CHAPTER 20

"Officer Landon, I heard that you've released that psycho?" Damien asked with displeasure as he walked out from the police station with Juliet.

Juliet was hiding in Damien's arms as if she was terribly frightened.

Damien took off his coat and put it on Juliet's shoulders lovingly. Then, he held her in his arms and asked, "Are you cold?"

Juliet gently nodded.

"Mr. Coleman, someone has bailed him out. They also mentioned that should your friend have any questions, feel free to give them a call. They would compensate for all the medical expenses as well as any other losses." Zion passed the name card to Damien.

Damien looked at the name card. Then, his glance changed.

He frowned and asked, "Ignatius Black?"

The Black family…

I stared at Damien dumbfoundedly. Did he just mention the Black family?

The Black family was the wealthiest and most influential family in the business industry in Huma.

Even the Coleman family could not be compared with them.

However, how did a member of the Blacks end up growing up in an orphanage and turning into a psycho?

I couldn't help but tremble when I thought of Dexter's true identity.

Did he manage to get away from all those murders he had committed thus far because he was a Black?

So, someone had been cleaning up the mess for him.

What should I do now? Where on earth was my body? Would the truth about my death even come to light?

"H–he was a Black?" Juliet was dumbfounded too.

After a long silence, she eventually found her tongue. "I've never heard that there's a psycho in the Black family."

"Three years ago, Mr. Black Senior's eldest son, eldest grandson, and granddaughter were killed in a car accident. His youngest son was the only family he had left, but he was azoospermic."

"Since the youngest son was infertile, there is no chance of an heir," Damien said in a low tone while he frowned.

"Which means this psychic is a bloodline of the Black family. Otherwise, Mr. Ignatius wouldn't care so much about such a psycho."

"You think so?" Zion smiled coldly. "If he really cared about Dexter, he wouldn't have let him wander around like a homeless person. He's just making sure the bloodline of the Blacks won't die."

Damien kept quiet. He wasn't interested in the Black family, nor did he want to get involved with them.

"Since you've finished questioning, you probably should focus more on the murderer instead of Sophia." Damien opened the door of his car and let Juliet in.

Apparently, he was particular in every detail when it came to taking care of Juliet.

"Juliet and I are getting married soon, I bet she'll show up at our wedding." He was quite certain about it.

I scoffed, knowing that Damien planned to lure me out at his and Juliet's wedding.

"Congratulations to you two then."

Zion glanced at Damien meaningfully. "Hopefully, this was all just Sophia's prank. I do hope she'll attend your wedding. Then we'll know she's safe and sound."

"Yeah, keep dreaming…" I stood aside and taunted Damien. I would not show up at his wedding. Never ever.

Damien got into the car and drove off.

I stood there feeling rather lost. I did not know where I should go next.

Perhaps I was what was known as a "lost ghost".

A soul which had no idea where to go after death."

"Where are you, Sophia?" Zion suddenly asked as he raised his head and stared at the sky.

I turned around and looked at him with a smile. "I'm dead, but I don't know where my body is…"

"Officer Landon! We've got another case!" Phil came out of the police station, and ran toward Zion panickedly.

"Another female body was found at the Godrey River. Same MO… The victim wore a red dress and often wandered around at night. She was sexually assaulted before she died of suffocation," he said.

Zion frowned and threw away the cigarette in his hand. "Damn… that bastard!"

He was furious that he uncontrollably smashed the trash can next to him. He was feeling pissed that the murderer was still at large because of his incompetence.

So many innocent women died because he couldn't catch the murderer.

"The victim's face was completely skinned, thus we can't identify her," Phil said.

Zion finally calmed down and stood there in silence. "Let's go take a look."

I followed Zion worriedly. According to my last memory, the murderer had indeed abducted several women.

I remembered seeing a few ladies in red quivering at the corner before I died.

"There are survivors, Zion! There are still some survivors! Go to that abandoned orphanage! Search the orphanage!" I anxiously yelled at Zion while I followed him.

Someone was still alive. The murderer only killed a person every once in a while. And before he killed, he would first abduct a person.

So there must be survivors!

"Zion! There are survivors!" I shouted as loud as I could, hoping that he could hear me. However, it was all in vain.

We were like people in two different worlds. He couldn't even feel my existence.

"This might sound weird but we found another Sophia's belonging on the body. The victim was wearing an earring on her left ear."

