Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

On the way back, Dexter sat in the backseat with "Sophia." I wanted to get in the car, but I realized there was no longer any room for me.

"Sophia" was extremely against it. The air around her was extremely depressive. She shot Joel a look and naturally lifted her chin.

She was telling him to shut the door for her.

Joel instinctively obeyed before freezing up afterward.

I stood in place silently.

"My driver will send all of you back." Nancy walked out.

Joel looked at me and said, "I’ll go with you."

Eason hopped into the passenger seat of their car, and Zion drove off.

I stared at Dexter, but he didn’t turn to look at me at all.

Seated side-by-side, Dexter and "Sophia" looked like a great couple.

But who was the real Sophia Milford?

"What do you think of the new Sophia?" Joel asked after getting into Nancy’s car.

"I can’t ... tell who the actual Sophia is right now." I shook my head and looked at the driver through the rearview mirror.

Joel didn’t ask any more questions. This was somebody else’s car, after all. It wasn’t safe.

"But Dexter seems to believe that she’s Sophia without a single doubt. Nancy knows him well. She seemed aware that he’d lose control over Sophia-related matters and that he’d choose her over everything else no matter what."

My voice was small, and my fingers were gently tapping on my leg.

Joel stared at my fingers and didn’t say a word.

Nancy’s driver dropped us off at the door of Dexter’s home. Zion and the rest of them were already there.

After Dexter got out of the vehicle, Sophia casually lifted her hand, wanting him to help her get out of the car.

He reached out to hold her wrist and escorted her out of the vehicle.

In the front yard, Stevie was barking as it was feeling unsettled. However, it quieted down the minute it saw "Sophia."

It seemed to be in shock. It sat on the ground and stared fixedly at Sophia. Then, it shifted its gaze toward me.

"Is this my Georgie?" "Sophia" asked Dexter.

Dexter didn’t reply.

"Offspring, or clone?" she asked again.

"Clone," he responded.

She didn’t seem surprised. She seemed to have known that Dexter would do something like this.

Me, on the other hand, was stunned for quite some time.

Stevie was a cloned dog?

"Are you sure you want her to live here with me?" she asked Dexter, making him make a decision.

The man looked at me with a complicated gaze. "I’m sorry. I have another home in Salburg that you can stay at for now. Please give me some time to deal with our marriage."

He wanted to get a divorce.

I stood in place and clenched my fists.

"No need... We can get the divorce now," I rasped.

"I... have no time today." He turned and looked at "Sophia."

I laughed bitterly. "Alright, I’ll wait for you."

I turned around and willed my tears not to fall.

Nancy’s driver was watching from the car.

I pushed Joel aside and got into the vehicle.

"Please send me to the Landing Hotel."

The driver nodded and drove off.

I sat in the car and watched as Dexter’s figure gradually grew smaller from the rearview mirror... I couldn’t stop my tears at all. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"We’re here, Miss," the driver reminded me upon arrival.

I snapped back into reality and swiftly got off after wiping my face.

He looked at me again before driving off.

I watched the car pull away before turning around, drying the tears off my face as I walked into the hotel. As my eyes were bloodshot and my expression was sad, the lady at the reception was extremely careful when checking me into my room.

I took the room key card and walked into the elevator. I lifted my head so as to keep my tears from gushing out.

Dexter... and Sophia looked really good together.

After entering the room, I sat numbly on the couch. I had the front desk send me a bottle of wine. I downed the entire bottle before I started becoming numb.

Subsequently, I started going off the rails due to the alcohol. I started making calls to Dexter.

"All because... she’s more like Sophia than I am? Is that it?" I questioned him, sobbing.

He picked up the phone call but didn’t utter a single word.

In tears, I asked him why he chose to believe that woman, but he didn’t respond either.

In the face of reality, reincarnation was nothing more than a calculated guess. With a real and complete Sophia Milford standing right there, who would care about a theoretical like me?

I hung up the phone in tears. Then, I smashed the wine bottle and the glass like a madwoman and stepped on the broken glass. The blood from my feet stained the floor.

I went into the bathroom and washed myself in the shower.

My senses were amplified. I started going mad. I started feeling like there were cameras everywhere.

I began smashing the hotel room and its amenities. I broke the mirror and messed up everything in the room. Then, I chuckled bitterly upon seeing the camera hidden inside.

There was really nothing Genome Society couldn’t do.

I slept in the hotel for an entire day. The following day, I used Dexter’s card to pay for the damages and left. Dexter was waiting for me in front of the courthouse.

He wanted to file for divorce.

"So, you’re sure?" Slight exhausted, I asked if he was sure that the woman was indeed Sophia Milford.

"I’m sorry... She’s Sophia," he looked at me and responded firmly.

"You used to tell me that I was Sophia with the same conviction." I held eye contact.

He averted his gaze. "Sorry... I was lying to myself."

I scoffed. Then, we signed the divorce agreement. We were told to go through a cooldown period for one month before returning afterward to finalize the divorce.

"Is it possible to not wait for a month?" I asked.

The staff member shook his head. "No, this is standard procedure."

I didn’t say anything more and turned to leave after signing the papers.

As I left the courthouse, the sky was gloomy, and it had started to rain.

I was walking along the road when I suddenly lost any form of motivation to stay alive...

Instead of living in a world where I would always be put under surveillance, I’d be better off dead but free from everything.

I walked to the edge of a lake and jumped in without any hesitation.

After the sound of a loud splash, I was engulfed by the icy water.

I couldn’t breathe. My instincts made me struggle against the water, but my conscious willed me to continue sinking further.

Then, I heard a splash.

I looked toward the gleaming surface of the water.

Dexter reached out and pulled me into his embrace. Then, he kissed me. He was trying to give me air underwater.

Assuming he did it on purpose, I clamped my mouth shut.

He looked somewhat resigned.

I coughed violently.

He had finally pulled me out of the water.

I took in deep breaths of air, my ears ringing from being filled with water.

"You’re crossing a line..." Dexter seemed to be mildly angry. He shot me a glare from a spot where no one could see him.

I lay on the grass and started laughing.

In order to deceive everyone, you first had to fool yourself.

Dexter used to tell me to firmly believe that I was the original Sophia. I was who I thought I was, and it didn’t matter what the others said...

Genome Society underestimated me and Dexter.

"Stay alive," he said to me before he left.

Stay alive.

"Dexter Black!" I yelled his name while lying listlessly on the grass, anticipating what was to come.

He stopped in his tracks with his back faced toward me.

"Stay alive..." I choked.

We both needed to stay alive.

Then, we needed to let those people know that we were humans! We were living people with rights and feelings, and we had unwavering hopes and beliefs.

I stayed on the grass for a long time. The rain fell on my face, and my thoughts gradually became clearer. From some point onward, Dexter and I didn’t require verbal communication to understand one another. After the grueling escape from the abandoned building, he seemed to have opened up to me completely. I didn’t know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. However, at the very least, I was willing to trust him unconditionally.

At Nancy’s place of residence, the sky was dark when I finally got to her villa on top of the hill.

She seemed to have anticipated my arrival.

"I can go with you... but I want to know the truth." I stared at her, looking unusually disheveled. "You’re not going to wait until the divorce is finalized?" Nancy asked with a smile.

I laughed coldly. "As long as I don’t get the divorce done, Dexter Black’s wife... will still be me."

Still smiling, she nodded and continued, "Where would you like me to begin?"

"The death of my parents and Andy Black."