Dexter adjusted his collar. “How should we handle this?”
Upon hearing that, Josie blurted out, “Even if she’s my biological mother, can she just hand me over like that?”
She was well aware of their relationship, yet she insisted on rubbing salt in Dexter’s wounds.
He looked at her. “She currently lives at No. 3021, Midtown Boulevard, Slirroc, Wavery. If you want to meet her in person, I can arrange it for you.”
He was able to recite the detailed address. Josie’s eyes flickered with surprise, but it quickly faded. “My father has been ill, and these past two years, he has suffered greatly. His whereabouts are still unknown. Is it too much to ask for her to be held accountable?”
Dexter gazed at the sunlight outside as Morgan drove away. “Not at all. Can you find a legal way? If you can’t, I’ll create one for you,” he said.
Josie narrowed her eyes, almost in disbelief. “Dexter, the way you speak makes one doubt if you’re really her biological child.”
That was his mother. Despite the strained relationship they had maintained over the past few years, the bond of blood was still there. Yet, he was willing to hand Josie the knife, to personally take the life of his own mother…
“Have you lost your mind?” Josie turned around, unsure of how to face him.
Behind her, footsteps approached slowly and gently. Dexter said, “Whatever I owe you, you don’t need to lift a finger. Consider me your blade.”
Josie turned her head.
The icy tone in Dexter’s voice was like a knife, instinctively making people flinch.
Josie shook her head. “I’m not interested in Xanthe’s fate. Sooner or later, she will pay the price. When that time comes, I won’t consider the relationship between you two. However, what you’re saying now, Dexter, I truly believe, you are heartless.”
Each of her words pierced his heart. “Initially, they said Xanthe was mentally ill, and Arnold led me to suspect you were too. Now, I believe, you truly are.”
Dexter’s expression remained calm, like still waters. However, if one were to look closely, one could clearly see the turmoil hidden in the depths of his eyes.
“Mental illness?” He chuckled lightly, taking off his watch and wiping it clean with a tissue. “If you think I have it, what about Grape? When she grows up, will she treat her mother the same way?”
A slap landed swiftly on his cheek. Josie’s chest heaved as she spoke. “No father in this world would ever speak of his own daughter in such a way!”
Dexter subtly turned his face away, a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth making him appear even more sinister.
He grabbed Josie’s wrist. “So now you admit that Grape is my daughter, huh?”
Josie struggled. “You never expected her birth in the first place, otherwise, why would you put me in such an embarrassing situation? Tell me, if Grape grows up and finds out that she was conceived because her father forced himself on me on the rooftop, what will happen?”
That remark indeed infuriated Dexter, causing his grip to tighten. “I have always looked forward to her birth.”
Josie locked eyes with him, clearly showing disbelief.
Yet in that moment, Dexter vividly remembered the two years she had been gone. He deeply regretted not being able to keep her by his side with a child. Perhaps, if there had been such a bond, she wouldn’t have had the heart to leave.
He didn’t say anything and released Josie’s hand. “It’s up to you whether you believe it or not.”
Dexter placed the watch on the table beside him, gently pressed it, and a recording began to play.
It was undeniably Arnold’s voice.
The conversation between the two was accompanied by some background noise, yet it was evident that it had just taken place.
Josie furrowed her brow. She hadn’t anticipated that Dexter had recently been involved in a confrontation with Arnold.
