Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

The conversation paused when the waiter brought their orders, and after the waiter left, Abigail and Jamal focused on the screen again.

"We found out the true reason Ryan did all of that to your mom and her parents," Tom told Abigail, and her brows pulled together.

"He had a reason for that aside from greed?" Jamal asked the same question playing in Abigail's mind.

Tom nodded. "Yes, Jamal. He had a reason. And that was the reason he was trying to find Karen. It was all for revenge."

"Revenge? My mother and grandparents did something to deserve being murdered? What unforgiveable thing could they have done that I had to spend all my life paying for it?" Abigail asked, too upset to stay calm.

Her hands trembled as she picked up her fork, and she placed it back down with a soft clink. Her throat felt tight, like something heavy was sitting inside her chest.

Lucy's voice came through the phone again, quiet and kind. "It wasn't about you, Dawn..."

"Or maybe it was about her," Sonia cut in thoughtfully before Lucy could finish, and everyone at the table looked at her, while Abigail frowned.

"Think about it, Callan is over thirty years old and he's older than by…"

"What does Callan or his age have to do with his?" Jamal asked, becoming increasingly confused and concerned.

"Calm down and listen, Jamal," his grandfather advised.

"As I was saying, Callan is over thirty, and Kimberly died twenty years ago…"

"That means there was a ten year gap between the time that the incident happened and the time Ryan decided he wanted to avenge his girlfriend," Jamal's mom, Candace, said thoughtfully.

"Exactly," Sonia said, snapping her finger.

"But we know that was because he didn't know what truly happened until much later. He thought she had an abortion," Lucy pointed out.

"He could have found a way to get rid of Kimberly and her family if he wanted to, but he didn't. The only reason he could probably have married Kimberly was because of Dawn. You all remember how bad the scandal was back then about Dawn's paternity and how shocked we were when we heard the news of Kimberly's engagement. She married him to appease her parents, but Dawn was instrumental in his plan. That's probably part of the reason he didn't kill Dawn. Maybe he didn't want to hurt her because he believed she was an innocent kid, but he wanted her alive so he could have control over the wealth. Remember when we were trying to contest for custody over Dawn we found out that they signed a prenup and Dawn was listed as the sole beneficiary of all the Moores owned and the Will said it was all to go to charity in the case of Dawn's Demise? Maybe that was the point. Maybe he wants to give it all to his own child," Sonia said, and Jamal and Abigail exchanged a look, both confused about what the others were discussing.

"Well, from the recording he did imply that he was giving it all to his child," Lucy confirmed.

"As much as I'm enjoying your conspiracy theories, we are lost. What child are you talking about? Genevieve isn't Ryan's biological child. And what girlfriend is he avenging? I'm trying to be patient, but we don't have all day. We have to get back to work," Jamal said, sounding impatient, and Abigail nodded in agreement.

"Jamal is right. All these theories should have been discussed before we called them. Let's tell them what they need to know," Evelyn said, giving Tom a nod to go ahead.

"Genevieve isn't Ryan's child, but your best friend, Callan, is. Callan is Ryan's son."

Jamal's heart missed a beat.

He blinked, trying to make sense of the words. "What?" he breathed, barely able to get the word out.

How could Callan's biological parents be two terrible people? Callan and Karen?

Abigail looked at Jamal. Although she didn't know Callan personally, but hearing that the man who had destroyed her family and almost ruined her life was the biological father of his best friend, left her stunned.

Tom nodded slowly, his expression grave. "Yes. Callan is Ryan's biological son."

"That… that doesn't make any sense," Jamal muttered. "Callan says his mother is Karen. Karen Combs. How can Callan be Ryan's son and Genevieve isn't?"

"Karen isn't his mother. His biological mother is dead. She died after a hit and run accident. From their conversation I guess she had the baby before she died. Kimberly was the culprit, and her parents covered up the case," Tom explained.

Abigail froze, her mouth hung slightly open as her brain scrambled to catch up.

Her mother had been responsible for the death of the mother of Jamal's best friend?

Tom continued since time was of the essence, "We don't know the entire details but the summary of it is that Karen was Callan's mom's best friend. Her name was Nancy. Ryan's parents didn't approve of the relationship so they tried to tear them apart. She got pregnant and Ryan was sent abroad. He was made to believe that she aborted the pregnancy and moved on, so he moved on with his life until he found out the truth years later. Karen on the other hand gave up the child and he ended up in the orphanage. You know the rest of the story."

Abigail's eyes filled with tears. "All these years I wondered what I did to deserve all of it. I wondered why he locked me away. Why he took my name. My face. My life. My son." Her voice shook, "I never would have imagined I had to go through all of this because of a crime that had nothing to do with me. I wasn't even born…" her voice broke as she began to weep.

