Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 324: Pest

After the call ended, Emily stayed very still for a moment, holding her phone in both hands.

She was feeling much better now after her conversation with her mother, and for the first time since the evening, she felt like she had a real plan. Something she could follow without feeling lost.

She lay back on her pillow and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Just as she began to drift into sleep, her phone buzzed softly beside her.

Her eyes opened.

She reached for the phone with a small flutter in her chest when she saw it was a WhatsApp text from Callan.

She hesitated before opening it. His message was short.

Cal>: Are you awake?

Emily stared at the words, wanting to respond, but then she remembered something and she smirked before responding.

Emily>: Hm.

She had a grin on her face as she silenced her phone and drifted off to sleep, wanting him to have a taste of his own medicine.

Emily woke up the next morning to the sound of her stepmom’s voice.

"Emmy? Are you okay?" She asked softly, "You’ve been in your room for a long time. I was hoping we’d spend some time together yesterday. We’ve barely talked since you got here."

Emily sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily, "Good morning, Mom. I’m fine. I slept late," she said with a yawn.

"Really? Is everything alright?" Jessica asked, sitting on the bed next to Emily.

Emily nodded. "Yeah. What time is it?" She asked, reaching for her phone.

"It’s almost 9 a.m.," Jessica said, but Emily wasn’t listening as she checked for Callan’s messages.

Jessica watched Emily’s lips curve with a smile as she looked at her phone.

Cal>: Is it payback time? I thought I explained and apologised for it?

Cal>: Now you’re snubbing me?

Cal>: Alright. I deserve it. I have no right to complain.

Cal>: I guess you’re sleeping now. Thanks for hearing me out today. Sweet dreams, Princess Em.

Emily was amused to see that there was another text from him already that morning.

Cal>: Good morning, Princess. Hope you slept well? I didn’t sleep a wink. I’ve been thinking about you all night.

Emily felt her breath catch.

Cal>: I guess you are still sleeping. Now that I’ve told you how I feel, I just can’t hold back anymore or pretend to be indifferent.

There were a series of other texts from him which he had deleted, followed by the last one.

Cal>: If I’m being a pest as I perceive I am right now, you can tell me to shut up and go to hell.

Emily giggled, and her stepmom smiled as she watched her, wondering if she still remembered that she was there.

"Am I supposed to excuse you or should I ask who is making you blush that way?" Jessica asked curiously.

Emily looked up with an embarrassed smile. She had forgotten that she wasn’t alone. She giggled. "Sorry. I was just reading my messages," she said as she set down her phone.

"Good morning, Mom," she greeted again, and Jessica laughed.

"I guess it’s a really good morning seeing as you have greeted me twice," she said, and Emily giggled.

"It is."

"Want to tell me who you’re chatting with? Is it the Doctor?" she asked, and Emily’s brows pulled together.

"What Doctor?" She asked, confused.

"Callan mentioned that you went to your welcome party with one of your colleagues. Are things serious between you two?" Jessica asked with interest.

"Callan told you that? Why?" Emily asked, wondering what else he must have told them.

"We wanted to know if he escorted you to the party. He said he didn’t because you had a date," Jessica said easily, still watching her closely.

Emily shrugged. "Well, it was nothing serious."

"Yet your face is all red over his text," Jessica pressed with a mild smile.

"The text is not from him." Emily hesitated for a moment before confiding in her. "It’s from Cal."

"Oh, I see!" Jessica said, her eyes lighting up with relief.

Her sister, Delilah, had told her about her conversation with Callan, and how he had opened up to her about his feelings for Emily. For a moment there, she had been worried that Callan had made up his mind too late and Emily had moved on to someone else.

"Why do you sound so relieved?" Emily asked, waiting to hear what her stepmom would say about her blushing over Callan’s texts.

Jessica shrugged. "I thought you had moved on from Cal."

"Moved on? I never even told you I had feelings for him," Emily said, and Jessica laughed.

"That’s true. But you’ve never said it out loud with your lips, but you’ve never kept it a secret all these years. Everyone with eyes can see you have feelings for Callan. You are always interested in topics concerning him, even when you’re mad at him. And back when he was still in Ludus, you always had a pained expression whenever he was with any girl."

"Really?" Emily asked, looking embarrassed.

