Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

My heart lurched as fear suddenly took root within me.

Did Dexter take the opportunity to leave when I was sleeping?

Did that mean... he was involved in the serial killings?

I hurriedly got out of bed and got dressed. Then, I left the hotel room and went down to the reception.

"Hi there, did you happen to see when my husband left the hotel?" I asked.

The receptionist shook her head. "Apologies, there too many people earlier..."

"He’s of mixed blood and pretty good-looking," I said.

The receptionist replied, "Oh, that handsome man! He must’ve..."

She then took out her phone as she mumbled to herself, "He was so handsome, I couldn’t help but take a photo and share it online."

She then continued confidently, "He left around midnight."

The receptionist had shared the photo of Dexter at 12:03 am.

I felt anxious.

Dexter had left around midnight, which meant that he left soon after I fell asleep. And it was 3 am now, which meant that three hours had passed since.

Dexter would have had ample time to commit a crime.

I quickly left the hotel and looked around in a panic.

What would I do if Dexter was actually part of the murders?

Then, I ran ahead with no direction in mind for a moment before my phone rang.

It was Zion.

I grew even more panicked.

I didn’t know if I was afraid that the police had arrested Dexter at a crime scene, or if another murder had happened.

"Hello?" I answered the call after calming myself down.

"Come to the police station at Yellowbrick Road, please." Zion sounded exasperated.

"Police station?" I was taken aback.

"Why didn’t you keep Dexter in check? You really let him come out at night to beat someone up? Aren’t you his guardian?" Zion sullenly asked.

If the local police officers hadn’t been familiar with Dexter, they would’ve detained him for the night.

"Beat someone up?" I asked in confusion as I hailed a cab.

"Dexter beat Damien up and trashed his car. What’s worse, he even got nearly a dozen stray dogs and set them on Damien’s bodyguards and injured them," Zion said, nearly gritting his words out. "If Dexter wasn’t declared insane, he would’ve been imprisoned already."

I was so confused.

"Dexter went to beat Damien up in the middle of the night? And trashed his car too? He even had some dogs bite his men?" I was overwhelmed by all this information.

Did Dexter suddenly want me to stay at the hotel last night because he’d planned to beat up Damien?

"But more than one person was injured. And according to Dexter, the people who have been lingering around the Black residence have run off."

"They were probably there to spy on you guys and intended to harm you two. So, Dexter’s actions can technically be counted as self-defense in this case," Zion said, exasperated. "But Damien and his driver are considered innocent bystanders given that they were simply waiting for you two at the door."

At that, I fell silent. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

So, Dexter ran off at 3 am, not to kill someone, but to go back home and beat people up.

No wonder he kept on repeating that Damien had shoved him.

Did he hold a grudge?

I cupped my forehead and said in embarrassment, "I’ll be there right away. Please look after him for me in the meantime..."

As Dexter’s guardian, I was responsible for compensating Damien for the damages to his car, and the medical fees for his bodyguards.

I wasn’t too worried about the money since the Black family could afford it. But my concern was that Dexter might’ve pissed Damien off for good now.

"You really are capable, Sofia Miller," Damien gritted out outside the police station. "Keep your mad dog on a leash, will you?"

"What breed of dog are you then? You were barking so madly outside our house at night instead of staying at the hospital with Juliet." I glared at Damien and peeked at Dexter who stood behind the door.

He didn’t dare come out to face me.

Then, Damien took a step forward and looked down at me.

Damien was bleeding at the forehead and had a cut lip, and it was all probably because of Dexter.

"Ah... So, it was just an accident! After reviewing the surveillance footage, we saw that someone in the local vicinity had been hurting people, and this upset the young man.

"That was why he grew agitated and injured Mr. Coleman who happened to be waiting outside the house," the police officer explained in an effort to mediate the situation.

"Both parties are at fault here," he concluded.

Damien gritted his teeth. "I’m at fault for waiting outside the door?"

"What were you doing waiting outside someone’s house in the middle of the night anyway? Wouldn’t any normal person mistake you for a bad guy for hanging around the area like that?"

The officer then quickly winked at Damien and said quietly, "Plus, why would a sane man like you be so bothered by the acts of a madman?"

Damien scoffed in response.

The police officer then turned to me. "But you should still pay due compensation."

I looked at Damien’s pale and injured face under the streetlamp.

His greatest fear was dogs, and the fact that Dexter had brought nearly a dozen of them back home, well...

Damien must’ve undoubtedly been frightened. Heck, his knees might still be secretly shaking.

"Dexter did it on purpose," Damien said as he looked at me. "He’s liable to go hysterical at any given point."

"Let’s see just how long you’ll last by his side. Who knows, he might end up choking you to death in the middle of the night!"

Damien then glanced at the time and saw that it was already 3 am.

"I suggest you come to Coleman Group tomorrow to explain yourself," Damien said. He wanted to see me alone. "If you don’t, I’ll get a lawyer and file an application to force Dexter to return to the asylum!"

I furrowed my brows and glared at Damien.

What a huge jackass.

After Damien had gotten what he wanted, he left in his car.

I wasn’t sure why Damien insisted on meeting me in person alone, but I knew the reason wouldn’t be anything good.

What was he doing waiting for me to show up at Black residence the entire night? Why didn’t he stay by his "kind-hearted" sweetheart, Juliet, at the hospital instead?

Between Damien and Dexter, Damien was more of a lunatic to me.

"Come outside!" I called angrily to Dexter. He was still hiding behind the door after Damien left.

Dexter slowly walked out with his head bowed, looking aggrieved.

"What were you doing out here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?" I yelled at him, all my patience gone.

"There were bad men..." Dexter whispered.

So, he had gone back to make Martin’s men leave because he was worried that they might hurt me.

Zion leaned against the car door and watched as I scolded Dexter. Then, he chuckled and said, "I realize that the kid only listens to you. He always looks like he’ll tear anyone else who chastises him to shreds."

I cupped my forehead. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it was for you to go back home alone so late at night?"

Dexter glanced at the stray dogs roaming around the dumpsters nearby. "Wasn’t alone..."

I was really angry now. "Do dogs count as people?" I exclaimed.

"People sometimes can’t compare to them," Dexter’s expression turned darkly, and the atmosphere suddenly grew cold.

But just when I thought that perhaps I saw wrongly, Dexter had already resumed his pitiful demeanor.

"I made a mistake... Sofia."

"Made a mistake? How?"

"I don’t know..."

I might get a stroke at this point. "Why did you beat Damien Coleman up?"

"He deserved it," Dexter said matter-of-factly.

"Ahem. That’s enough now. Don’t talk about this here in the doorway." Zion opened his car door. "Get in. I’ll drop you guys back home."

I dragged Dexter into the car with me, hands trembling in anger.

But then, I thought about how Dexter had gone back home right after leaving the hotel, but he didn’t kill anyone...

Phew.

Just then, Zion’s phone buzzed.

It was a call from Phil. He was keeping watch over Juliet at the hospital. "Zion, we just caught someone who tried to kill Juliet here at the hospital!"