"Right from the get-go, I knew he was on edge, keeping everyone at arm''s length. And now, it looks like he''s on a cleaning spree, silencing one after the other..." Hailey murmured under her breath, her voice barely above a whisper.


    The veins on her neck stood out, a testament to the fury she was struggling to contain.


    "Six o''clock, at Shore Dine. Meet me there, we''ll discuss new terms. If you''re a no-show, don''t say I didn''t warn you," Hailey threw down her ultimatum before driving off.


    Once her car disappeared around the corner, I dashed to the dumpster, rummaging through it for the envelope Colin had discarded earlier. It contained photos that Melody had brought over.


    Despite Colin having torn them to shreds, I managed to piece them back together.


    The photos captured secret meetings between Foebe and Damian, and Foebe taking a homeless kid to meet a stranger.Têxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    But no, not a stranger.


    After piecing the photos back together as best as I could, my breath hitched.


    The man Foebe took the homeless kid to see was the second victim in the string of murders, rumored to be involved in some import-export business. Considering Hailey''s ominous words, it seemed Foebe was far from the simple figure I had imagined.


    Six o''clock rolled around.


    I arrived early at Shore Dine, and Hailey was already there, seemingly waiting.


    Hailey was the epitome of a powerhouse, a figure my mother had often spoken about, saying the Fitzgerald family was practically carried on her shoulders alone. Her husband, Dexter''s father, might as well have been a ghost for all his presence in their lives.


    Hailey was also a figure of sympathy; her marriage was one of absence, with Mr. Fitzgerald rarely home after Dexter''s birth. In all my years with the Fitzgerald family, I could count on one hand the times I''d seen her husband.


    "How much is Damian paying you to y Phoebe Caldwell, to worm your way close to Caleb, to coax him into selling the Langley Group, destroying the Langley family in the process?" Hailey asked coolly. "Are we, the Fitzgerald family, next on your list?"


    I was taken aback, not by the usation but by the weight of her words. She believed I was Damian''s pawn, sent to infiltrate the lives of Caleb and Dexter.


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about," I responded, my voice low.


    The Fitzgerald family, the Langley family, why were they all targets for Damian?


    "Save it, Foebe I wouldn''t have


    sought you out if I hadn''t dug up enough dirt on you. Did you really think I was off on vacation all this time?" Hailey scoffed. "Damian''s cleaned house, but did he really think I''d just sit around waiting for my turn?"


    I frowned, remaining silent.


    "Have you ever wondered why you bear such a striking resemnce to Phoebe?" Hailey mused. "Why he chose you to impersonate her? Because, in a way, you share the same DNA with Phoebe."


    Her words left me reeling. "What do you mean..."


    Hailey took a sip of her drink, a smirk ying on her lips. "For a fair exchange of secrets, you need to tell me what Damian offered you."


    I massaged my temples, feeling overwhelmed. "I... I can''t remember. But there was this ssmate, James, he once mentioned something about what we were supposed to do for that Mister."


    Whether that ''Mister'' was Damian remained unclear.


    "Likely, Damian found some leverage over you," Hailey said gravely. "Typical Damian, I suppose. Brainwashing you, then nting Phoebe''s memories, making you believe you are her upon waking."


    "This man is truly mad," she murmured more to herself than to me.


    I stayed quiet, pondering over the shared DNA Hailey mentioned.


    "Anthony Larson and his wife were incapable of conceiving. Anthony was sterile, meaning it was impossible for them to have biological children in the traditional sense," Hailey exined softly, her gaze fixed on me.


    I stared at Hailey in shock, realization dawning that perhaps Foebe wasn''t their biological child either.


    "Initially, it was Anthony and his wife who pleaded with Phoebe''s mother for assistance in having a child. They turned to IVF, with an embryo that shared DNA with Phoebe being imnted in Mrs. Larson," Hailey exined, her brows knitting


    together. "That''s all I know for now."


    She knew that both Phoebe and Foebe were from a batch of experimental embryos, sharing the same original gene.


    "After I married Caleb, Damian never


    made contact or asked me to do


    anything. Everything that happened all unfolded naturally. Whether you believe it or not, Dexter''s suicide had


    little to do with me," I attecide had


    rify.


    to