Reborn In a Murderer’s Embrace (Dexter) novel Chapter 337

I stared at Colin, gobsmacked. Was I?

So, that meant the whole spiel about me being the valedictorian of the Genius Contest was real, and tutoring those missing kids was too?

My fingers tingled with numbness as a throbbing headache made me sway unsteadily on my feet.

Colin rushed over and wrapped his arms around me, his voice a soothing whisper. "It doesn't matter. Their disappearance isn't on you, it's just..."

His voice was husky with tension as he glanced nervously at Robin. "The whole Genius Contest thing was just a publicity stunt, a way for the elite to lure in average families with the promise of hefty scholarships, preying on the hopes of those dreaming for their kids to shoot for the stars. Phoebe was a victim too. She was just a pawn, like a mannequin in a store window, with no choice of her own, put on display, an ornament. She's not to blame."

Colin was shaking, trying so desperately to prove something to me as he held me.

"Phoebe..." Stella's voice shook as she rushed over to us.

Robin furrowed his brow but said nothing.

Clearly, everything now was proving that Dexter, Stella, and Colin all saw me as Phoebe.

But in Robin’s eyes, I was Foebe. How could a dead person just suddenly come back to life in another person’s body? It defied any normal person's understanding.

“Phoebe…”

A memory flashed through my mind, a voice familiar and chilling.

"Do you know the most clever way to fool everyone?" Damian had circled around me, his smile sly as he began to speak. "It's to weave a lie so well, even you believe it."

"Ever heard of a montage of truths? Each sentence I say is true on its own, but strung together, they form a lie, a sequence turned on its head."

"Phoebe, you have to convince yourself first..."

"Like, the woman I love is in the arms of a rich playboy. Each part of that statement is true on its own, but the real order is that I fell for the woman in the rich playboy’s arms."

The same truth, spun differently, suddenly took on a whole new flavor.