Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 297: What Bet?

After straightening the sheets, Abigail went downstairs to join the others at the dining, and as she approached, Stefan rose to face her.

”She’s freshening up,” she said, thinking that was the reason he was standing.

”I see,” Stefan said, smiling politely as he held out a hand. ”I’m Stefan Kirk. It’s nice to meet you again. I’ve heard lots of wonderful things about you,” he said, reminding her of their last meeting at the airport and she scowled at him when she remembered how he had offered her money.

Abigail shook his hand. ”I see you’re not scowling or glaring at me like you did all through the flight,” she said, and Jamal chuckled, and explained to Tom and Lucy what she was talking about.

Stefan winced. ”I didn’t know who you were at the time, and I should get some credit because I was only protecting him for you, not from you,” he assured her.

”I’ve heard lots of wonderful things about you too,” Abigail said, and Jamal raised a brow.

”From who did you hear them? Certainly not from me,” he said, and they all laughed as she sat at the table.

”Genevieve gave me this,” she said, handing the flash drive to Tom even though she was yet to see what was in it.

”The evidence she mentioned?” Tom asked, and both Stefan and Abigail nodded.

Tom glanced at Stefan, ”Is it solid?”

”Yes, it is. I helped her copy it onto the flash drive myself,” Stefan explained.

”Let’s go take a look at it in the study,” Lucy suggested, and they all rose.

”Stefan, you can go freshen up in the guestroom since you already know the content of the flash drive. You can join us when you’re done. Jam, ask Salome to get Bella to take breakfast up to Genevieve. I’m sure she’d eat more comfortably in the privacy of the bedroom than out here,” Lucy instructed them.

Abigail followed Tom and Lucy to the study while Jamal and Stefan did as she instructed.

”So, what do you want done to Genevieve?” Tom asked as they shut the door behind them.

”Not yet, Ace,” Lucy murmured.

”Not everyone can be as forgiving as you, Jewel. And I don’t expect Dawn to be. It’s perfectly okay if she wants Genevieve punished,” Tom said, looking at Abigail.

”Why don’t you expect me to be forgiving?” Abigail asked curiously as they sat down.

”You didn’t sound like the forgiving type when you made me promise to not go easy on Ryan,” he reminded her. ”And a forgiving person doesn’t set a house ablaze,” Tom pointed out with a grin as he connected the flash drive to his laptop.

Abigail smiled slightly. ”I suppose you have a point.”

”I’m usually forgiving yet I asked you for Ryan’s head, remember? What Ryan did was unforgivable. Genevieve on the other hand... Well, it’s up to Dawn,” Lucy said with a shrug, and Abigail sighed deeply.

”I want to forgive her,” Abigail stated simply as Jamal walked into the study.

”Want to? That means you haven’t forgiven her yet?” Tom asked with a smirk, shooting his wife a look.

”I’m struggling to, but I know I’m going to forgive her eventually. I don’t want her to get punished,” Abigail said, and Tom exchanged another look with Lucy.

”What’s that look?” Jamal asked, not missing it.

”Genevieve won’t go unpunished. You know how Jade is. She’s still very mad at Ryan for the way he treated them when they traveled over to see Dawn but were not even allowed into the hospital. And she’s also mad about the restraining order that was issued after we lost the custody battle. Based on Ryan’s video, she’s already filing charges against them. By them I mean both Ryan and Genevieve. She insists that Genevieve has to face the consequences of her actions, especially because we kept reaching out to her years ago and she boldly declared she wanted nothing to do with us when she knew fully well that she wasn’t Dawn,” Lucy explained.

”But I don’t want to press charges,”Abigail said with a frown.

”You’re not the one pressing charges. Jade is doing so on behalf of the Hank family. Our father lived with guilt until the day he died because we lost you. Had he been alive we know he’d have felt even more terrible knowing all you went through. We all faced our fair share of emotional distress over this. So, your willingness to forgive her is admirable, but this is beyond you. And forgiving her doesn’t mean her actions doesn’t have consequences,” Tom said in a calm tone.

”Stefan is not going to like this,” Jamal murmured, a worried frown etched between his brows.

”This has nothing to do with Stefan’s feelings. My Jewel tried to reason with Jade, but she won’t have it. My Mom won’t have it either. We understand and sympathize with all that she’s been through, but has to face the consequences of her actions,” Tom said firmly.

”I get what you’re saying. But she opened up and she even gave us evidence,” Abigail reminded them.

”And we did the best we can do for her by giving her a chance to open up, this way she only has to pay for impersonating you, and not charged as Ryan’s accomplice or accessory,” Tom responded.

Abigail and Jamal exchanged a look, both feeling sad for Genevieve and Stefan.

