Reborn In a Murderer’s Embrace

"You gave them to me." Colin's fingers traced the lower-right corner of the specimen, where a black signature with the letters 'C' - Caldwell's initial - was inscribed.

I stared at Colin, my breath catching. "Me? I gave these to you?"

All of these specimens?

"You said that the beauty of a shooting star lies in its fleeting moment. That the brief bloom of a night-blooming cereus is enough to dazzle everyone..." Colin turned to look at me, his voice as raspy as ever.

But it seemed to carry an endless stream of loneliness, grievance, and guilt. "Life is short, to preserve them forever, this was the only way."

I was shocked as I gazed at the walls filled with butterfly specimens. For a moment, they all seemed to come alive, flapping their wings, taking flight.

"I can't believe I would... like these," I said in astonishment.

Colin took my hand and led me into a room in the basement.

The door had a keypad, sturdy like a bank vault.

As the door swung open, I followed Colin inside.

When the lights flickered on, a tingling shock ran through my entire body.

Had Colin... finally opened his heart to me?

In other words, was he finally willing to trust me completely, revealing his hidden secrets, his scars, all out in the open for me to see?

An entire wall of the basement was covered with Colin's investigations - about Damian, about me, my parents, the people from the orphanage, and... some individuals I didn't recognize.

And there was the current serial murder case.

It was like he was watching over everyone, like the hand of God, orchestrating everything. This material belongs to NôvelDrama.Org.

I looked at Colin, a mix of panic and fear in my eyes.

He... he couldn't really be the killer, could he?

Colin led me to a wall of photographs and pointed to the bottom left corner. "This isn't the first serial murder case. Three years ago, after I left the psychiatric hospital, there was a series of mysterious deaths among the doctors there."

Several psychiatrists had met their ends through slips, accidents, drownings, fires - seemingly unrelated, yet somehow intricately connected.

"Do you suspect that the person behind those 'accidents' is the same one behind the serial killings?" I asked quietly.

Colin nodded. "There's one thing in common – they don't kill the innocent."

He pointed to a doctor who had reported illegal practices at the psychiatric hospital. "This man, Lamont, was one of the few with a conscience among the hospital's staff. It was he who blew the whistle, saving me from that place."

He was also the doctor Dexter had brought to provoke Colin that day.

"All these deaths... they all revolve around me," Colin murmured.

The deceased doctors had all once hurt, bullied, and tormented Colin.

"So, more eyes turn towards me, while the real killer often goes unnoticed," Colin said softly.

"You knew there was a problem back then, you had this chain of evidence... why didn't you go to the police?" I looked at Colin anxiously.

Colin's eyes reddened as he looked at me, his Adam's apple bobbing with unspoken words.

"Colin... you're going to tell me everything, right?" I asked, my heart pounding. What was he still hiding?

Colin looked away. "Everything I've investigated is here. Damian is definitely a dangerous person. I suspect your parents' deaths, including Ethan Langley's death... they're all connected to Damian."

Ethan was Colin's father.

My breath grew heated as I looked at the wall full of clues.

When did the Langley family get entangled with Damian? It all started with a 'deification' project Damian had proposed after receiving an award in the medical field years ago.

"My dad... biology, genetic research... genetic editing of babies? What does that mean..." My breath was hot, my fingers trembling as I reached out to touch the documents.

Genetic editing? This so-called deification project was about giving the offspring of the wealthy an inherent advantage over everyone else.

If such an inhumane and unethical plan were to be widely accepted by society, it would upend the current social order, ensuring the elite became more elite, and the codes of wealth remained in the hands of the few.

These individuals would be born immune to many diseases, naturally... as the so-called geniuses.

"This project originally focused on research into AIDS, rare diseases, genetic mutations, cerebral palsy, and XYY syndrome, among other areas. These medical professionals, lacking sufficient funds, would seek financial support from the financial sector." Colin pointed to Ethan.