Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress
Chapter 193: Decision

Chapter 193: Decision

Genevieve sat in front of the dresser, wrapped in a pink bathing robe as she dried her hair.

She had a serious expression on her face as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

She wasn’t wearing the wig made with Abigail’s hair or contact lens of Abigail’s eye color now. She was just Genevieve at the moment.

Blonde hair. Blue eyes. No wig. No contacts.

Just Genevieve. She wondered what Jamal would think of her looking like this.

She wished she could go to Ludus in her real state, but her father wouldn’t let her. From the moment she became Dawn, he had made sure she wore the wig and contact lens before stepping out of her room.

Even now that Abigail had surgery and had taken off her own contact lens and was on her own hair, she still was not allowed to be herself.

Was this what her father planned for the rest of her life? That even when she married Jamal, she would still be Dawn and never be Genevieve again?

Did she really have a right to feel wronged in any way? Genevieve wondered as she thought about Abigail who had gone as far as having surgery because of her father.

Her heart felt heavy as she thought of Abigail. All the things Abigail had lost because of her father. All the pain. All the pretending. A wave of guilt washed over her.

She glanced at her phone when it started to ring on the nightstand and she rose to go pick it up.

She received the call when she saw the caller ID was Jamal.

"Hey!" She said with a smile, wondering if he realized that this was the third time they were talking for the day despite chatting every chance they got.

"What were you up to?" Stefan asked, his voice warm.

"I just stepped out of the shower and was drying my hair. You? How’s your day going?" She asked, as she returned to her seat by her dresser and turned off the hand dryer.

"I just stepped out for lunch and wanted to listen to your beautiful voice as I eat," he said, and Genevieve giggled, feeling her cheeks warm.

"I’m sorry I didn’t call you back after lunch. I got so busy," she said apologetically.

"It’s okay. I understand." He paused for a moment. "I was wondering...would you be able to come to Ludus this weekend?" He asked, going straight to the point.

Her heart gave a startled thump. "Weekend?" she repeated, her voice small.

She hadn’t expected him to ask her to come so soon.

She had been going over her plan in her head since her discussion with Pete. She planned that before leaving for Ludus she’d leave a letter for Abigail somewhere she wouldn’t find it until after she had disappeared.

She planned that when she leaves for Ludus she wouldn’t return. After telling Stefan the truth she’d disappear so that her father and none of them would be able to find her.

But if she was to leave by weekend, that meant she had limited time left with Abigail and Josh. She had wanted to be able to at least spend some time being a good sister to her before she disappeared.

She’d thought she’d have more time— to be with Abigail and Josh, to say a quiet goodbye to everything before she disappeared.

"Why do you sound so surprised? Can’t you make it by Weekend?" Stefan asked, wondering if it was too soon.

"No. It’s not that. I just... I didn’t expect that you would want me to come over so soon. You said you needed to clear your schedule and stuff so I assumed it would take some weeks," she said, and Stefan paused.

"Oh! I know it’s sort of too soon. It’s just that I miss you so much. I can’t help it. Can’t you tell?" He asked, and her heart clenched.

"I miss you, too," she admitted with a shy smile even though he couldn’t see her.

"It’s fine if you can’t come this weekend. I’ll wait..."

"I will come," Genevieve said firmly, before she could talk herself out of it.

The sooner she went, the sooner she could come clean with everything and tell him the truth. The sooner she could stop pretending.

She didn’t want to keep living in fear of being discovered and losing everything. She didn’t want to keep living as someone else. She wanted to be able to expose herself by herself now that she still had time.

Now that Abigail could speak, it was only a matter of time before she regains her memory and everything would be exposed.

Better to tear the bandage off herself.

She knew that her father would most likely kill her if he found out what she was planning to do.

A part of her felt slightly guilty that she’d be betraying him, but that guilt was nothing compared to the one she felt each time she looked at Abigail.

"You will?" His voice brightened with hope.

"Yes." she nodded, her throat tight. She looked into the mirror again, seeing herself as she really was.

Maybe she could go to Ludus as Genevieve. No lenses. No wig. No lies.

They would assume she was putting on blue contacts. And maybe she could dye one of Dawn’s hair to blonde.

Why dye it? Her father had said they wouldn’t suspect a thing or bother with a DNA test, right? Besides, she planned to tell Stefan the truth by the end of her visit, so that wouldn’t matter either.

She knew her father would expect her to board the plane as Dawn, but she didn’t have to step off it that way. She could step out of it in Ludus as Genevieve.

She wanted Stefan to see her for herself, in her own true form.

If this was going to be the end of her story, she wanted him to look into her real eyes and see her.

She wanted to know, even if just for a short time, that she was loved as herself so that when it was all over after she told him the truth, she wouldn’t have any regrets.

"I’m thinking of dyeing my hair to a blonde color. What do you think? Will it look good on me?" She blurted out.

Stefan raised a brow. Why was she asking him that so suddenly?

"Blonde?" he asked slowly, puzzled.

Stefan wondered if that was her real hair color, since he remembered Jamal telling him that Genevieve had always worn wigs matching Abigail’s hair and contact lenses of Abigail’s eye color, while Abigail had been made to wear wigs and contacts matching Genevieve’s hair and eye color in the past.

"Yes. Will you like it?" She asked again, uncertainly, "And I want to get blue contacts," she said, and Stefan narrowed his eyes.

"What exactly is your plan, Viv? You want to make me fall harder than I already have?" He teased playfully.

She let out a shaky laugh. "I just want to look different."

"I think you’d look beautiful in any shape or form," he said, and Genevieve pressed a hand to her chest.

For a moment, she couldn’t speak.

His words made her ache. She felt sad.

She wished she hadn’t lied to him. She wished she could be the person he believed she was. She wished, more than anything, that they could have been real.

She really liked him and she couldn’t imagine how disappointed he would feel when he found out she wasn’t the person he thought she was.

She would have really loved to be with someone like him who knew all her flaws yet still loved her regardless of it all.

"Why are you silent?" Stefan asked when she didn’t respond to his compliment.

She swallowed hard. "I’m just thinking about how nice it’d be to see you and spend some time with you again," she lied.

"I wish you were with me right now," he said softly, "then I’d be able to tell what you’re really thinking," Stefan said with a sigh, knowing that she was worried and scared.

He couldn’t imagine what it must be like being in her shoes. As far as he was concerned, it was better to be an orphan in an orphanage home than to be live as Genevieve had lived thus far.

"Why? You think you can read my face?" Genevieve asked in a lighter voice.

"Yes. I can read you a lot more than you think," he said, and her lips twitched.

If only he knew the truth about her, then he’d know she was a good actress and he didn’t know anything about her.

"Viv? Don’t worry about a thing and just come to me, okay? I will take care of you," Stefan promised softly hoping that would put her at ease a little.

"I never said I was worried," Genevieve said with a small laugh.

"You don’t have to say it. I know you are. By the way, have you spoken with Abigail about your Dad’s and Pete’s plan?" He asked, since she had not given him any feedback.

"Yeah. She says she’s going to play along. She was happy I told her about it," Genevieve said softly.

"That’s good. Well done. I’m proud of you," he said, and Genevieve’s lips curved in a smile.

"So I guess we’ll be seeing in a couple of days," Genevieve said softly.

"Yup. Can’t wait to see the blonde haired and blue eyed you," he said, and she giggled.

No matter the outcome of her confession, she’d never regret meeting Jamal or getting close to him.