Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

The car moved fast as it took Abigail, Jamal and Josh far away from Ryan's premises. They were all silent. Neither Jamal nor Abigail said a word to each other, and for some reason Josh was unusually quiet too and focused on the puzzle games in his tablet.

They spent hours on the road and soon the city slid away behind them and was replaced by tall trees and long, empty roads.

They reached a tall black gate. Cameras turned toward them. The gate opened without a sound, and the car rolled inside.

The mansion was huge, made of pale stone, with wide glass windows. Two men in black suits stood near the door and approached the car as it stopped in front of the mansion.

Jamal was the first to step out of the car.

"You're welcome, sir. We've been given orders to keep you safe until Mr Hank gets here," one of the men said, his voice low. The other gave Jamal a short nod before stepping back inside.

"Thank you," Jamal told them before opening the back door for Abigail and Josh.

Abigail waited for Josh to get down before m following behind him.

"Come on," Jamal said, his hand light on Abigail's back as she got out of the car.

The men took their bags and followed them inside the elegantly furnished house. The air inside smelled off fresh paint and everything looked bright and new.

Josh wandered around the living room, looking and touching everything that caught his attention or fascinated him.

"Where is this place? It looks and smells like a new property," Abigail said, looking around.

"We purchased the property and set up the place a week ago under Mr Hank's orders. It was meant to be a safe house in case of an emergency like this," one of the men explained as he set down the bags.

"How long have you been working for Tom?" Jamal asked, looking at both men.

"Long enough," one said simply.

"We will be outside. If you need anything that's not already inside you can let us know," the other said, and they both walked away.

"We need to talk," Jamal said to Abigail once the door closed behind them.

Abigail nodded then crouched to unzip the bag she had packed for Josh. She pulled out a small coloring book and a pack of colored pencils.

"Josh?" She called, and he turned to her and joined them. "Here. Why don't you color for a while? You can paint whatever you like," she told softly, smiling at him.

Josh nodded and went to the coffee table.

Jamal and Abigail moved to the dining from where they could keep an eye on him but speak privately.

Before Jamal could speak, Abigail wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad we're finally out of there," she whispered.

Although this wasn't the reason he had asked to speak with her, he let out a deep sigh and wrapped his arms around her.

For a moment, he didn't think about the smoke curling up from Ryan's house. He just held her. "I'm happy you're safe," he said into her hair. "And Josh too."

Abigail bobbed her head. After a while she leaned back a little, looking up at him. "I know you can't wait for us to tell Josh you're his father."

He met her eyes and nodded. "Yes."

"How should we do it?"

"I'll talk to him myself," Jamal said, deciding to leave everything else he wanted to say until they took care of this.

She gave him a small smile. "Let's do it together." She took his hand and together they went to join Josh.

Josh looked up from his painting book when they stopped in front of him. His crayon hovered over the page as his gaze moved to Jamal as he crouched in front of him.

"How are you doing, buddy?" Jamal asked with a friendly smile.

"I'm fine," Josh said.

Abigail took out her phone to capture the special moment when Jamal reveals the truth to Josh.

"Are you upset with me?" Jamal asked gently.

Josh's eyes flicked to Abigail, who was smiling softly, then he shook his head.

"Thanks. I believe I owe you several apologies. I'm sorry I made you lie about not knowing me," Jamal said and Josh tilted his head to look at Abigail again before giving Jamal a small nod.

Jamal went on. "Do you remember my real name?"

"Jamal," Josh said quietly.

"You're a very brilliant kid," Jamal said with a smile of approval. "Now let's see what else you remember. Do you remember that time at lunch when you said you wanted Abigail to be my girlfriend, but the cook said I was married?"

Josh bobbed his head once.

"That wasn't true," Jamal said. "I'm not married yet. I didn't respond then because Abigail was already my girlfriend… and she's the mother of my son."

Josh's eyes went wide. He looked from Jamal to Abigail. "Do you have another son?" he asked Abigail, wondering if he had a brother.

Abigail laughed, shaking her head in amusement at his assumption. "No, darling. I have only one son— and that's you."

Josh was confused as he looked from Abigail back to Jamal as he tried to process the information. "Does that mean I'm the son?"

Both Jamal and Abigail grinned and nodded.

Josh blinked, then turned to Abigail again. "Is Jamal my daddy?"

"Yes, baby. He is your real daddy," Abigail said.

To both their amusement, Josh let out a loud, happy shriek and launched himself into Jamal's arms.

Jamal laughed, hugging him tight. Abigail laughed with tears in her eyes as she watched them through her phone's screen.

Jamal motioned for her to put her phone away and join them. Immediately, she went to join in the hug.

After they broke the hug, Josh clung to Jamal, refusing to let go, and Abigail laughed. "You're very happy he is your daddy, aren't you?"

Josh bobbed his head, smiling without taking his eyes off Jamal. "Yes. My real daddy," he said proudly.

"Well, I hope I get to remain your favorite person. He can't take my place, okay?" Abigail said, and both Josh and Jamal laughed.

Choosing to give them some time alone to bond, Abigail left them together, the sound of Josh's excited chatter filling the hall as he responded to Jamal's questions.

She looked around the house, moving from one room to the other, and after she was done she took the bags into one of the bedrooms.

She changed into more comfortable clothes and then opened her laptop as she sat on the bed. Before she could type, her phone buzzed with a text notification.

The message was from Althea. [I've kept these with me for years. It all belongs to you. I'm sure Ryan didn't know about it or he would have taken it.]

The message contained the names of a crypto wallet and an investment app with their login details.

Abigail downloaded the apps on her laptop and her eyes filled with tears as she logged in. The numbers on the screen made her heart skip.

She wasn't sure how much money her mother had invested twenty years ago, but the money she was seeing on both apps was big enough to take care of her for the rest of her life even if she chose not to ever lift a finger to work for life.

Now that she knew she had that amount of money to bank on, she quickly deleted the text message and changed the login details, then decided to focus on what she planned to do before the text came in.

She began typing an article about Ryan's cardiac arrest since it seemed the news wasn't out yet. She wrote about his condition and about the fire at his house.

Her words were cutting, meant to make shareholders nervous. She wanted them to panic and sell. She was certain when everyone was unable to reach Ryan and Genevieve, they would believe her article.

Once she was done, she created new anonymous account and tagged the major news outlets and blogs to her posts.

Just as she shut down her laptop, her door opened and Jamal walked in, his steps quiet.

"I was looking all over for you," he said as he watched her, wondering what she was up to now.

She smiled. "Well, here I am. I decided to give you both some boy time to bond. Where's Josh? What is he up to?"

Jamal smiled. "He wore himself out and slept off. I let him sleep in the other room," he said. "We need to talk."

"Okay," she said simply, knowing she couldn't avoid it forever. She knew very well that he wasn't happy with what she'd done.

"Why'd you burn the house without talking to me?" Jamal asked without joining her on the bed.

"Because that has nothing to do with you," she said, her voice calm.

His frown deepened. "What's that supposed to mean?"