Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 514: It’s Nothing

Jamal woke up feeling sick and even more stressed out than he had been the night before.

His head ached, his throat was sore, and he had a fever.

He had finally fallen asleep just a couple of minutes before five, and now he was up by 6:30 a.m. to get ready for the day.

Before the whole issue with Dawn, he had originally planned to spend the night at Tom’s so he could be there with Dawn to take Josh to school, since he remembered Josh’s tears when they went to check out the school the last time.

Although he had told Dawn the night before that he would call to speak with Josh that morning before he left for school, he didn’t want to neglect his responsibility to Josh.

As much as he still didn’t want to face Dawn yet, he knew Josh would be happier to see him, and he missed Josh too.

Freshening up, he decided to go to the school to wait for their arrival so he could surprise Josh, then he would leave for the office from there.

After dressing up, he went to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water so he could take medication for his headache.

The moment he stepped into the living room, he saw Callan at the dining table sipping from a cup of coffee.

“Good morning,” Jamal murmured as he walked into the kitchen.

“You’re leaving for the office already?” Callan asked, surprised that Jamal was already dressed.

“I need to stop by Josh’s new school to see him before leaving for the office,” Jamal called back from inside the kitchen as he took the pain relief medication.

“Cool. So, how are you feeling today?”

Jamal shrugged as he returned. “I’m alright.”

“You don’t look it.”

“I’m fine. Thanks for your concern. I need to run now,” Jamal said, wanting to leave quickly so that he wouldn’t have to talk about Dawn again with Callan.

“Will you talk to Dawn today?”

“Of course. I’m going to see her when I see Josh. I can’t ignore her, can I?”

“You know what I’m asking,” Callan said, giving him a pointed look, “Will you confront her?”

Jamal sighed. “Why should I confront her? It’s not like she did anything wrong. She has every right to do whatever she wants to with anyone.”

Callan frowned. “Jamal…”

“Stop worrying about me. You’re leaving tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. But let’s…”

“Go spend time with Emily and take her out on a date. You know when you get back you both might be too busy to do so. Don’t worry. I’ll figure things out and do what’s best for Dawn and Josh. I need to run now,” Jamal said, then headed for the door.

Callan frowned as he watched him go, wondering what he meant by what was best for Josh and Dawn.

Just before Jamal got to the door, he paused when something occurred to him, then turned to look at Callan.

“Cal, please keep all of this to yourself. Do not tell Emily or Mari about it. You know how they can be. I don’t want anyone being unnecessarily cold to her.”

Callan winced. “I told Emily already.”

Jamal shook his head, knowing that if Emily knew, then the chances that Mari knew already were very high.

The only reason he had told Callan about it was because Callan already heard from the receptionist and had an idea of the issue, and that too was only because Dawn spoke to Callan, else he wouldn’t have gotten anyone else involved.

The last thing he wanted was for any of his friends or for any member of the family to think of Dawn as less than the wonderful person they knew her to be.

Without another word to Callan, he walked out of the house. The moment he got into his car, he quickly sent a text to Mari and Emily.

[All of this is between Dawn and me. Please do not get involved and do not say a word to Dawn about it.]

Once he had sent the message, he started the car and headed for the school. He tried not to think about Dawn or anything. He focused on the road ahead of him and the news on the radio.

Realising that he was yet to hear from Tom or Harry, he reached for his phone and dialed Tom’s line.

The call connected after the third ring. “Hey, Jamal. How are you doing?”

Jamal sighed. “I’m okay. You? What’s going on over there?”

“I’m okay. We are handling things. We didn’t want to call you until we had gotten to the bottom of things,” Tom explained.

“Could you at least tell me something? Anything you’ve found?”

“We have the attorney in our custody. He’s still being interrogated. I heard from Lucy that things are not alright between you and Dawn. Want to tell me about it?”

Jamal frowned. Wondering what Lucy knew and what Dawn might have told her.

“No. It’s nothing,” Jamal said, not wanting to involve the family even though he would have loved to talk to Tom as his mentor.

“You’re sure?” Tom asked.

“Yeah.”

Away from there, Dawn had barely slept all night herself. Her eyes were heavy and felt like there were particles in them.

After preparing Josh for school, she got dressed and didn’t bother with breakfast. She wasn’t feeling hungry.

After feeding Josh, they got into the car and headed for the school. She drove one of the available cars.

She felt disappointed that Jamal had not called to say hello to Josh despite knowing that he was resuming school.

From the moment Josh woke up that morning, he had been asking about his daddy and saying he missed him, but Dawn couldn’t bring herself to call Jamal.

She wanted to see him and talk to him in person because she was feeling very anxious.

As they approached the school, Josh sat up excitedly, “Mummy, look at daddy!” Josh pointed at Jamal’s approaching car.

Dawn’s heart skipped a beat when she looked and saw that it was truly Jamal’s car.

Her lips curved in a relieved smile that he had shown up regardless of whatever was going on between them.

They both parked their cars at the same time, and Jamal took a deep breath before stepping out of his car.

He got to Dawn’s car just as Josh got out of the car, and Josh threw himself at him happily.

Jamal chuckled despite himself as he picked him up. “I’ve missed you, buddy.”

“I missed you too, daddy. Are you sick?” Josh asked, looking at his face.

Dawn stood a few feet away, observing Jamal. She could see how exhausted he looked.

He didn’t look good like his cheerful self.

Jamal smiled. “I’m just a little tired. But I’ll be fine. Are you ready for your big day?”

Josh bobbed his head. “I was scared, but now that I see you, I’m brave!”

Jamal grinned. “Good. I’m going to be busy a lot, but make sure you call me when you get back from school and tell me how your day went. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Time to go in,” Jamal said as he looked at Dawn.

Immediately, their eyes met; his heart twisted painfully, while Dawn’s heart skipped a beat.

She forced a smile. “Good morning. I wasn’t expecting you. I’m glad you could make it.”

“Good morning,” Jamal said, forcing a smile of his own. “I figured I should be here instead of calling.”

Together, they went in with Josh, and after dropping him off, they returned to their cars, neither of them saying a word to each other even though they walked side by side.

Just before they got to the car, Dawn summoned the courage and spoke first.

“I’m sorry I lied to you.”