Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 389: Pride And Ego

Although Jamal had initially planned to spend the night at Tom’s, he didn’t. When they arrived at Tom’s place, he got out of the car and lifted Josh from Dawn’s arms, then carried one of his bags while Dawn carried the other.

Dawn walked ahead of him to hold out the door, while wondering if he was upset or mad at her.

The house was quiet when they walked in, and they headed straight for the stairs.

After a while, Dawn sighed. "Jamal, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he murmured.

Her brows pulled together. "You don’t seem fine."

"I’m alright," he said as he continued walking, then when they got to the hallway, he paused, "Is Josh spending the night with you in your room or in his room?"

Her frown deepened. "I thought you were spending the night?"

Jamal shook his head. "No."

"No?"

"I want to be alone," he said without looking directly at her.

Dawn looked at him, feeling hurt by his behaviour. Although she wanted to ask him if he had changed his mind or if he didn’t plan on spending the night with her from the beginning, she held back.

She didn’t want to ask why he was acting like he was mad at her either. If he was going to give her this attitude, then she would as well give him the same attitude.

"Okay," she said, and went ahead of him to open the door to her bedroom. "Josh will spend the night in my room."

Jamal took Josh in and laid him on the bed, then before he could pull the duvet over him, Dawn stopped him.

"You don’t have to. I’m going to change his clothes and tuck him in. You can leave now so you get home on time," she said, and Jamal pulled back from Josh.

He looked at Dawn, wondering if she was saying that because she was upset and wanted him to leave immediately or if it was because she just wanted him not to drive so late in the night.

Dawn did not waste her time standing around and waiting for him to make up his mind. She picked up Josh’s bag and turned her back to Jamal as she took it to the dresser, wanting to keep busy even though her heart was aching at whatever emotional chasm she could feel between them both.

Seeing how she was behaving and not even acting like she wanted to see him off, Jamal figured that she was upset.

"I’m off. Good night," he said, and headed for the door.

"Night," Dawn called back to him without turning back.

When she heard the door close behind him after he left, she turned to look at the door, her heart aching.

"Not even a goodnight kiss," she muttered, as she wondered why he was behaving so immaturely.

Did he need to push her away simply because he had a misunderstanding with his younger sister?

Dawn stood there for a moment longer, listening to the sounds outside the door. Part of her expected to hear the door open again. She expected him to come back to say he was sorry for taking out his annoyance on her.

But he didn’t come back.

She turned away from the door to look at Josh, and she slowly exhaled when her eyes fell on his face.

He slept peacefully on the bed, one hand curled near his cheek, his lashes resting softly on his skin.

She walked over to the bed and sat beside him. She brushed his hair back gently. "You slept through all the drama, didn’t you?" she whispered.

Josh did not stir.

She stood up to get his pajamas and began to change his clothes carefully so she wouldn’t wake him.

Her movements were slow and mechanical because her mind was not in the room.

It was outside with Jamal.

Her chest tightened as she thought about the manner in which he had spoken to her and the way he had left.

When she finished changing Josh into his pajamas, she tucked him under the duvet and kissed his forehead. "Good night, baby."

She turned off the lights in the room, leaving only the bedside lamp on her side of the bed, then she stepped out of the room.

She walked slowly to the top of the stairs to listen first if Jamal was downstairs. When she didn’t hear anything, she returned to her room.

Her eyes burned slightly, and her heart ached deeply.

She went in to freshen up, and when she was ready for bed, she sat on the edge of her bed with her phone in her hand. She stared at Jamal’s contact on the screen.

Her thumb hovered over the call button. Then she locked the phone instead and dropped it beside her.

"No," she shook her head. "If he wants to talk, he can call."

She lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

She replayed their conversation in the car.

The tone in Jamal’s voice. The way he had looked annoyed when she spoke.

Her throat tightened. "I was only trying to help," she whispered to the empty room. "I didn’t do or say anything wrong."

Her phone buzzed suddenly, and her heart jumped. She sat up quickly and grabbed it.

For a second, she thought it was Jamal, but it wasn’t.

It was Brenda.

Brenda: Dawn, you’re still trending! How does it feel to be a celebrity?

Dawn sighed as she stared at the message, then slowly set the phone down again.

She couldn’t believe that she had forgotten all about that because she had been so focused on her misunderstanding with Jamal.

And even now, she wasn’t as excited about the success of her first video episode as she ought to be.

All she felt was the ache in her heart.

If Jamal didn’t call that night, she wasn’t going to take his call when next he called, Dawn promised herself as she lay back again and closed her eyes to sleep.

But sleep didn’t come easily.

Meanwhile, Jamal sat in his car outside his place. The engine was still running.

His hands rested on the steering wheel, and his jaw was tight as Mila’s voice replayed in his head.

’Sweet, perfect golden boy that everyone loves.’

He exhaled slowly.

Then Dawn’s voice followed. ’Maybe you should have allowed her to have her say.’

His grip tightened. He had not expected Dawn to say that.

He stared ahead through the windshield, thinking about how he had left Dawn.

A dull ache settled in his chest, and he leaned back against the seat and rubbed his face.

He wasn’t angry at her. But something about the way she had so reasonably defended Mila had stung.

He knew she meant well. But it felt like she had dismissed what Mila said about him. Like she thought he was the one who had done wrong and wasn’t acting his age.

His chest tightened again, and he sighed and finally got out of the car.

He stepped inside and dropped his keys on the table, then walked to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water.

His mind drifted again as he leaned against the counter.

His thoughts drifted to the way she had turned her back on him after asking him to leave.

He sighed again. "I know I messed that up," he muttered quietly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

He didn’t like how they had left things.

He took out his phone from his pocket and opened Dawn’s contact. Then closed it.

He opened it again with a sigh. "I should call to let her know I’m home."

But he didn’t. He still wasn’t in a good mood yet.

Besides, if she cared to know if he got home safe, she would call to check, Jamal told himself.

So instead of calling, he walked over to his bedroom to freshen up and went to bed, deciding to call in the morning when he felt good.