Reborn In a Murderer’s Embrace

Chapter 32

It was only later that I learned why he had left me for dead at the hotel that night. Melody’s father had fallen ill, suffering a stroke during a bout of heavy drinking. The medical bills for his treatment and rehabilitation had piled up into a mountain of debt.

Dexter, who demanded nothing but the best, had spared no expense: a private room, top–notch nurses, an elite team of doctors, and the most advanced rehabilitation care.

He could effortlessly drop tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions on Melody… But when it came to me, his stinginess knew no bounds.

Melody took for granted all the privileges he lavished upon her, while I was shackled with a burdensome debt.

I owed him a life debt, the intact remains of my parents, and a sum of money and gratitude I could never repay in this lifetime. For a long while, I confused gratitude and guilt with affection. I couldn’t tell them apart, nor could I separate them.

Sometimes I wondered, did I ever truly love Dexter? And what exactly did I love about him?

Was it the moment he saved me, or the way he risked everything to pull my parents‘ bodies. from the wreckage?

Did I love the look of concern and fear of losing me in his eyes as the car burst into flames?

I guess I was just fooling myself. Back then, I believed Dexter cared for me. I thought he might have loved me too, but it was all an illusion.

Even my love for him now felt like a distant, long–forgotten mirage.

shame? You’re just hovering around to worm your way into Dexter’s life, aren’t you?” Melody had sneered at me on the day she took a tumble

With her gone for half a year, I felt vulnerable. Without Hailey, there was no one to shield

1. me.

become even

even renting a basement flat. I didn’t care where, as

would find me with chilling precision, hauling me back to face his cold interrogations about

out from the top of the stairs, her voice dripping with mockery. “Do you know what people outside say about you?

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Chapter 32

and now you’ve cursed Dexter’s father with chronic illness. What’s the point of

snapped, losing control

day was the anniversary

years at the Fitzgerald residence, Dexter remembered the

I were you, I’d just die and be done with it,” Serena sneered from below, as Dexter’s fair–weather friends laughed at my misery. They never

not back yet. Phoebe, I hear you’re pretty desperate for a man,

words echoed around me like a curse,

on, come down with me,” Melody said, grabbing my wrist and trying

stairs.

watched with horror as Melody purposefully loosened her grip, flashed me a cold