"We've confirmed that it was the earrings that Sophia was wearing on the day she went missing," Lily reported to Zion when she returned from the scene.

"Is it possible that we're heading in the wrong direction? Maybe the murderer isn't a male, but a female? Or maybe it's Sophia Milford?" Lily told Zion her suspicion.

Zion remained silent.

I tried to explain to him, but it was no use. They couldn't hear me crying or shouting.

I wondered why the murderer was putting my belongings on the victims after he had killed me.

First, it was my bracelet; now, it was my earring.

What the hell was that lunatic trying to do?

I followed Zion to the Godrey River. It was a remote area that was some distance away from the abandoned orphanage.

Obviously, the murderer had dumped the body into the river. Then, the body floated downstream and was found in such a desolate place.

I stood by the river and saw that body covered in white cloth. I couldn't help but cover my eyes in fear.

Yes, even when I was dead, I was still as timid as ever.

"That's Sophia's earring alright. The last body had Sophia's bracelet, and this one had her earring. What is the murderer trying to say?" Phil was puzzled.

"Lily might be right. Maybe the murderer is Sophia Milford! Even if it isn't her, she's definitely part of it."

"She's now missing, and her friends insist that she's still alive. So maybe she pretended she was missing, but the fact is, she's the killer or accomplice!" Phil said angrily

"I heard that Sophia Milford was in love with Damien Coleman. They said she would do anything to get married to him."

"Perhaps she knew the murderer. So whenever the murderer kills someone, she intentionally leaves her belongings on the victims so she could provoke Damien and Juliet?" Lily said as she walked to them.

I stared at Zion helplessly and shook my head desperately. "No, it wasn't me. I did not."

Zion remained silent for a while, and then he said, "Get an arrest warrant for Sophia and put her on the wanted list."

The last hope I had been holding onto shattered in a blink of an eye.

I sarcastically glanced at the officers who were standing before me. Then, I turned around and left helplessly.

Not only did they not believe in me, but they even slandered me and planned on arresting me.

I wondered if they would feel guilty for their suspicions when they found my body.

Anyway, that was not important to me anymore.

No one in the world would believe in me.

No one believed that I was dead.

And no one believed that Juliet was the one who got me into this.

All of them believed in Juliet.

I went back to Hamforth Residence, where I used to stay with Mom and Dad before their accident.

We might not be considered wealthy in Huma, but we were a happy middle–class family.

Before I was 18, I used to imagine I was the happiest little princess who had a beautiful life with my parents and a wonderful future ahead.

However, everything had been ruined.

I could never go back to how things were.

As I wandered on the street in despair, countless cars ran through my soul. But I couldn't care less.

I never thought that I would fall into the pit of despair after I died. I was even more desperate than I was alive because I couldn't even end my life when I was a ghost.

"Sophia… Sophia, where are you? Please… come back to me."

I heard a faint cry coming from the entrance of my old home. A thin figure was squatting at the door and kept making calls.

I stood under the streetlight. My body trembled when I saw who it was.

That was Violette, my childhood friend and bestie.

Violette tried to get through my phone over and over, even though the phone was no longer reachable.

"Sophia, please don't scare me. Don't scare me," she kept murmuring.

Her voice sounded hoarse after a long cry, yet she couldn't stop repeating, "Sophia, please don't scare me. Come back to me, Sophia."

I squatted next to her helplessly. I wanted to hug her, but I couldn't.

"Violette, I'm here. I'm right here…" I said to her in tears, "Don't cry, Violette. I'm here."

However, Violette couldn't hear me.

"Sophia, I'll find out the truth. I promise you I'll find out the truth and avenge you," Violette promised in her hoarse voice.

I had a bad feeling about this. Violette was the only person who really cared about me, so I couldn't let anything happen to her.

"Violette!" I followed her and screamed her name in worry, but she didn't look back.

She wiped her tears and made a call on her phone. "Have you found it?"

"The police found another body today. The body was wearing Sophia's earring. The police couldn't identify the victim, but they'd confirmed it wasn't Sophia through DNA analysis."

As Violette studied medicine, she had a friend in forensics. Hence, she could easily find out about the investigation.

"Put me in touch with Zion Landon. Tell him that I've been going out during nights for quite some time, and I'm willing to be his bait to lure the murderer. Ask him to contact me. If he won't, I'll do it myself." Violette sounded determined.

"Are you out of your mind?" I shrieked at Violette, thinking that she must be crazy.

She shouldn't mess with that murderer!