Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 303: Harsh And Critical

Callan stared at the door of Ryan’s bedroom for a moment before approaching it.

Immediately, Mack held the door open, and Callan walked into the room, and then shut it behind Callan to give them privacy.

Ryan tried to sit up as he watched Callan enter the room.

Callan stood some distance away from the bed as he watched Ryan with a blank face.

”Hello, Callan,” Ryan said softly, ”Thank you for coming.”

Callan didn’t say a word. He just kept staring at the man, who was said to be his biological father. It surprised him that he didn’t feel anything toward Ryan. Not anger, not pity, not love, not hate, not even disappointment.

Staring at Ryan, all Callan could see was a stranger, someone he didn’t know despite sharing his blood and half his genes, and he realized that perhaps Jamal and everyone else was right and maybe blood wasn’t such a big deal as he had thought.

Or perhaps it was because of their words that he felt this way now. Maybe if he’d met Ryan two days ago he wouldn’t feel so calm and detached.

As Ryan looked at Callan, he wondered what was going through his head and why he wasn’t saying anything.

Did Emily say something to him about what had happened on the plane? Ryan wondered.

”Would you like to sit down?” Ryan offered with a small smile. ”I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

Callan smirked as he stared at the seat but didn’t take any step towards it. ”On my way here, I was thinking that if the case were reversed and you raised me, and a man like my Dad, