CHAPTER 181: SCARED

Genevieve walked quickly back to her office, her heart still full from what had just happened. Abigail had spoken. To her.

She could still hear the soft, trembling words that carried trust, warmth, and forgiveness. It had touched her more deeply than she had expected.

She noticed that Pete wasn’t on his seat but she didn’t worry about it as she stepped into her office and shut the door behind her.

She smiled as she unlocked her phone and went to her call log. She wanted to call Jamal. To tell him that she had taken his advice and that in return she had won Abigail’s trust, at least a little bit. She wanted to tell him that Abigail had spoken to her.

But as she wanted to dial his line, her hand slowed, and her smile faded.

Jamal didn’t know the full truth.

If she told him that Abigail could speak now, he would most likely have questions for her. He would want to know why Abigail could speak and was keeping it a secret from them. There would be lots of questions. Questions she couldn’t answer.

Or maybe she could but was too scared to answer them?

She remembered what her father had said earlier.

"She wants us to think she’s still mute. She is playing us. And that is because she knows something now. It’s only a matter of time before she knows everything. What do you think will happen then? Do you love her or feel remorseful enough to spend the rest of your life in jail?"

Her fingers curled around her phone and her mind raced.

If Abigail had regained her voice, it was only a matter of time before she regained her memory too, that was if she hadn’t regained it already.

What if Abigail remembered everything? What if Abigail gets angry at her for keeping the truth away from her and she goes ahead to tell Jamal first?

What then?

Genevieve sat down slowly at her desk, staring at the phone in her hand. Her chest felt tight.

If she told him the truth, she could lose Jamal — lose his friendship.

If she didn’t... she could still lose him— and Abigail too.

It felt like no matter what she did, she was going to lose everything.

What if she told Jamal the truth now? What if she told Abigail the truth? Would they punish her? Would they send her to jail?

Not knowing what else to do, she opened her laptop and searched for an anonymous chat site. One where no one knew who she was.

She typed in the box:

[A friend of mine has been pretending to be her step sister for over twenty years. The step sister is from a wealthy family and this friend of mine has been living as her while the step sister thinks she is the illegitimate daughter. Now my friend is in love with the step sister’s childhood sweetheart and he loves her too because he thinks she is the one. My friend is scared that her step sister might regain her memory or somehow the truth might become exposed. Now she needs my advice and I don’t know what to say. What would you do if you were in her shoes? Would you tell them the truth and risk losing everything, or stay quiet and hope they never find out?]

She hit send and waited.

A few seconds passed. Then the replies started to come in.

User1: This is a fucked up situaion. But she shouldn’t tell anyone. If it’s working, she shouldn’t ruin it. People lie all the time. It’s survival.

User2: If she loves him, she should tell him. He deserves to know who he’s really with.

User3: What happens when the real person shows up? Or remembers? That lie won’t last forever. She should definitely open up. Who knows? He might be in love with her, and her step sister might forgive her.

User4: Take each day as it comes. You don’t know what tomorrow brings. Maybe the truth will come out on its own and things will resolve naturally. PS: I’ve love the full deets on the story.

User5: Secrets are poison. They kill love from the inside. Be honest before someone else is.

User6: If you don’t trust him with the truth, you don’t really love him.

The screen filled with replies, and Genevieve’s heart sank deeper with each one.

So many voices. So many thoughts. She closed the laptop slowly and pushed it aside. She didn’t feel better. She felt even more lost.

Her thoughts were still spinning when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," she called.

Jamal stepped inside, holding his tablet. "Your one-o-clock appointment called to cancel," he said.

"So that means I’m free for lunch."

"Yes," Jamal said, nodding back. "And Mr Smith said he’d submit a detailed report on the task you gave him before the end of the day."

Genevieve nodded slowly. She stared at him for a moment. Then she sat up straighter. "Have you heard from Jamal?"

"I have. He called me yesterday," Jamal replied.

