Reborn In a Murderer’s Embrace

Chapter 31

I remember asking Dexter once, why? By what right?

He sneered, “By right of you eating my food, drinking my drinks, and living under my roof! By right of the favors my family has done for you that you’ll never repay in a lifetime! It’s just a spot for an exchange program, so what right do you have to raise your voice at me?”

That day. I collapsed on the ground like a stray dog abandoned by its owner.

Hank, with Melody’s sister, Serena–the woman who had stolen my spot–wrapped in his arms. came up to me and trampled on me with the vilest words in the world.

She taunted, “Phoebe, you really are pathetic. My sister is the one who deserves Dexter. What are you but a lowly stain, fit for nothing?”

Hank kicked me, muttering. “My cousin said the biggest regret of his life was letting Hailey take you in.”

I sat there, my body slowly growing numb.

“Phoebe, if you dare tell my cousin about it, I’ll make your life hell,” Hank threatened, a delight in his voice as he did so in secret.

“Ah come on, even if she does, Dexter won’t believe her. Who’d trust such a woman?” Serena strutted away, her arm sporting a designer bag Dexter had bought for Melody, easily worth tens of thousands with a single swipe of his card.

Dexter always said I owed him and the Fitzgerald family, but the sum of my living and education expenses over the years with the Fitzgeralds didn’t come close to that–a few thousand bucks at most. I had a scholarship, which covered my tuition in college and sustained my basic needs.

I’d rather work night shifts at a 24–hour convenience store than spend another dime of the Fitzgerald family’s money.

What I owed Dexter was the

penalty he paid off for my family’s breached contract; I covered the rest, including the compensation for the workers with the insurance money from my parents‘ death and by selling our house.

lot of money, but even that wasn’t close to what he spent on

fell ill with encephalitis and collapsed with a high fever on the

a physical test for Melody’s sister Serena. I

you’re not dead,

15:02

echoing in my mind, “Phoebe, you

owed him, and I had

of bed, shaky and weak, and made it to the field. I collapsed

doctor thought I was insane–running a physical test with a forty–degree

cheating on her test and lost her spot in the

hospital, Dexter barged into my room, fury in his eyes, nearly dragging me out of bed. “Phoebe, I never knew

calculating, yet not a word about my fever or

of encephalitis nearly cost me my life. I needed money for treatment, or I might die,

to lend me

work and

disgust. “Even now, you’re still pretending, Phoebe. What

ground, my headache

you give Hank in exchange for money before? Didn’t I tell you to come to me if you were short?

explain, “I never asked him for money…”

the wall, looking down on me. “If you want money, stop playing the victim. Follow me. I’m

head, tears scalding my cheeks. I knew what he was going to do to

vented on me, over and over. That night, the fever didn’t break,