Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

Zion stared at his colleague in shock.

"How did we miss such an important clue before this?"

The female officer explained, "Things have been complicated with this orphanage. In the beginning, it was privately run, with not many records and files. Moreover, the orphanage director was exposed several years ago for constantly abusing and violating the children."

"Consequently, he was sentenced, and the orphanage was shut down. Some of the orphans who were not adopted were transferred to other welfare institutions. The information of those who were adopted is incomplete, making it difficult to trace."

She continued, "It was when I started asking around the neighbors and family members of the victims that I found them all to be adopted. I probed further in this direction and discovered that all the deceased were indeed adopted from this orphanage."

"Many of the victims’ families were initially unwilling to mention this but later confessed. It was all because of this welfare home!"

"It seems that we were wrong from the beginning... We thought the victims were connected because they frequented nightclubs and other entertainment venues, but it seems to just be a coincidence," said Zion while lighting a cigarette in frustration.

I looked at the policewoman in astonishment. If all the victims were females adopted from this welfare home, then something wasn’t right. I wasn’t an adopted child. I was my parents’ biological child. Was I just unlucky?

"Damien, Juliet..... I heard from Lily that Juliet was actually adopted! The Turner family has always been charitable. They must have liked Juliet because she was intelligent, so they brought her home to keep Lily company!"

Jack said anxiously after he remembered something, "Is it possible that the killer was targeting Juliet..."

So, it was not that the killer was targeting women wearing red dresses. Instead, the killer had dressed the victims in red dresses after killing them.

I staggered backward hopelessly, a bitter smile on my face. The truth was that I died on Juliet’s behalf. What kind of injustice was this? Why did I have to die because of her? This was so unfair!

"Sophia... No..."

Dexter had come back from somewhere and was holding dearly to a photo frame. He was standing at the door. He handed the photo frame to Zion.

I looked at Dexter with hatred.

"Liar. You’re just a liar and a psycho! A murderer! Stop acting, you freak!"

He had killed so many people. I desperately wanted to grab his collar and shout to the whole world that he was a murderer, but no one could hear my voice. I was in despair, feeling utterly hopeless.

Zion took the photo frame and looked up at Keenan.

"The victims who were adopted all wore red... were photographed in red dresses..."

Keenan glanced at the photo and then looked at Dexter, who was easy to identify because he was mixed.

"Is this you?"

Dexter nodded.

"No, Sophia isn’t an orphan. She’s Mr. and Mrs. Milford’s biological daughter. She’s also not from the orphanage. Does that mean the killer might spare her?"

"Maybe he didn’t kill her, and that’s why her body hasn’t been found. She’s waiting for me... She’s waiting for me to save her!" Damien shouted maniacally, appearing very agitated.

"Zion... you must find Sophia. I need to find her. She’s waiting for me," he continued while grabbing Zion’s arm anxiously.

A man with pride was suddenly pleading with the police in such a humble and anxious manner.

"Please, please find her...".

I burst into laughter watching Damien. The contrast between his demeanor from before and now was too stark, making his act very fake.

"Didn’t you just think that the murderer hadn’t taken her away?" Zion asked with furrowed brows, obviously annoyed.

Dejected, Damien stepped back and mumbled, "I don’t know..."

He didn’t expect things to end up like this. He honestly didn’t know that I would still go to Sunset Alley on the 15th.

"That silly woman... Why would she go there on the 15th? Why didn’t she call me..."

"We checked Sophia’s phone records. She did call you a few times, and you even answered," stated Zion, interrupting him.

Damien was stunned for a minute there as if his heart had just been shot.

Smiling, I said, "Yeah, you answered my call, Damien, and you asked me to die..."

And here I was, dead. It was just as you wished, Damien Coleman.

He retreated dispiritedly and fell to the ground embarrassingly. He said nothing and kept quiet. Then, he looked like he wanted to get up. He remembered what he had said.

"No... I didn’t... I didn’t mean that. I just..." he stuttered, his eyes becoming red. Those who didn’t know him might even think he was so in love with me.

I looked down at Damien with a mocking smile.

"Damien, I’m dead. Shouldn’t you be happy? Who are you putting an act for? It’s because of you that I’m dead!"