Genevieve bit her lip. Then motioned toward the chair across from her. "Sit down, please. I need your opinion on something."

Jamal raised a brow, curious, but obeyed.

Genevieve folded her hands on the table. "So... I was reading something interesting online. About someone. A lady. She’s pretending to be someone else because of a family situation. And now she’s falling in love with a guy who doesn’t know the truth. She also has a sister who might soon find out the truth too. And if she does, everything could fall apart," Genevieve said carefully, trying to not give away too much that would make him suspect she was talking about herself and Abigail.

She looked at him carefully. "What would you do if you were in her shoes?"

Jamal sat back and thought for a moment. He knew she was asking about herself, Stefan and Abigail.

Then he spoke gently. "I’m not sure I have a complete grasp of the situation. But I think... telling the truth is always best."

Genevieve swallowed. "Why?"

"Because sometimes, it’s possible that the people we’re lying to already know the truth," Jamal said simply. "And maybe they’re just waiting for us to be honest with them."

"But you’re not being honest with Abigail, are you?" Genevieve asked, and Jamal smiled.

"But I’m not lying to her or deceiving her, am I? I do have feelings for her. I’m not trying to win her heart because of your father. I’m simply taking advantage of the situation since I have his l approval," Jamal said defensively.

"She is certain that the sister and the guy in question do not know the truth yet. What if they find out the truth and they punish her for it? It’s one thing to lose their friendship but what if they get her arrested or something?" Genevieve asked, and Jamal held her gaze.

"Would she prefer to live with this worry and uncertainty forever? I think life will feel lighter once she stops hiding. Freedom is not really that wonderful if there is no peace. And love will also not feel like love if there is uncertainty and constant fear of being exposed."

Genevieve looked away, blinking fast.

"And think about it," Jamal continued softly. "How does she plan to be in a relationship with someone while carrying the burden of such a lie? How can you be happy when you’re always scared the truth might come out? That doubt will never leave your heart. It will always be there."

Genevieve sighed deeply. "But what if she tells the truth... and she loses him?"

"Then maybe it’s better that she loses him now," Jamal said. "Because you can’t be with the right person... in the wrong way. If it’s real love, it will stand the truth. If it doesn’t... maybe it wasn’t meant to be."

Genevieve was quiet as she digested his words.

After a while, she nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Pete. You can go now. I’ll let her know."

"I thought you said you read about online? Do you know her personally?" Jamal asked, and Genevieve shook her head quickly.

"No. I meant I will leave my comment online," she corrected quickly.

Jamal stood and gave her a small nod. "I hope she makes the right choice," he said, feeling sorry for her as he walked out of the office.

As he shut the door behind him, his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and answered.

"Stefan," he said.

"Jamal," Stefan’s voice came through. "What’s going on over there? I heard from Genevieve about Ryan asking you to marry Abigail."

Jamal blinked. "She told you that? What did she say?"

Stefan told Jamal about their conversation and when he was done Jamal let out a soft sigh. "I just finished talking to her too," Jamal said, telling him about what Genevieve had just asked him.

"She is scared," Stefan said softly, worried for Genevieve.

"Yeah. Give me a moment. Let me talk to Abigail and find out what they discussed, then we can talk," Jamal said.

"Alright. Let me know what she says," Stefan said, and the line went dead.

Jamal walked to Abigail’s office and gently knocked on Abigail’s office door before stepping inside.

Abigail looked up from her desk, and her lips curved in a wide smile when she saw Jamal since she had been thinking of him.

"Hey!"

"Hey," Jamal said gently, smiling back at her.

"I noticed she was in here for a while. Did she tell you everything?" Jamal asked in a quiet voice as he stood by her desk, and Abigail nodded.

"She told me," Abigail replied softly. "And I talked to her."

"You talked?" Jamal asked, surprised.

Abigail nodded.

Before either of them could say more, the office door opened again without a knock, and Ryan stepped in, holding a small box.