Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace



I stood in place, staring at the small box. It contained the first child I had with Dexter.

I smiled helplessly. I now understand why he could be so effortlessly natural as a father to Ashton and Xan- he had probably imagined how to be a good father countless times.

"Hang in there, Sophia. Please hang in there, okay?" It was as if I could still hear Dexter’s words in my ears.

He tied me to the beam when I was struggling and hurting myself due to my pregnancy hormones. He had hugged me and pleaded for me to endure it while choking back sobs.

Despite barely being an adult himself, Dexter must have been anticipating the child.

The experimental subjects in the laboratory weren’t "humans’ to Genome Society. We were mere experimental subjects and vessels.

They needed us to conceive and produce viable third-generation experimental subjects. They desperately wanted to have an experimental subject born out of my and Dexter’s genes.

Unfortunately, my genes weren’t perfect, and my body couldn’t bear the pain of bearing a child. This child was destined to be a stillborn.

"Don’t hurt yourself, Sophia. Please-In that memory, Dexter was begging me on his knees, pleading for me not to hurt myself.

He had tied and locked me up in the basement, begging me not to hurt myself. He had even offered to cut his own wrist and thrust the knife into my hand. ’I’ll suffer on your behalf, okay, Sophia?"

Back then, I stared numbly at Dexter. I couldn’t understand why he would go to such lengths for me.

He said, "Please believe in me, Sophia. I’ll protect you-I promise you! I’ll let you go if I can’t. So please give me another chance!"

He was pleading with me not to leave him and asking for another chance. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

I had to admit that I did decide to give him another chance back then. I stopped struggling, allowed him to tie me up, and refused to leave the basement.

I was battling with myself. It was as if I had severe depression and was constantly fighting against my own mind.

There was a voice telling me that I should kill myself, that I shouldn’t have existed, and I was an existence rejected by the laws of nature.

But Dexter tried his best to pull me out from the brink of death again and again.

However, we failed that time. We tried resisting and escaping, but the power of Genome Society was beyond what we could imagine.

It was the first time since we became adults that we truly felt afraid of the power of capitalism.

We thought our escape route was cleverly crafted, and we were confident that no one would find us that quickly.

Dexter had even stocked up on food and supplies in the basement beforehand. We thought we could survive in the basement until the child was born.

We believed that we could win that once, yet we still lost.

They found us on the tenth day after our escape.

"I told you that we could never escape, Dexter. We’re just like rats inside the lab capsule. They’re constantly watching us," I said as I hid in Dexter’s arms, looking around numbly.

I knew that we would eventually be caught.

"Sophia.." Dexter held me in agony as we were surrounded by those from Genome Society.

We were eventually found out.

"Sophia, he asked you to bury this with him if he dies." Linda pointed at the box in my hand before turning to leave.

She stopped when she was at the entrance. She then said, ’I’m really envious of you. His love was too pure." Dexter’s life and love seemed to be devoted entirely to Sophia from the moment he met her.

It was something inexplicable scientific-even he couldn’t make sense of it.

After Linda left, I placed the wooden box aside and opened the letter from Dexter.

The letter read, "Sophia, you probably would’ve regained all your memories by the time you’re reading this. I’m sorry I acted of my own accord. I always thought that if I could just help you escape your darkness, you could live the life you wanted."

"I know that you’ve always had a hard time understanding emotions and loving someone. I also know that you’ve been pretending and imitating ways to love me. But despite knowing that you’d never truly love me, I still couldn’t help but fall in love with you."

"I hope that you could live well, that you could discover the meaning of life and appreciate the beauty of this world. I can’t predict what the future may look like, but I’ll do everything I can to help you achieve the life you want-for you to feel and embrace the warmth, and to look at sunsets and starry skies."

"Don’t ever look back, Sophia. No one is worth giving up your life for. You were born to shine-not to be someone’s replacement or an outcast from nature. You’re human-a complete person."

"I will always be by your side, in whatever forms I can. Love, Dexter.’

I looked at the letter in my hand, feeling a heaviness in my chest.

Dexter wasn’t someone to write grand and moving words. Although it was just a simple letter, it brought me an indescribable pain that was hard to digest.

I placed the letter back into the wooden box before leaving the asylum.

Dexter had hoped that I would continue living my life with my new identity. He wanted me to stay away from matters relating to Genome Society and the Rebels.

With things having escalated to this point, Carol would continue to fight against Genome Society. It was getting harder for them to remain hidden with their crimes now out in the open.

Dexter already knew who the mastermind of Genome Society was. That meant he must have made arrangements before his death.

As such, Genome Society would eventually fall apart and the mastermind would eventually be revealed, even without me doing anything.

But how could I just pretend not to know anything and live my own life up in the mountains?

"Someday, we’ll definitely live our lives as ordinary people, Sophia.’ Living an ordinary life seemed to be wishful thinking for me and Dexter.

In my memory, a teenage boy was imagining the future as he lay on the lawn. He said he wanted to provide me a home-one that was quiet and comfortable. Our child didn’t need to be exceptionally smart as long as they were healthy.

"You’ve done so much, Dexter, yet the one who ended up with me isn’t you. Are you okay with that?’ I looked up at the sky, suddenly feeling a pang of dissatisfaction.

I couldn’t accept the fact that it had all ended, and he left me just like that.

"Sophia..." Damien got out of the car in front of the asylum. He was looking at me anxiously.

Ashton and Xan were both in the car as well. They were looking at me warily instead of getting off. "What kind of deal did Dexter make with you?’ I walked over and sat in the passenger seat.

At this moment, Damien was just a stranger who seemed familiar to me. I had no feelings toward him. My emotions were all over the place during the time I lost my memories. I had been acting like I was in love with Dexter. When I lost my memories, I got so engrossed in my role that I ended up seeing Damien as Dexter. "Dexter figured out Daisy’s secret long ago, and that was why he reached out to Miguel before this. Miguel was shocked after finding out about Daisy’s plan-he had long since given up on living."

"That was why he, Dexter, and I ended up putting on this entire show together," Damien said, holding onto the steering wheel.

He probably knew that the Sophia, whom he liked, as well as the Sophia who loved him, had completely vanished now.

He had to admit that his belated affection did nothing to help. He had single-handedly killed off the Sophia who had belonged to him.

"Doesn’t Miguel love Daisy? Why would he agree to put on a show with you?" I frowned, looking at Damien. "The person Miguel loves isn’t Daisy-it’s Sarah," he took a deep breath and said.