. It seemed that we had been exposed to a high risk of infection given the circumstances, especially for those who were stabbed by Quinn.

"Violette! Have you taken the test?" I instinctively grabbed Violette’s wrist. She was one of the people Quinn had stabbed. If she had any contact with Quinn’s blood...

"I have, and I’m clear. Don’t worry, Sophia," Violette quickly assured me, then laughed. "What are the odds? I should probably go buy a lottery ticket, haha!"

I was stunned for a moment, rendered speechless

Before anyone realized that Quinn and others were carriers of AIDS, no one would have thought of taking antiretroviral drugs. By the time the results came out positive for AIDS, it was likely already past the optimal time for prevention.

"Sir, Juliet has contracted AIDS and is currently in a state of collapse. Damien is watching over her," Ewan whispered in Dexter’s ear as he arrived to pick us up from the hospital.

I sat numbly on the edge of the bed.

Juliet had contracted AIDS... It was as though Quinn had done it intentionally. Since Juliet couldn’t be killed for now, Quinn had inflicted another form of suffering upon her. She infected her with a highly contagious yet incurable disease.

"Both the contraction of AIDS and

the recent killing spree were kept top secret, yet Jimmy somehow learned about it... How did the news of Juliet being infected with AIDS spread?" I asked Ewan.

Ewan took out his phone. "Someone deliberately posted it online. We tracked the ID, and it was from overseas. The police suspect it’s Quinn."

Since Quinn had been exposed, she had nothing to fear, so she posted online:

"Hi, I’m one of the masterminds

behind the killing game. I’m truly a pitiful woman. My family favored boys over girls, so I was left at my grandmother’s place when I was young."

"My parents didn’t care about me, and I was drained of all my worth. I was eventually married off to a worthless scoundrel in exchange for 1,000 dollars."

"Not only did my husband abuse me,

but he also maliciously infected me with AIDS. Thanks to him, I felt a despair I’d never experienced before in this world. My despair ended when I learned about Project Zero."

"This world is too dark. There are simply too many maggots that need to be cleaned out, so we planned this killing game. I was hiding among the players in this game."

"And at the end of the game, I used a knife—stained with my blood— to stab several survivors. Namely, Juliet Turner, Violette, Dexter Black, and Sofia Miller."

Quinn seemed to deliberately spread the news online.

I looked at Dexter worriedly. He shook his head and assured me, "I won’t be infected with the HIV virus. Because of the genome editing, I’m naturally immune."

"Then why Violette and I— " I asked, puzzled. My eyes met Violette’s.

Sofia Miller and Sophia Milford were experiment clones of the same embryo. Since Sophia was a completely genetically modified experimental body, was Sofia one too?

If my current body had also undergone genetic enhancement and editing, then I was immune to AIDS. But Violette...

Violette looked a little scared and quickly declared, "It’s just my luck."