Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

"I might betray you?" I tried to be as calm as possible. "No way...."

Howard sighed in relief. "I doubted it too. No way you would betray us,"

My palms started to sweat as I clenched my fingers and said, "So, Howard, any instructions from... Sir lately?"

Who was this "Sir" anyway?

"Our recent operations haven’t been going smoothly. Sir had requested for some funds. several times, but all have been denied. Some kids even got beaten up too. And without the funds, we can’t locate the children’s biological parents."

Howard sighed and continued, "Sir mentioned that now that you’ve married into a wealthy family, you’re preoccupied with your upper class lifestyle. He thinks that you’ve lost interest in the children and might even betray us." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Children?" I found myself asking. I didn’t get what he was saying.

"When we rescued those trafficked children, we made some enemies. Those people came yesterday and smashed Sir’s windows," Howard said with a frightened expression. Those guys are crazy!"

I stared at Howard for a long while.

So... Sofia, Howard, and this "Sir" saved a group of trafficked children? Were they some sort of charity organization?

Sofia’s secrets never failed to surprise me.

"Howard, um... sorry. Actually, I fell sick a few days ago and somehow lost my memories after I woke up. That’s why it took me a while to come find you. If I’ve caused any delays... "I said guiltily.

"Oh, so you were sick. That explains it." Howard waved his hand and said, "No worries. I’ll talk to Sir and clear things up."

"Sir is..."

"Sir is a good person. He never complained when he supported the both of us in the past. And now, he’s fully devoted to these children too, so we should help out however we can," Howard comforted me.

"Oh, by the way, Sofia... How did you suddenly end up marrying that... lunatic from the Lincoln family?" Howard looked at me warily. There was a clear sense of fear in his eyes when he mentioned Dexter.

"You know... He’s probably a murderer," Howard whispered to me.

But I pretended that I didn’t understand what he was saying, "Why?" I asked.

What made him think that Dexter was a murderer?

"Well... It’s a long story." Howard scratched his head. "You know, I was an orphan. I was adopted by my foster parents when I was in my teens. Later on, my foster parents went bankrupt, and life was tough up until I met Sir."

"I used to stay in the same orphanage with that lunatic. Dexter used to be a genius, but then he went mad." Howard gave a vague explanation.

"Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about today. Can you tell me more about Dexter?" I said, gazing at Howard with a serious expression.

That day at the class reunion, I could tell that Howard was a person with some leadership skills and was actively involved in charity work. Hence, I assumed he wasn’t a bad person.

But what on earth actually happened at that orphanage?

"You’ve heard about that serial killer case too, haven’t you? All those victims were from our orphanage." Howard stared at me.

I nodded. "Aren’t you scared, Howard? I heard that the murderer specifically targeted the people from the orphanage."

"Oh, come on. I’ve done nothing wrong, and I’ve never hurt those people either. They have no reason to kill me," Howard confidently replied. "But those victims deserved it."

I looked at Howard curiously.

"The first victim’s name was Mandy Fry. She was the leader of the bullies in our class. She enjoyed picking on people, especially those who joined the orphanage later than her. Whoever disobeyed her would be in big trouble."

Then, Howard glanced around and said, "She was the first victim. And I saw from the news that her death was the most gruesome one too. Her stomach was full of bugs! It seemed like she died in pain."

I swallowed hard.

I’d also heard that the first victim’s death was the most brutal one. And when the police found the body, it had already been devoured by insects and was beyond recognition.

"When I was at the orphanage, I saw with my own eyes that... she ordered her underlings to hold Simmy down and force him to eat bugs," Howard said in a low voice.

Then, he said, "Simmy was a genius. He joined the orphanage later than Mandy and was weak and skinny. So, Mandy enjoyed picking on him. She even ordered some guys to strip him naked so the bugs would bite him."

So, Howard was a witness,

But why didn’t he tell the police about this? Surely Zion must have talked to him.

"Did you tell the police about... all this?" I asked nervously.