Although Jamal was stunned and still very confused and had some questions for Tom, he pushed them aside for later as he put his arms around Dawn.

He held her close as she wept. She didn't look at him, but she didn't pull away.

Seeing her crying this way, made him sad. She had not even cried this way when he told her the truth about her identity.

There was silence on the call for a moment. Then Evelyn spoke, her voice thick with regret. "We are so sorry, Dawn. It's all our fault. We are the ones, who failed you. If only we had tried harder years ago, you wouldn't have experienced any of that. I'm sorry. On behalf of my husband and the rest of the Hank family, we are sorry."

Abigail said nothing as she continued to weep. As she wept she added this new piece of information to all the other things Jamal had told her about her mom. How her mom had deliberately gotten pregnant for an older man, then lied the baby was for Tom causing problems for everyone, and then releasing false news of engagement.

It seemed like all the problems in her life were caused by her mother. She'd have had a far better life if she hadn't been born to Kimberly Moore.

What kind of person hits someone with a car and runs away? Especially a pregnant woman at that? And then she evaded the responsibility for her actions.

"Do you want me to hang up?" Jamal whispered to her since the call was still on even though no one else was speaking.

Abigail shook her head as she pulled back from him. She took a deep breath as she brushed the tears from her face before looking at the camera again.

"What about Genevieve? What is her place in all of this?" She asked, surprising everyone since that wasn't what they expected to hear.

"She is Karen's child. Karen lied to Ryan that Genevieve was his, but he knew all along that she wasn't. I don't know how. Maybe he did a DNa test. But he kept her, anyway. I'm not sure Genevieve knows he's not her father. Maybe he kept her because of his plan to use her," Tom explained.

"Does Ryan know about Callan now? Is that why Uncle Harry went to meet with his Dad?" Jamal asked, and Tom nodded.

"Yes. Karen told him about Callan. Ryan is trying to find Callan now. We want to reach out to Callan and make sure he doesn't meet with his Dad until we get you out of there. We can't guarantee what he plans to do next after he meets Callan," Tom said, and Jamal sighed.

"Maybe I should talk to Callan…"

"You want to talk to him? Can you honestly tell him that your girlfriend's mom killed his biological mother, and his biological father murdered your girlfriend's mom and grandparents in return and stole her life and has been keeping her as his hostage all these years while trying to find him?" Abigail asked and Jamal combed his fingers through his hair.

How was supposed to say that to Callan, knowing how Callan's life has been all these years?

"I guess not," Jamal murmured.

"You don't have to say anything to Callan. That's why we are involving his parents. With their help we'll talk to him. For the time being, Stefan will be there to get Genevieve out. My mom and Lucy will come get you both…"

"They're the ones kidnapping us?" Jamal asked incredulously and everyone laughed.

"What do you mean? Do you think we can't if we wanted to?" Lucy asked defensively.

Evelyn chuckled. "I can't even if I wanted to. And no one is kidnapping anyone. We will keep Ryan occupied wherever he is so he doesn't get back before we get there. Jamal I heard he trusts you, or at least pretends to. Get his permission to take Abigail and Josh to an amusement park this weekend and we will pick you up from there. I'd have preferred to pick you home directly from the house but we are not certain if he has other men watching aside those Tom already got on our side. The moment we get you out of Westend and into Ludus, there is nothing else Ryan can do. We own Ludus."

"What about Josh? What if he says we kidnapped his son? Abigail is not known by the public as his daughter," Sonia pointed out.

"Those in the company know her as his daughter. The household staff do, too. And Genevieve can also help us there," Jamal said and they all nodded.

"Okay. Try and get proof of it between now and weekend," Jamal's mom said.

"I have proof. I always record my conversations with Ryan. He told me himself that Abigail is Josh's mom," Jamal said, and Lucy clapped gleefully.

"Perfect!"

"What about Ryan? You've not said anything on how to make him pay. Am I to assume that you no longer want to make him pay for his crimes because you think his reason for doing all of it is justified? Is he not going to pay for stealing my life? For all I've suffered all these years?" Abigail asked calmly. "My mother committed a crime. She should have been punished for it, but she wasn't. Ryan committed a bigger crime by killing her and taking so many other lives. If you do not plan to punish him for what he did, then maybe you shouldn't bother getting me out of here. Jamal can come back home to you, but I'll stay back and deal with Ryan myself."

"Abi, don't say that," Jamal said softly. "You know I won't leave you alone."

"We are not letting him go, Dawn. We just want to get you all out of there and make sure you're safe before doing anything to him. Your safety is our priority," Candace said softly from the background.

"Can you all give me your word that you're not going to let him go scotfree after we get out of here?" Abigail asked, looking at Tom.

Tom took a deep breath and nodded, "I promise."