Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress - Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Backstory (3)
“Lucy!” Seven-year old Jamal called out happily the moment Lucy came out with the rest of the Hanks to welcome Jamal and his family.

Jamal ignored everyone else, including Tom as he ran up to her.

Three-year old Dawn, who had been clinging to Lucy’s hand as they walked into the living room, quickly took a step backward to get out of Jamal’s way as he embraced Lucy.

“My dearest Jam,” Lucy said with a wide smile as she crouched in front of him to embrace him, neither of them paid attention to the other adults as they conversed.

“I missed you. I’m happy I get to see you again,” Jamal said and Lucy grinned.

“Me too,” Lucy said, and Jamal’s gaze shifted from Lucy to Dawn who was standing behind Lucy and staring at him.

“Who is she? Do you have a daughter now?” Jamal asked, whispering into Lucy’s ears.

The little girl looked really pretty, and if she was Lucy’s daughter, that meant she was going to be his girlfriend, Jamal thought.

Lucy turned and smiled at Dawn, “Oh, this is Dawn,” Lucy said as she brought Dawn forward with one arm so that she was holding them both with each of her arms.

“Jamal, this is my precious friend, Dawn. Dawn, meet Jamal, my darling cousin. I hope you both get along as my favorite little ones,” Lucy said, introducing them both.

Jamal stared at Dawn with undisguised curiosity, and she hid her face in the crook of Lucy’s neck shyly, amusing all the adults.

“Why is she so shy?” Jamal asked Lucy when Dawn kept hiding her face away from him.

Lucy grinned, “Probably because she doesn’t know you so well yet,” Lucy said and Jamal shook his head.

“I don’t know her so well yet, but I’m not hiding. Maybe she is being that way because she is a kid,” Jamal murmured making Lucy giggle, and Dawn glared at him.

“Don’t call me that!” Dawn hissed at him, and Jamal raised a brow.

“Why not, kid?” Jamal asked, liking that she was no longer hiding and was talking to him now.

“Because I’m not a kid,” Dawn said stomping her foot in a rare show of temper, and Lucy stuck her tongue in her cheek.

“You are stomping your foot like a kid,” Jamal pointed out with an amused shake of his head as he stuck his hand into his pocket, feeling like the adult between them.

Seeing that Dawn was fast losing her temper and might pounce on Jamal if he continued trying to rile her up the way he was doing, Lucy decided to step in.

“Jamal, you’re being mean to Dawn, and that’s not nice. I expect you both to get along,” Lucy said and seeing the disapproval on her face, Jamal sighed.

“I’m sorry,” Jamal said and Lucy shook her head.

“You should be apologizing to Dawn, not me,” Lucy said.

“Are you mad?” Jamal asked Dawn, and she eyed him with dislike.

“I guess you’re mad. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you a kid when you didn’t like it,” Jamal said, looking genuinely remorseful, and Lucy nodded in approval.

“Can we be friends?” Jamal offered with a smile and held out his hand when Dawn said nothing but merely stared at him after his apology.

“Do you know about stocks?” Dawn asked, and Jamal looked at her with a confused expression while Lucy also looked lost.

“Socks?” Jamal asked, and Dawn rolled her eyes.

“No. Stocks,” she said, resisting the urge to call him a dummy.

“No. What’s that?” Jamal asked and Dawn smiled as she folded her arms in front of her.

“Do you know about cryptocurrency or forex?” She asked again.

Jamal frowned as he shook his head, “Are those cartoons? I’ve not seen them yet,” Jamal said innocently, and Lucy pressed her lips together to stifle her laughter.

“How many languages can you speak?” Dawn asked and Jamal shook his head.

“Why do I need to learn other languages?” He asked cluelessly, and this time Dawn shook her head and gave him a look that said she thought he was dumb.

“I can’t be friends with you. You don’t know much of anything. I might be younger than you but I’m smarter,” Dawn said, and with her chin raised high, and her shoulders held up, she looked at Lucy.

“Please excuse me,” she said politely before walking away with the grace of a lady while Jamal stared at her in stunned disbelief.

“That was the first time anyone had spoken to me in such a manner. It would surprise you to know I was often referred to as a genius, yet someone younger than me said didn’t know much of anything. I was both hurt and angry,” Jamal said with a chuckle now at the memory, and Abigail laughed out loud, tears dropping from her eyes.

“That does sound like something I would say.”

Jamal chuckled. “Oh, it was definitely you. You were pretty smart and annoying. We used to fight all the time and not get along until we were told we couldn’t go close to Lucy until we made up and learned to get along. So, that was how we became friends. We became friends so that we could remain Lucy’s friends.”

A flicker of something passed through Abigail’s eyes, like a whisper of a memory she couldn’t quite grasp. “How could I have known all about cryptocurrency and stocks at such a tender age?” She asked, since she had always been surprised by how much she knew about it till date.

“You had a governess and teachers. You didn’t know much about cartoons or stuff that kids your age should know but you knew so much about numbers, money and you could speak other languages,” Jamal explained.

“I actually still understand bits of other languages and I’ve been brushing up my skills.”

“Really?” Jamal asked, and she nodded.

“Well, thanks to you I learned all about stocks and crypto and I tried to learn other languages including sign language so that I can prove to you that I’m just as smart,” he said, and she laughed softly.

“Good for you. So, apart from the fact that I was a genius what else can you tell me about me?” She asked, curious to see herself through Jamal’s lens.

Jamal smiled. “You didn’t have stuffed animals or toys kids your age should have. I think that was the reason Lucy bought you the stuffed animal and you loved it so much. You said Lucy was your best friend so you named it after her. We watched cartoons together and played together.”

Jamal continued, his gaze locked onto her. “So, after your Mom put out the fake news she was asked to come get you. And that was how you left. But thanks to my aunt Andy, we were able to keep communicating. We did lots of video calls.”

Abigail inhaled sharply. Something about those words tugged at the edges of her mind, like a forgotten melody and then she remembered something.

W for wonderful.

“W for wonderful,” she said, and Jamal’s eyes lit up.

“You remember that?” He asked with a grin, and she nodded.

“I remembered that five years ago and I kept wondering who said it. So it was you?” She asked, and he nodded, happy that she remembered something about him.

“Yes. I told you that during one of our video calls when you hurt your knee. It was shaped like W,” he said, and then told her all that had happened that day.

“Is there anything else you remember from all I said?” He asked, but Abigail shook her head slowly.

“I—I don’t know. It’s like… I can feel it, but I can’t see it,” she said with a sigh.

“Don’t worry about it. Even if you can’t remember, we will create fresh memories together that you won’t be able to forget,” he promised.