Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

"Don’t trust anyone. Don’t trust anyone around you..." Linda grabbed my wrist anxiously, her eyes filled with a mix of fear and unease.

Damien stared at Dexter, his face filled with seriousness. Then, he turned to Linda in panic. "Is this what you were too scared to tell me?"

Linda cowered behind Damien, clutching my wrist tightly in terror. She refused to release her grip. Her eyes were red, and she appeared utterly genuine.

"Dad... wanted to protect you, and I... want to protect you too," Linda cried, shaking her head. She begged me not to be with Dexter.

"Sophia, Linda didn’t inform me earlier. She only requested that I separate you from Dexter... I can’t believe that he’s truly affiliated with the organization." Damien was furning.

He glared at Dexter with a mix of anger and caution. "Dexter, what do you plan to do?"

"Sophia." Dexter pulled me into his embrace.

He warned Damien and Linda, "Stay away from her!"

This was likely the first time Damien had heard Linda say such words. He forcefully pushed Dexter aside and then pulled me toward him. "Dexter, you should be the one staying away from her! I won’t allow you to harm her again."

Dexter’s pale fingers tightly gripped the umbrella handle as he nervously looked at me.

Damien tightly gripped my wrist and said, "Sophia, don’t believe him. I had always thought he was scary and a lunatic since I met him. Come with me..."

"Haha... Two lunatics make the perfect pair, don’t they?" Juliet said anxiously, clearly fearful that I would leave with Damien. She was worried that if I left with Damien, he would leave her alone.

I turned to her with a deliberate smile and replied, "As I mentioned earlier, it’s perfectly fine for me to leave with you. But you have to send her away. I don’t want to see her."

"Damien, you should know that I’ll die if I leave you in my current situation." Juliet instantly became alert and looked at Damien in panic. She would cling to Damien until her last breath.

Damien fell silent for a moment. "Sophia, I can send her away..."

I chuckled. "Don’t make this harder for yourself. Even if you send her away, you’ll still take care of her, support her with your money, and take care of her behind my back, won’t you?"

Juliet looked at Damien with teary eyes. "Damien..."

Damien spoke nervously, struggling to find the right words to explain himself. It seemed like my intuition was spot on.

"Sophia, I assure you that she’ll never live with us again. I can send her off, but she’s still an employee of the Coleman Group. Her current circumstances... I just can’t fire her," Damien explained in a hushed tone, almost pleading with me.

I pulled my hand away from Damien’s grip and shook my head in disbelief. He simply couldn’t grasp that love, at its core, was selfish. No one would tolerate their partner unconditionally caring for another woman, especially when that woman was Juliet, the one who killed "Sophia."

Interestingly, Damien was moved by his deep love and regret. Yet, he didn’t feel that he had done anything wrong.

"Sophia," Dexter finally called out, holding an umbrella for me. He stood completely in the rain. Even when I was being dragged over by Damien, his umbrella was always over my head.

"Are you affiliated with the organization?" I inquired, looking at Dexter.

Dexter lowered his gaze without providing any explanation.

"When did it happen?" I asked again.

Dexter’s eyes were slightly red. He had glared at Damien with such obvious hostility, but now he was feigning vulnerability. However, his trick really seemed to work on me.

"The year we... failed to escape," Dexter uttered, lifting his gaze to meet mine. Although he didn’t elaborate, his pleading eyes spoke volumes. He was silently pleading for my trust.

That was the year when I lost my memory in a car accident. I lived a normal life by myself and became involved with Damien. Eventually, I fell in love with him.

As I took a deep breath, a burning sensation filled my throat. I wondered what he did behind my back when I wasn’t around.

Damien frowned and looked at Dexter, raising his hand to signal me to come over. "Sophia, he admitted it. This lunatic is truly dangerous."

"Sofia... come with us." Linda grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me away.

Damien also wished to take me away. However, Dexter remained standing there, his eyes filled with a profound sadness. Yet, he never uttered a word to stop me.

Previously, I believed that he didn’t care and that my presence was not as important as the secret he was protecting. But now, I could probably understand why he didn’t ask me to stay. He was deeply conflicted, not wanting me to leave yet wanting me to go at the same time.

"I was wondering how you could resist seeking me out and showing up in front of me. You even prevented me from remembering you." I pushed Damien’s hand away. Then, I snatched the umbrella from Dexter’s hand and hurled it to the ground.

If he wanted to get wet in the rain, then we would get wet together. Why was he holding an umbrella for me when he was soaked alone?

"If you’re already soaked, what’s the point of me standing under the umbrella? We were supposed to go together."

I suspected he was up to something in secret all these years. He feared that being associated with the organization would put him in danger. He was afraid of dying and leaving me sad. That was why he repeatedly urged me to forget about him.

Dexter’s eyes were red as he picked up the umbrella and once again shielded me from the rain. This time, he stood under the umbrella beside me. When I looked up at him, my eyes were filled with emotion. There was a mutual understanding without the need for much explanation.

"Sophia..." Damien’s hands were clenched and shaking, his knuckles turning white with tension.

He must have realized that I wouldn’t go with him. "Why... must you believe this lunatic?"

"His love is only for me. He could even choose not to love himself..." I whispered firmly, reaching for Dexter’s hand. I trusted him unconditionally, even if he had hurt or lied to me.

Linda looked down and closed her eyes. She cried and shook her head. "You’ll regret it... You’ll definitely regret it."

She repeated over and over that I would deeply regret my decision and that she desperately wanted to protect me. Her fear of Dexter was palpable. She claimed to have met Dexter within the organization.

Despite being autistic, she was always honest and sincere. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but observe that there were other emotions in the way she looked at Dexter that were beyond just fear.

She certainly had a deeper connection with Dexter. It was more than just a casual encounter. My intuition made me feel that her sorrow was genuine, although her words might not have been directed toward me. I had a hunch that she was speaking to Dexter instead.

She was planning to take me away, yet Dexter offered no resistance. However, I had no desire to leave, and Dexter didn’t object either. Consequently, Linda warned that I would come to regret it... She wasn’t merely referring to me but also to Dexter, right?

What were Dexter’s exact plans? How many issues were kept hidden from me?

He was involved in the organization’s Reincarnation Project. Additionally, his decision to sell the Black Group’s shares to Crowdstar Group was definitely not made rashly as well.

The masterminds behind it orchestrated a grand plan, a maze. It appeared that Dexter was one of the planners.

I couldn’t see through it clearly. I just felt flustered and afraid. I feared that if he got into the game, it would be a dead end and that he wouldn’t leave a way for himself to survive in the future.

"Lunatics should stick together... Damien, let’s go," Juliet declared, urging Damien to depart.

Damien stood still in the pouring rain, uncertain of what he should do to mend things...

Juliet sneered, appearing to have a sudden realization. "Are you still persistent? She only loves that lunatic. She’s not Sophia. She merely holds Sophia’s memories. How can Dexter be so sure that she’s Sophia? Perhaps because he was the one who created her..."

Did Dexter make Sofia secretly imitate Sophia so that she could eventually replace her, becoming Sophia?