"Yeah. When you were kids, we thought you’d outgrow the infatuation or crush you had on him, but it seemed to grow the older you got. So, when I saw you smiling at the text on your phone, I thought you had moved on to someone else," Jessica explained. "It’s good to see you smiling at his text for a change. I remember the last time he responded to your text with a ’hm’ and you kept going on and on about it," Jessica said, and Emily giggled.

"Well, I paid him back last night," she said with a grin, and Jessica giggled.

"Good for you. So, how are you doing? How is Husla? Have you been enjoying the programme?"

"That’s it? You’re just going to change the subject now?" Emily asked with disbelief, and Jessica laughed.

"Yes, I am. If you wanted us to talk about Callan, you’d have told me yourself and not waited for me to bring it up," Jessica said, and Emily pouted.

"There was nothing to tell you. I always thought my feelings for him were unrequited, and his mother is your sister. I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about that," she admitted.

"How else am I supposed to feel about it? When you were young, you always told me you were going to marry Callan when you grew up. I never chastised you or shunned you," Jessica reminded her.

"Yeah. I know. But I guess I grew up and realised things weren’t always so easy," she said with a shrug.

"I guess. So, is there something you want to tell me now?" Jessica asked with a kind smile. "Is the feeling no longer unrequited?"

Emily grinned. "I’ll tell you about that later. But what do you think? Do you think Dad and Uncle Hunter would mind us being together?" She asked, then Jessica smiled.

"If they say no, would you give up?" Jessica asked, and Emily frowned.

"No. I can’t do that. I can’t imagine being with anyone else but Callan. I don’t even want to try. Even blood cousins get married, talk more of us. We are not blood related. They have to give their consent or I’m going to elope," she said fiercely.

Jessica laughed. "Alrighty. I’m going to give you some time to respond to the text that was making you blush. Let’s hang out with your sisters before you go back. Your Dad says you’re leaving with Callan on Wednesday. Thankfully, after your programme, he’s returning to Ludus," she said as she rose.

"He is moving back to Ludus?" Emily asked, her heart soaring with joy.

"I guess you both haven’t talked about that. You can ask him. You both have weeks alone together in Husla to talk after all," Jessica said with a wink before heading for the door.

Emily smiled as she watched her go. The moment the door closed behind her, Emily picked up her phone and bit her lower lip as she thought about the best response to give to Callan.

She didn’t want to make things very easy for him, but at the same time, she didn’t want to deprive herself of this excitement.

Emily>: Good morning. I just woke up.

Almost immediately, his call came in, and Emily giggled. She slapped her face gently with both hands, wanting to sound serious.

The moment she received the call, Callan’s voice filled her ears. "I’ve been waiting for your text all morning."

"I never said I was going to text. Why were you waiting?" Emily asked, doing her best to keep her tone flat.

"To hear from you. Did you sleep well?" He asked, walking around his room aimlessly.

"Yes, I did. I hope you did too," she asked sweetly, wanting to hear him tell her how he had been thinking about her all through the night.

"If you saw my messages, then you’d know I didn’t sleep. What’s your plan for today? Can we hang out? We can go to anywhere of your choice," he offered, his voice full of excited hope.

Emily pressed her lips together to keep from grinning. "Don’t you think you are getting ahead of yourself? I haven’t even forgiven you for what you did, yet you not only asked me to give you a chance to date you, you’re now also asking me to hang out with you today."

Callan winced. "You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for bothering you. I don’t have any right to be doing this right now. Not after all I’ve done. I’ll try my best to give you the space you need."

His tone made her heart ache and she felt sorry for him. She wanted to tell him she didn’t want any space from him, but she also didn’t want him to think he had easy access to her life and could just walk out and walk in easily.

"I’ll be busy with my mum and sisters. Maybe you can pick me up later in the evening and we can hang out with Jamal and Dawn. I’d like to spend some time with them before we go back. I’m yet to meet Josh," she said and Callan’s face lit up.

"Sure. Let’s do that. See you later. I’ll try not to text you until then," he said, and she smiled.

"I don’t mind if you do. I mean if you can’t hold back, you can text me. Bye," she said and quickly hung up.

She stuck her tongue in her cheek and giggled happily, feeling proud of herself for handling the conversation well and not easily giving in to him despite how much she had wanted to.

Now she was just going to look for something nice to wear that evening and do her best to keep calm.