Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

"I don’t agree with this." Holding Dexter’s hand, I laid my head on his chest, making my upset clear. "I’m selfish. I don’t want you to risk your life."

He rubbed my head and laughed. "Alright, anything you say."

I let out a breath of relief. Fortunately, he still listened to me.

"Mom, they locked the door from both sides." Ashton ran back over.

Then, he reached for our hands before continuing, "That passageway isn’t locked, though." He pointed toward the vent in the corner.

Dexter and I exchange glances.

So many of us were stuck on the deck right now. Violette was still recovering from her injuries, and Xandra was just a feeble celebrity. Maverick wasn’t really adept in self-defense, and that son of the Sacco family was nothing but a burden.

"We can’t stay here for long. By locking the doors from the inside, they’re planning to let us die out here. They’re making us surrender by depriving us of food and water," Zion said, looking toward the direction of the vent.

"We could send some people through the vent to get food and water downstairs." Zion looked toward everyone.

Who could possibly want to volunteer?

"I’ll go," he said unprompted. As a police officer, he was always at the forefront.

I didn’t say a word. I just kept holding onto Dexter’s hand. He was a wanted target at the moment, and I was afraid that he’d get discovered.

"If we hand him over to the Rebels, we could at least gain a chance to leave. What if he’s actually the president?" Juliet suggested emotionally. "Even if we have food, how long can we actually survive on this deck?"

"Shut up!" I shot her a warning glare.

"I’ll go. I’ll go with you," Damien offered.

"Damien... you’re hurt." Juliet shook her head. "They’re the ones who were being hunted. We were doing just fine in our room. If we hadn’t saved them in the first place, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now."

Damien frowned. "This has nothing to do with what you said."

Her expression soured, and tears continued to well up in her eyes as she lowered her head.

"She’s right. What if he’s actually the president of Crowdstar Group? He could actually be our ticket to freedom. Think about all the clues provided. The president is a genius and is typically withdrawn. No matter how you look at it, he fits the description," said Uma with a smile.

"There are at least five geniuses on this deck right now. All of them are quite reclusive and atypical too. Don’t you also fit the description? How about we hand you over instead?" I stepped in front of Dexter protectively.

They were clearly trying to sacrifice Dexter.

"Five geniuses? Where?" Joel asked smugly.

"Dexter, her, Una, and me?" Eason was rather confident.

"I wasn’t referring to you." I shot him an apologetic look.

He grunted and sat to the side without another word.

Joel laughed before teasing him, "You’re still quite smart, though."

Eason rolled his eyes at him.

"Among all the people here, he’s the only one who didn’t go through the safe verification," Una said again, trying to go against me.

She was attempting to provoke everyone.

"Personally, I think we shouldn’t be turning on each other. Even if the president is someone among us, we should still work together," Dayton said weakly. However, he was practically invisible, so no one paid him any mind.

"Save it. We’re all in the same boat here. Who else is willing to go get food for everyone?" Zion looked at everyone.

"I-I’ll go," Dayton said softly.

Zion ignored him.

"Who else?"

Joel raised an eyebrow. "I’ll go."

Zion nodded. "The rest can wait on the deck. Try to look for shelter from the storm while we go look for something to eat. Stay safe."

"Only the three of you are going? That’s awfully dangerous. There are people camping downstairs," Maverick said in a small voice.

"I’ll go as well," said Eason.

Dexter shot me a glance. I shook my head. He was being targeted at the moment, so going down there would be dangerous.

After the group of them went down through the vent, we started searching the deck for cover.

"Everyone find a spot and get some rest." Jimmy pointed at the corner. "We’ll take turns keeping watch. Notify everyone beforehand if you have any issues."

I gripped Dexter’s hand tightly. "Don’t do anything on your own."

He nodded in response.

"Are you hungry, Stephy? Why haven’t any of you had something to eat?" Violette fished out some bread from under her blanket and handed it to me.

I smiled before asking the two children, "Are you two hungry?"

They both shook their heads.

"You must be tired. Have some bread and go get some sleep," Dexter comforted me.

I nodded and gave him some of the bread. After I was done eating, I leaned against his chest and fell asleep.

Zion and the group still hadn’t returned, and everyone was feeling extremely tense. When the sun set, the deck was cold.

Dexter held me tightly.

Just then, a light rattling rang out against the violent wind and currents.

Ashton and Xandra cautiously stared into the darkness. Then, they whispered next to my ear, "Mom, Dad, someone is opening the door to the deck."

Their hearing was impressive. I immediately jolted awake and scanned the deck alertly. Everyone was here. "Wait! Maverick. Where’s Maverick?" I got to my feet. Me and Dexter rushed to stop him, but we were too late.

Maverick had opened the door to the deck. Soon, a hoard of people rushed over.

He looked at us guiltily. "I’m sorry... I need to find the president of Crowdstar Group. I want to go home..." He wanted to live.

Dexter stepped in front of me protectively and threw cautious glances at the crowd of people. The leader of the group chuckled as he came over.

"All’s fair in war... Here’s a taste of your own medicine."

"You approached us with ulterior motives from the very beginning?" I questioned Maverick.

"The men who were killing people in the hallway were one of us." The leader laughed. "Dexter Black, I had reason to suspect that the president was you. Hence, I put on a show and got Maverick to approach you guys."

He laughed again. "Do you still remember me, Dexter?"

I looked at Dexter. His expression was dark, but he was still shielding me from the crowd. "Dr. Nigel Scott from the asylum." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

It was a resident doctor who was involved in his treatment at the asylum.

Nigel nodded before looking at Maverick. "Is he the president of Crowdstar Group?"

Maverick shook his head. "We only suspect so. Other people think it’s him too, but we’re not sure." Nigel looked back at Dexter. "Ile’s the prime suspect. I already have everyone else who’s somewhat clever under control. If we hand you in along with them, the president is sure to be someone in the mix."

He and his men had been searching for the president from the group of people with injured palms. They had already eliminated most of the ones with the lowest likelihood. Any remaining person who matched the description had been handed over to the Rebels in exchange for freedom.

Now, everyone was waiting for the wounds on their palms to heal. As soon as that happened, they could run the verification on the safe. Then, they’d be able to find the president.

"I’ll go with you, but let the rest of them go. If not, I’ll make sure you never find the president of Crowdstar Group," Dexter said emotionlessly before briefly turning to look at me.

Frowning, I anxiously gripped my hands. With the number of people in the opposition, this was not the time to turn things physical.

"So you are the president, then?" Nigel smiled.

"You’ll know when my hand heals," Dexter responded confidently.

Nigel already had his suspicions about him. Hence, upon hearing his words, he began nodding with a grin. "Take them all away and lock them in a room."

He instructed his men to lock us in a room. Dexter, on the other hand, was going to be brought to the Rebels.

"Take me with you." I stood next to Dexter. I didn’t want to be separated from him.

"Do as I say. You still need to look after the kids." He shook his head at me.

"Mom doesn’t want you to leave, Dad." Ashton ran over and hugged him.

"Take care of your mother," Dexter instructed solemnly.

Ashton nodded. Then, he asked, "Are you going because you want to, Dad?"

Dexter gave him a nod.

Ashton only released him after that confirmation. It felt as though the people were nothing to be afraid of if Dexter was going of his own volition.

"Dad will be okay, Mom. I’ll protect you guys." He turned around and patted me to ease my worries. I took a deep breath. For the first time ever, I felt safe because of a child.