Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 320: There’s No Need

Mari lay on the couch with her legs stretched out and her hair in a messy bun. The big house was too quiet since she was alone.

Jax had stepped out to hang out with Chad, leaving her alone in the house despite her pleas to join them.

He had kissed her cheek, told her to stay in the house, and said it was safer if she did not go out with them.

Now she was stuck here, bored out of her mind. She tried whiling away the time on her phone, scrolling through her Instagram page, but everywhere she looked, people were talking about the same thing: Genevieve Harris.

That was how she’d found out about the video.

Mari read through all the comments; she did her best to refrain from commenting or responding to some of the questions raised.

After a while, Mari frowned and blew air from her mouth. She was tired of reading the same thing over and over.

She checked the time on her phone. Jax had left three hours ago with Chad.

It had been three long, lonely hours.

She dropped her phone on her chest and stared at the ceiling.

"I am going to die of boredom," she muttered.

She was almost asleep when, dozing off, her phone suddenly rang out.

Mari jumped so hard she almost fell off the couch. She grabbed her phone at once.

Mari sat up fast when she saw it was Emily. "Finally!" she exclaimed, then answered the call immediately.

"Emily! What took you so long to call?" Mari asked with fake anger.

Emily laughed at the other end. "Calm down, crazy girl. I told you I was on my way home. And since when are you so eager to talk to me lately? Aren’t you with your hot boyfriend?"

Mari sighed loudly. "He is not home. He left me. I am bored. I was dying here. You just saved my life."

Emily burst into louder laughter. "Ahhh, little wonder you’re so excited to hear from me."

Mari rolled her eyes but smiled. "Whatever. Anyway, how did your outing with Callan go?"

Emily hummed. "Before we get to that, tell me something first."

Mari blinked. "What?"

"I want to know how your birthday went. Because Callan told me something naughty happened between you and your boyfriend," she drawled.

Mari giggled. "Oh, that!"

"Yes. That," Emily said with a little squeal. "So spill. Tell me everything."

Mari didn’t hesitate. "First of all, Emily," she started, her voice brimming with excitement, "Jax was my mystery painter."

Emily gasped so loudly Mari had to pull the phone from her ear. "WHAT? No way!"

Mari laughed as tears gathered in her eyes at the thought. She was still filled with awe after all these days. "Yes, way. He’s a painter and showed me all the other paintings he had of me."

Emily squealed loudly and Mari joined her in squealing.

"How did he tell you? How did you feel about it? I want details!" Emily asked, brushing tears from her eyes.

Mari went on to tell her all that happened on her birthday morning, "...And then... um... we had sex in the studio."

Emily screamed happily. "MARI! I’m so happy for you! You are living your best life!"

Mari giggled happily. "Yeah. Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Yeah. Sort of," she said, since she couldn’t say it was her best life until her parents showed up. But she couldn’t tell Emily that yet. "It’d be perfect if I was home and could see you and Jamal."

"Then come home," Emily said matter-of-factly.

"Soon. I will soon. But it can’t be helped right now."

Emily was silent for a while, then not wanting to press, she changed the subject by asking, "So how was it? The sex. Was it as good as you expected it’d be?"

Mari grinned. "It was so much better. I think I’ve become a sex addict. Whenever I look at him, I just want him inside me."

Emily giggled. "Enough. Enough. I don’t want to hear it. What about Diva? That’s her name, right? The girl you told me about before. I guess she must be furious you snatched her sex mate."

Mari rolled her eyes but smiled. "Don’t remind me. You won’t believe she lied about being pregnant just to get his attention."

Emily laughed. "She did what now?!"

"Yeah. It was so much drama," Mari said, shaking her head as she told Emily about it.

Emily burst out laughing. "Oh my god, that girl is wild."

They laughed together for a long moment before Mari cleared her throat.

"Okay, now that you’re all caught up on my business, tell me about the hospital... and Callan. I need details."

Emily stopped laughing. "The hospital. That was terrible," she said, then went on to tell Mari about all that had happened between her and Ryan on the flight and about his promise to change for Callan only to pull a suicide in front of everyone.

"How’s Jam doing?" Mari asked with a sad sigh.

Emily pursed her lips. "Jamal is fine... I guess. I don’t think he has had time to process anything. I wonder how he really is. Now that I think about it, he looked fatigued when I saw him at the hospital. And he sounded really tired when I spoke with him a while ago after your call. He was driving."