”If she must be punished then why can’t we punish her ourselves instead? I mean we don’t always need a judge to do that. It’s not like she’s a criminal. She came here herself, Stefan didn’t coerce her into coming. She told me she’d face whatever punishment even if it meant being arrested. Doesn’t that count for something? I know you all faced emotional distress, but you will agree with me that whatever you faced cannot be compared to what I faced. So, if I’m willing to forgive her and let her go, why should the family insist on punishing her? Doesn’t what I want count? If she’s sent to jail that will be a bad record for her. I can’t let that happen. She’s still my sister and Josh’s aunt. I want to speak with Jade. If you push through with this, I’ll tell the court that I knew all along and asked her to do it,” Abigail said fiercely, and Lucy grinned, then held out a hand to her husband.

”I won.”

”Won what?” Abigail and Jamal asked both frowning.

Lucy smiled as her husband kissed her hand.

”Jade has been preparing the necessary documents to sue Ryan. Last night she suggested pressing charges against Genevieve as well, but I said you’d be against it because I believed you’ve forgiven her already in your heart even though your head hasn’t caught up yet. They all didn’t think you’re that forgiving, so we placed a bet. This drama was a little test to see whether or not Jade should push for it,” Lucy explained, smiling proudly at her, ”I’m so proud of you, Dawn.”

”Does that mean she won’t press any charges?” Abigail asked hopefully.

”How is she supposed to press charges when the victim has threatened to be on the accused’s defense team?” Tom scowled, ”I thought you were more like me.”

”I’d be more like you when it involves Ryan,” Abigail said, smiling sweetly at him, and they all laughed, including Jamal, who felt very relieved for Stefan.

”Okay. Enough chit chat, let’s take a look at the gift Santa brought,” Tom said as he turned on his projector so they didn’t have to gather around him.

Tom clicked on the first folder in the flash drive. The screen came alive with neatly labeled files — ”Offshore Transfers,” ”Private Footage,” ”Audio Records,” and a fourth folder titled simply ”For Dawn.”

Everyone in the room exchanged a glance as Tom double-clicked the first folder.

Inside were scanned documents— bank statements, wire transfers, and signed authorizations bearing Ryan’s signature.

Just then a freshly showered Stefan knocked on the door and joined them in the study.

Abigail scanned the words on the screen. ”Is this proof that Ryan has been moving money through dummy companies?”

”Money laundering?” Jamal asked.

Stefan nodded. ”Yes. Millions it seems. He created fake charity accounts and funneled funds through them,” Stefan said since he spent most of the flight going through them and organizing it.

Even Genevieve had not entirely understood the extent of damage she could have done to Ryan with what she had.

”How did she get her hands on these?” Abigail asked no one in particular.

”She said he always believed she was stupid so he didn’t see her as a threat,” Stefan murmured grimly.

Tom clicked open a PDF labeled ”ChildrenFirst Foundation.”

”That’s a charity that doesn’t exist. He transferred nearly four hundred thousand dollars into an account under a false name. And the file next to it is tied to one of his shell companies in Dubai.”

Tom clicked on another file. A photograph appeared of Ryan shaking hands with a foreign businessman, but the caption below it read: ”Shipment Deal— Unregistered Substances.”

Abigail frowned. ”Unregistered... substances?”

”Illegal pharmaceuticals,” Stefan said. ”Unapproved drugs distributed to small clinics under falsified labels.”

”This isn’t just laundering. This is trafficking,” Jamal swore under his breath.

Abigail rubbed her arms, her voice barely above a whisper. ”I just... I can’t believe he was capable of all this.”

Tom clicked on another folder— it was a Private Footage.

The first video was grainy. The camera angle looked like it came from a hidden device. Ryan was touching a female staff inappropriately in his office. There were series of videos like that.

Tom closed the folder and clicked on the third one: Audio Records.

The audio recordings were of Genevieve’s conversations with him over the years. In the recordings Genevieve often talked about how she hated being Dawn and how she wanted the lies to end, but each time she said that Ryan insulted and threatened her, asking her to be grateful for the life he gave her.

Lucy exhaled slowly when they were done going through all the recordings. ”I don’t think there is a crime on earth that this man has not committed.”

Tom chuckled. ”This is more than enough to ruin him. Corporate fraud. Money laundering. Sexual harassment. Illegal shipments. Threats. There’s even proof of offshore tax evasion here. If this gets out, he’s finished.”

Tom clicked the last folder— For Dawn.

Inside was a single video of Genevieve this time.

> ”Dawn if you see this, then I’m probably gone. I want you to know that I’m sorry. I have no excuse. I’ll spend the rest of my life being sorry even though I don’t expect your forgiveness. Thanks for not losing yourself despite all I did. And thanks for letting me be your sister in the last couple of days.”

Abigail stared at the screen thoughtfully. ”The only sad part of it is that he would not live long enough to receive punishment for his crimes. I don’t feel any satisfaction.”

”I doubt Callan would be willing to have anything to do with him if he finds out about all of this. We could try to excuse what he did to Dawn as his quest for revenge against his parents and her family. But how do you explain away all this? There’s no excuse for any of this. He’s totally morally corrupt.”

While the others talked, Tom picked up his phone and stepped away from them when he received a call from Harry.

Stefan glanced toward the door. ”What do we do with all this?”

”We’ll decide that later,” Tom said as he joined them. ”Ryan just arrived.”