Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 315: Don’t

Callan looked down at his plate for a moment, then back at Emily. "Em," he began slowly, "there’s a lot I want to tell you. I don’t even know where to start."

"Start with what happened at the hospital yesterday," she said softly. "Why did you break down that way?"

He nodded, staring at his hands. "That’s a good place to start. Because that’s where everything began. Most of my nightmares are about that and the incident that followed."

So he told her everything he’d told Jamal. About the memories, the guilt, the weight he’d carried for years.

His voice shook at times, but he didn’t stop, and he didn’t look at her. He couldn’t bring himself to.

Emily’s chest ached as she listened.

When he finished, he didn’t dare look at her. He just stared at the table, waiting for her to tell him what a terrible person he was.

Then he felt something warm, her hand, sliding over his.

He looked up then.

Her eyes were wet. "I’m so sorry you went through all that, Cal," she whispered. "But you need to know, it wasn’t your fault. None of it was your fault. You were a victim of the wrong choices that failed adults made. And I’m glad everything happened the way it did, because it led you to people who truly love you and deeply care about you."

Callan blinked, surprised. "That’s not the reaction I expected."

She tilted her head. "What reaction were you expecting?"

He gave a small, self-conscious smile. "That you’d be horrified. Or disgusted."

Emily pulled her hand away and crossed her arms. "For someone who claims to know me so well, you really aren’t very smart if you thought that. Or maybe you only know my taste in food."

He smiled self deprecatingly. "My mother already told me I’m not very smart today."

Emily smiled, nodding her head. "You better believe her. She will never lie to you."

He laughed again, and for a moment, things felt easy.

"I’m glad you opened up," she said gently. "Why did you hold on to it for so long?"

"I’m not done," he murmured.

She frowned. "What else?"

He hesitated, then said, "I recently realized my parents adopted me because they loved me."

Emily blinked. "Why else did you think they adopted you?"

He gave a small, awkward smile. "Because of the rumors about me being my Dad’s illegitimate son. That’s what I thought."

Emily stared at him in disbelief. "You’re serious?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I tried so hard to be perfect so they wouldn’t regret keeping me. I didn’t want to disappoint them. I didn’t want them to have to abandon me at the orphanage too."

Her eyes softened. "They’d never abandon you, Cal. I’ve seen how much they love you. They’re always so proud of you. I can’t even tell who loves you more between them both."

He exhaled shakily. "I know that now. I guess... trauma blinds you. You only see what you believe about yourself." He paused, looking at her. "I talked about it with them some days ago. They told me they adopted me out of love."

Emily’s heart ached. "Why did you have to wait all these years to talk about it when you could have easily asked them?"

He looked down. "Maybe because I was scared. And I’ve learned that fear can make you miss out on a lot of things."

Her heart fluttered when she saw how his eyes softened as he looked at her, like he wasn’t just talking about his parents anymore.

She cleared her throat and leaned back in her seat as she looked away from him. "I’m glad you faced it," she faked a yawn, "We should probably get going. It’s getting late."

Callan could tell she was trying to withdraw. "Late? It’s not even 4 p.m. yet." He leaned forward. "Do you need to go somewhere else?"

"Not really," she said quietly.

He hesitated. "Then can we talk about what happened between us now?"

Her heart jumped. She shook her head. "No. I don’t want to talk about that."

"Please give me a chance to explain things to you—"

"Don’t." Her voice was firm, eyes bright with emotion. "Just because you’re ready to talk now after all these years doesn’t mean I have to hear you out. I understand all you went through, and I’m sorry for it. But it doesn’t erase how cruelly you treated me."

He swallowed hard, guilt flickering in his eyes. "You’re right. I was cruel. But I’m not bringing this up now simply because it is convenient for me to do so now or because I want to make excuses. I’m bringing it up because you deserve to know it was never about you and I’ve been the foolish coward."

She shook her head, "Don’t, Callan. For the sake of our families and friendship let’s just not talk about it," she said quietly, "there’s no point in bringing up the past."

Callan’s tone stayed calm and gentle, almost pleading. "There is a point, Em," he said softly. "That’s exactly why we should talk about it. Because I can’t keep pretending it didn’t happen. I hurt you. And whether you admit it or not, not talking about it doesn’t make it go away. I know you’re still hurt by what I did."

Emily sighed and looked down at her hands. "Callan, please. I don’t want to do this. Not here. Not now."

He leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table, his voice low and soft. "Then when? Tell me when I can talk to you about it. Where should we go? Your house? Mine? Back to Husla? I need you to hear me out. You can decide to walk away and not forgive me after that. But please hear me out, Em. Even if it’s just so you get closure. Do it for yourself not for me."

Her throat tightened at the sound of his voice both raw and desperate.

"Let’s leave," she said picking up her purse and rising from the table.