There was a quiet pause.

Mari breathed out. "I’d have suggested we add him on the call as usual, but I feel like calling him will bother him. I miss how things used to be."

Emily’s voice softened. "Things can’t be like that anymore. At least not right now. He needs to be there for Dawn and Josh now. We’ve had him to ourselves all these years. And considering how long they’ve been apart, they need time."

"I know. I understand that," Mari whispered. "I’m not mad. I was just saying how I feel."

The silence hung between them for a second.

Then Mari cleared her throat again. "Now... talk. Tell me about the hangout with Callan. Why do I feel like you’re deliberately stalling?"

Emily laughed. "I’m not. We just talked."

"About what? Wait. Don’t answer. Switch to video call," Mari suggested.

Emily giggled. "Why do you need to see my face?"

"So I can tell if you’re lying," Mari said, and Emily burst into laughter.

"I was not planning to lie. But fine, let’s do video," she said, and the call switched.

Emily’s face appeared on the screen, hair messy from the day, cheeks pink, and eyes bright.

Mari narrowed her own eyes as she took in Emily’s appearance. "Okay. Tell me EVERYTHING."

Emily laughed. "Fine, fine! He told me about his childhood... what happened before he was adopted... how it all made him feel. Then he brought up what happened six years ago."

Mari’s mouth fell open. "He brought it up himself? Not you?"

Emily nodded. "Yeah. Twice. He first brought it up on our way to the restaurant and I tried to shut it down, but then he kept trying."

Mari leaned closer to the screen. "Did you let him talk?"

"Yes," Emily nodded. "I know you told me not to. But I wanted to hear what he had to say seeing how he was being so persistent to talk after all this time."

Mari studied Emily’s smiling face and shook her head. "Why do I feel like Callan has charmed his way into your heart again?"

Emily giggled and covered her cheeks. "Well, he wants us to be in a relationship."

Mari screamed. "NO WAY!"

Emily nodded, laughing. "He actually did. He said he had always loved me and had been holding back because he thought our parents would oppose it. And he didn’t want to disappoint them."

Mari blinked. "And now? Does he not care about his parents’ opinion anymore?"

Emily frowned a little. "I didn’t ask that."

"Mhm," Mari said with a raised brow. "You should ask him next time."

Emily nodded slowly. "I will."

Mari tilted her head. "So, what did you say? I’m pretty sure you said yes."

Emily burst into laughter. "What do you take me for? I didn’t even say I’ve forgiven him! After all he put me through, it’s only right that I let him sweat first."

Mari nodded with approval. "Good! Don’t give in so easily!"

Emily grinned. "How long should I drag it though? How long is long enough?"

Mari waved her hand. "It doesn’t matter. I know you. No matter what I say, you’ll follow your heart when it comes to Callan. If he blows you a kiss, you’ll take off your undies in the blink of an eye."

Emily laughed so hard she fell onto her pillow. "You underestimate me!"

"I do not," Mari said, pointing at her. "Not even a little."

Emily caught her breath and smiled softly. "I thought you’d be against it though. Me being with him."

Mari’s expression softened. "Em, you know I love Callan. But I didn’t like him hurting you the way he did. If he’s ready to do better, then I won’t stand in the way. I want you happy whether it’s with him or someone else."

"Thank you, love." Emily sighed dreamily and pressed a hand to her chest. "You know, I’m not excited about going back to Husla for the residency now that I know everyone likely knows about me. But if it means being with Callan for the next couple of months as a couple, I’ll go."

"So much for not wanting to live with Callan under the same roof because you’d kill him," Mari said with a small laugh.

Emily grinned. "I guess going to Husla wasn’t so bad after all. He probably decided to open up because of our time together in Husla," Emily said thoughtfully.

Mari hesitated, knowing it was a sore subject. Then she asked quietly, "Did you tell him? About what happened back then?"

Emily’s smile faded. She didn’t need to ask what Mari was talking about. She shook her head. "There’s no need."

"Mmm." Mari sat up straighter. "You SHOULD tell him, Em. If you’re going to forgive him and give him another chance, he needs to know what happened."

Emily frowned. "I’ll... think about it."

Mari nodded. "I know it won’t be easy for you, but it’s the right thing to do. He should know."

Emily wasn’t so sure, but she nodded. "Okay."