Chapter 360
Clearly, Hailey wasn't about to trust me anytime soon.
"I know you're in dire straits for cash, and I'm aware Damian's been using those runaway kids to blackmail you. Here's a card with three million dollars. All you need to do is agree to one request, and every three months, I'll send you a sum of money," Hailey said, her gaze burning into me. I frowned, wary of Hailey's intentions. She knew too much...
It was obvious that the Angel Fund, established by the Fitzgerald family, had connections with Hailey and Damian, my parents, and even the Langley family.
And now, the Larson family was involved too.
Anthony and his wife...
It turned out they couldn't have their own biological child. Foebe was born via IVF, not gically theirs, which explained why they merely wanted a child and didn't care whether the nanny switched the baby, or if she got lost somewhere.
That explained the indifference, coldness, and exploitation the Larsons showed towards Foebe. They naturally favored Coraline Larson, who they'd raised for eighteen years, over a daughter with no blood relation to them.
And why Foebe's gics matched Phoebe's?
Were they from the same batch of embryos? That is, biologically speaking, they are biological sisters.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked Hailey.
"Divorce Caleb, stay by my son's side, and continue pretending to be Phoebe," Hailey pushed the card towards me. She wanted me to keep up the act of being Phoebe for her son.
"Why? If you think I'm Damian's person," I couldn't comprehend.
Hailey frowned, a mocking smile on her lips. "Such a tragedy... After Phoebe's death, my boy went mad. He's different from his father. I never thought he'd be so sentimental. I used to think he was as cold-blooded and foolish as his dad."
Hailey spoke again with scorn. "But after Phoebe died, he locked himself up, refusing to eat or drink, constantly hurting himself. I've never seen him like this before. Desperate, regretful, mad..."
Hailey was probably shocked by Dexter's state too.
"I forced him to eat, but he almost vomited everything. He said he didn't know Phoebe loved him, and he regretted it."
Dexter never believed Phoebe loved him. He didn't know Phoebe was pregnant.
"He wanted to die, saying death would reunite him with Phoebe," Hailey clenched her fists. "My son, in love with a test subject. Such is fate." Hailey murmured.
I looked up at her, my gaze cautious. She knew about the test subject matter too...
"After punishing himself for days, he
started self-harming. With no other choice, I turned to Damian, hoping he could help him move on, only to realize it was the beginning ofContentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!
Damian's scheme," Hailey let
gritted her teeth. "He must have fed my son some sort of potion, making him believe Phoebe was still alive."
"He really tried to kill himself?" I was skeptical. Could Dexter, of all people, truly resort to suicide out of guilt?
"The first time, he slit his wrists. The second time, on top of that, he tried to drown himself in the bathtub, saying it must have hurt Phoebe so much. He said Phoebe was afraid of the dark, and he wanted to be with her."
"The third time, he starved himself to the brink of death."
"The fourth time, just recently, he slit his wrists in Phoebe's room, both horizontally and vertically."
Dexter was still in a coma. He had been resuscitated. But no one knew when he would wake up.
"This is the letter he asked the nanny to give to Phoebe before the
incident," Hailey said with a cold
laugh, pushing the letter to
me. "Consider it a mother's sincere plea. Act out a play for me, even if it's just to deceive him."
"I just want him to live," Hailey's voice choked up. She was actually begging me to help Dexter.
Even if it meant pretending, to go back to him, to deceive him.