Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

"He’s not dead yet..." Dexter shoved away the people around him and went to feel the man’s pulse. "He’s not going to live..."

Zion called an ambulance.

Damien quickly took several steps back, clearly never having seen such a bloody sight before. Meanwhile, everyone else had run outside the house to heave their stomach contents out. They had pretty much ruined the crime scene.

"The murderer was able to calculate how long it’d take for this victim to die... "Dexter said in a panicked tone as he knelt on the floor. "He knew what time we’d arrive and what time we’d find this victim. He wanted us to watch him die..."

Just like how the murderer had done to Sophia. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

I walked forward, feeling numb as I looked at the body. "It’s the orphanage director’s husband."

I had seen this man before in Dexter’s photos.

"If the murderer was able to shove such a heavyset man into the shoe cupboard, then he must definitely be a strong adult," Zion said sullenly.

That was the only way the murderer could’ve moved a body around and shoved a man on the verge of death into this small cupboard.

"Maybe... the victim climbed in there himself." Dexter pointed at the footsteps which Damien and the other movers had disturbed on the ground. "There was only one set of footprints."

"There’s something else that’s scary too. The murderer didn’t leave behind fingerprints, hair, or any clues. Even camera footage is useless because we can’t identify the murderer from his face."

The person I saw the other day at home had an extremely scarred face from burn injuries and looked incredibly scary.

I couldn’t tell what he originally looked like.

"The murderer is too intelligent," Zion said. The murderer had been taking the police as fools.

"Are you out of your mind?" I turned to Damien. "Why did you come here at this late hour just to move some furniture?"

Damien looked at me, displeased. "These are all my wife’s belongings."

"Bullshit." I went up and slapped him in the face. "Can you be more considerate for once?"

Damien glared at me warningly. "I told you, this house is in my name, so you guys are the ones who are trespassing!"

"Why did you bring movers here at this time of the night, Damien Coleman? If you don’t give a reasonable explanation, I have reason to suspect you intentionally ruined a crime scene! "Zion warned.

"I met a fortune teller who told me... that Sophia died a terrible death and her soul is currently wandering unbound. The fortune teller told me to burn her furniture at midnight tonight," Damien grumbled, looking away.

Wait, why would someone as self–centered as Damien who never believed in the metaphysical suddenly believe in this sort of thing?

I cast a suspicious look at him. "Something’s wrong with that fortune teller."

It was too big of a coincidence.

"Where did you meet this fortune teller?" Zion asked.

"At the cemetery." Damien had gone to Sophia’s grave again today.

Now, I suspected even more that Damien had negatively affected my journey to the afterlife. He was tormenting me even after my death.

"Officer Landon!" The other police officers and backup had arrived.

But it was too late. The victim had already died, just like Dexter said. There was no saving him even after Dexter tried to stop his bleeding. Too much blood had been lost.

The medics took Juliet away, who had passed out from hunger and shock. I heaved a sigh of relief when they told me her life was no longer at risk.

"Why was he kneeling in the shoe cupboard?" I didn’t understand what the murderer was trying to tell us.

Dexter murmured, "Redemption. He’s trying to redeem himself."

Zion looked at Dexter and then at me. "Dexter has always refused to cooperate with the investigation in the past. Why is he so active today?"

Dexter had always been opposed to helping with the investigation even when the police questioned him. He would never so much as utter a word.

But Dexter was clearly cooperating right now.

I realized this difference as well. Dexter was particularly cooperative today.

Dexter stared at the victim, mumbling, "Anesthesia... overdose. Hallucinations, poor wound clotting... One will slowly die without feeling any pain."

Zion looked at Dexter in shock, then at the coroner who had just arrived.

Keenan took off his mask and turned to Dexter. "You have a keen sense of smell. The victim must’ve struggled when the murderer injected him with anesthesia, causing it to stain his clothing. Anesthesia is a strictly controlled drug."

Zion turned to Phil. "Search the area right now!"

But it would be difficult to find the murderer in such a short amount of time given the big field of search.

"Most of the usable leads are ruined now that the crime scene has been destroyed." Keenan’s brows furrowed as he looked at all the footprints.

Damien looked away silently, feeling guilty. He was the one in the wrong here.

"The murderer is still in the area. They haven’t gone far." Dexter suddenly looked out the door confidently.

"Who’s there?" Phil ran out with some other men after hearing some noise outside.

"Clear the area and lock the place down," Zion ordered his men.

I held Dexter’s hand and walked out into the hallway so that the police could perform their investigation.

Dexter seemed to be trying to piece something together. He crouched on the floor, mumbling, "The next one... Time and date."

Was he calculating when the murderer would strike next?

"What a freak," Damien sneered, insulting Dexter.

Dexter gazed at him coldly. "If you hadn’t brought those men and barged into the house... I would’ve found him."

If Damien hadn’t interfered, Dexter would have successfully used the clues to find out who the murderer was. But they’d stirred up the hornet’s nest now.

"Stop with the fear–mongering. You could very well be the murderer too. How else would you know what drug the murderer used and deduce his actions?" Damien glared angrily at Dexter, wanting to attack him.

I went up and shoved Damien away, standing defensively in front of Dexter. I even slapped Damien again. "Shut up!"

Damien would’ve made me regret hitting him twice in the past. But now that I was Sofia, he couldn’t threaten me like he used to back when I was Sophia.

Nor would I be afraid of his tactics anymore.

"Sofia..." Damien said darkly before sneering. "You’re pretty good at pretending to be Sophia."

He could probably see Sophia in me.

"Hmph... How shameless." I scoffed, suddenly feeling like I’d touched filth by slapping him.

"Since you want to be Sophia so bad, I’ll give you a chance to act the part," Damien threatened coldly.

Chills ran down my spine. I had no idea what he was trying to do.

Whenever Damien showed this expression in the past, I knew he’d... "punish" me.

His punishment was always to force me into a corner, making me have no choice but to compromise.

Damien suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. "What can you get from marrying a lunatic? The Blacks are already at the end of their prime. It’ll be extremely difficult for you to try and fight against Martin Black."

"I can give the Miller family whatever you’re seeking from the Black family. Divorce this man. I’ll let you be Sophia Milford and stay with me. You just need to play your role well."

Damien even shot Dexter a challenging look, as if certain that I would give up Dexter and be with Damien all for personal gain. This was because Dexter had no power when it came to the Black Group.

Dexter gazed darkly at Damien, restraining his killing intent. Dexter’s voice was trembling as he hissed, "Give her back to me..."

Dexter wanted to use his handgun but didn’t, probably out of fear of hurting me.

But Damien deliberately goaded him further, grabbing the back of my neck and pulling me closer into his arms. "Who do you think Sofia will choose, you lunatic? Me, or...."