Coraline’s jaw dropped in disbelief, not quite sure where she had misspoken.


    Material ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    Wasn’t itmon knowledge that Melody was Dexter’s long–lost love, and Phoebe nothing but a


    scorned woman who had tried and failed to seduce him?


    “Alright everyone, grab a seat,” James directed, orchestrating the seating for the get–together.


    I let out a snort of derision.


    Clearly, Coraline had hit a nerve with Dexter. I had died carrying his child, which was an omen of bad


    luck and a taboo topic for him.


    “Must be starving, huh? Let’s dig in,” Mrs. Thompson quickly tried to steer the conversation away from


    dangerous waters. She was clueless about how to smooth over such an awkward moment.


    After all, we were all her students.


    “What’s got into Mr. Fitzgerald? Struck a nerve, did I? Well you know what they say. You can’t y with


    fire without getting burned.‘ In the dead of night, with your fiancée by your side, you’re not afraid of


    ghosts, are you?” I sneered, sidling up to Melody and whispering. “Melody, if you don’t want skeletons


    in your closet, better not bury any bodies. You think you’ve destroyed that incriminating voicemail from


    Phoebe’s phone, that you’re safe? But skeletons have a way of crawling back out of the closet… that


    recording will surface sooner orter.”


    Melody turned as pale as a ghost, her hands clenched tight, her breath quickening as she stumbled


    backward..


    “Don’t push it too far. What… what are you nning?” she asked me in a hushed tone.


    t


    “Me?” 1 chuckled lightly. “I’m not nning anything. I just want to watch you fall”


    Melody’s grip tightened, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Don’t cross the line, you’re not Phoebe…‘


    Η


    My brow furrowed at her words. She knew my name was Foebe; she must have done her homework.


    “You think this is crossing the line? Have you forgotten what you did to Phoebe?” I continued to


    intimidate her.


    Suddenly, Melody clutched her stomach and copsed to the floor, lookingpletely drained. “Dexter,


    my stomach hurts.”


    I knew all too well that Melody was an actress at heart, and I expected her to clutch her stomach


    because Dexter was a sucker for that act.


    I looked down at Melody with disdain. “Run out of scripts to perform, have you?”


    Melody nced nervously at Dexter. “This time, it really hurts.”


    Dexter seemed impatient for the first time, not rushing to her aid like before. Instead, he spoke In a low


    tone. “This is a gathering organized by our teacher. Go and rest over there.”


    It was clear that Dexter’s patience was running thin,


    To my surprise, was Dexter finally getting fed up?


    How interesting.


    Melody’s face twisted in embarrassment, and the triumphant smirk she intended to throw my way never


    materialized,


    I didn’t know what had transpired between them, but since my death, Dexter had be more


    enigmatic.


    But then again Dexter was never one forsting affections.


    Melody’splexion looked genuinely awful, as if she wasn’t faking it this time.


    “Did Foebe really bring the young master of the Langley family? The guy isn’t a fool, is he?” Someone


    else chimed in, questioning Caleb’s intelligence.


    “Mrs. Thompson, my husband is unwell, so we’re going to skip dinner,” I said, no longer feeling like


    lingering. The trip wasn’t a total waste; that ss president, James, clearly had something up his


    sleeve, and eded to discreetly exit and n my next move to investigate him.


    Mrs. Thompson nodded. “Alright, head home and rest up.”


    As I took Caleb’s hand to leave, Kyle and a few others arrived.


    “Oh boy… dress up a madman and he almost looks presentable, doesn’t he?” Kyle’spanion


    provocatively sneered.


    Kyle had a sharp tongue, and so did his cronies. These people had bullied me more than once in the


    past, and Dexter never lifted a finger to stop them.