"Alright, Mr. Coleman. There’s nothing you can do here. You’d better go back and wait for our call," said Zion, somewhat disapproving of Damien.

He probably couldn’t stand his contradictory attitudes.

"Damien Coleman, you’re really disgusting!" Violette suddenly shouted, still very agitated. She pointed at him and cursed, "Aren’t you getting married soon? Go back and marry your Juliet!"

I stood beside Violette and looked at Damien with indifference. At this point, I no longer had the strength to hate him. I was just Juliet’s scapegoat. I shielded Damien’s beloved woman from the disaster of slaughter.

With this... I had paid off all my debt to him, even the life I owed him.

Damien remained rooted to the ground. Apparently, he already believed that something had happened to me.

As Violette returned the coat to Zion and retrieved an envelope from her bag, she said, "Damien, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to give this to you before because I didn’t think you and Juliet deserved Sophia’s blessing..."

As she spoke, her voice choked up. I wanted to wipe her tears and hug her, but I couldn’t.

"Three months ago, Sophia found me and said she had applied for an opportunity to study abroad. She asked me to keep it a secret..." she continued while trembling all over.

She was probably thinking that I wouldn’t have died here if I had gone abroad earlier.

"She has been wanting to leave you for the longest time. Every moment of her life, she was thinking about leaving you, and yet you think she would’ve done anything to have you," Violette sarcastically mocked him.

"Your pitiful ego is truly pathetic."

"Enough..." Damien interrupted with a frown, clearly not wanting to hear any of this.

"The reason she has been enduring and indulging you is not because she’s debasing herself, but because she’s repaying what she owes you! That day, Sophia told me that repaying the money she owes you is easy, but she doesn’t know how to repay that life, that favor..."

She handed the envelope to Damien and continued, "All these years, she has been working non-stop, from selling her design drafts to tutoring."

"While doing three jobs all by herself, she tried so hard not to spend a penny from the Coleman family and save money to repay what she owes you."

Then, Violette took out a card from her bag.

"Sophia left all these with me. The envelope contains ten thousand dollars, which she prepared as a wedding gift for you. She said it’s not much, but it represents her sincerity because she sincerely wishes you and Juliet..."

As she spoke, tears couldn’t help but fall.

I stood aside, quietly listening. Once, I truly wished Damien and Juliet well. I had hoped that he could truly be happy after marrying Juliet.

"Enough..." Damien uttered.

However, he didn’t even want to hear these well-wishes.

Ignoring him, Violette continued, "Do you know how many jobs Sophia took to earn this gift money? Every day, she had to go to Richmond Hill to tutor the children of the wealthy. She’d get scolded. Sometimes, she even came back with injuries."

"At night, she had to work as a cashier at a 24-hour convenience store. She could only sleep for a maximum of five hours a day, depending on how busy work was."

She sneered and said, "Sophia worked for over a month just to gather this ten thousand dollars for you. She said that she wanted to earn the gift money for you before going abroad."

Damien didn’t want to listen to any of that, but Violette insisted on speaking.

"There’s over a million dollars in this card. Sophia’s been saving this money for four whole years, ever since her parents passed away. She said she’d eventually save enough to repay her debt to you."

Damien avoided eye contact and refused to take the card.

"Take it... You always said that I owe you too much, didn’t you? Take it, then..." I questioned him, my voice already hoarse.

But he never took the card.

"You said Sophia owes you a lot, but I don’t think the money she owes you is even enough to cover Juliet’s father’s hospitalization fees, surgery, and rehabilitation expenses–let alone the cost of buying luxury goods."

Violette, losing her patience, threw both the money and card at Damien.

"Take your money and leave... Never appear in front of Sophia again. She hates you, and she doesn’t want to see you."

I nodded, agreeing with Violette. Indeed, I never wanted to see Damien again–not even in death.

"She’ll be fine... I promise that if anything happens to her, I’ll die with her. She’ll be fine," Damien mumbled with a hoarse voice.

I found him incredibly ridiculous. He’d die with me? On what grounds? Was he even worthy?

"Damien, you need to go back! There’s a call from the hotel saying that Juliet committed suicide!" Jack had taken a call nearby and rushed back in a panic, saying that Juliet had tried to take her own life at the hotel.

I watched as Damien’s face turned even paler, his expression increasingly complex.