Howard’s expression shifted slightly. Then, he nodded. "I told the police when they questioned me. They suspected Simmy, but Simmy had died long ago in that fire!"

So, this clue was a dead end.

I took a deep breath and glanced at Howard. "Then Dexter..."

"Dexter arrived at the orphanage before Mandy. He was abandoned there when he was little. Dexter was a loner and didn’t have any friends, but whenever he was bullied, he made sure to retaliate. And as a result, Mandy didn’t dare to mess with him even thought she really wanted to."

Then, Howard paused for a moment, deep in thought, before saying, "If my memory serves me right, Mandy had once targeted Dexter because he had helped Simmy out of the blue. And from that moment on, Simmy began following Dexter everywhere while Dexter made sure to keep him safe from Mandy."

"So, since Mandy couldn’t get her hands on Simmy, she deliberately put bugs into Dexter’s pasta as revenge toward him."

I clenched my fists.

That Mandy girl was such a bitch!

"Guess what happened next," Howard said with a mysterious tone. "Dexter didn’t say a word to Mandy and simply grabbed her head and pressed it into his pasta. Then, he forced her to finish the whole plate in front of everyone."

"And ever since that incident, Mandy would flee whenever she caught sight of Dexter."

I nodded in understanding.

So, Simeon was very attached to Dexter and saw him as his savior. And Dexter was very protective of Simeon too.

Not to mention, the both of them were the geniuses of the orphanage and were selected to join the junior class.

Then, Howard continued, "The second victim was Hailey Lynch. She was Mandy’s underling and the most disgusting person in our class."

"She was the one who caught those bugs for Mandy. But aside from that, she’d also done a bunch of other shady stuff for her. That’s why she was found dead with her hands cut off and tongue pulled out."

According to the police, the second victim’s hands and tongue were detached when she was alive, so she must have died in great pain too.

I clasped my hands tightly and took a sip from the cup.

I couldn’t help but feel disgusted and frightened–but regardless, this was simply a natural physiological reaction..

But as I listened to Howard’s description of the victims, I noticed a pattern–they were all bad people.

"The murderer has been killing people from the orphanage, but he has never laid a finger on Dexter..." I murmured.

Based on my memories before my death, I was certain that the murderer must have had some kind of connection with Dexter.

And for now, Simeon was still on the top of my list of suspects.

Besides, was he truly dead? Was that burned body really Simeon’s?

"That’s why I said that Dexter might be the killer. You should stay away from him. There’s just something eerie about that guy. Ever since I first laid eyes on him, I’ve felt that he was creepy." Howard shivered.

"Howard, do you know Sophia?" I glanced at him and asked.

Howard momentarily froze with his coffee in hand when he heard Sophia’s name.

Then, there was a sudden silence.

"Sophia? Nice person." That was his comment about me.

All of them knew me, yet I had no memory of any of them.

"Back then, no one was willing to fund the orphanage, and only Sophia’s father kept funding us. Sophia was a nice person too. Her father used to bring her to visit us at the orphanage and play with us." Howard took a sip of the coffee, his gaze somewhat unfocused.

I stared at Howard.

Something told me that I couldn’t believe everything he was saying.

When he spoke, his gaze would wander, and this suggested to me that he was hiding something.

On top of that, when he talked about the orphanage, he seemed overly enthusiastic, as if he intentionally wanted me to know about it.

"Wow, look at the time! Anyway, I’m glad you’re alright. I’ll clear things up for you with Sit. If you have time, let’s do some charity work again sometime, "Howard said after glancing at the time. I nodded.

Then, Howard quickly stood up and left in a hurry,

After he left, I followed him and saw him glance around cautiously before walking into an alley,

"I told her everything... Just like what you told me to do," Howard spoke nervously, hist voice trembling with fear.

"You know what to say, and what not to, don’t you?" the man he was talking to replied in a low, hoarse voice.

Meanwhile, I hid in a corner to get a good look at the man.

But suddenly, my body tensed up.

The man who was talking to Howard... was Ewan!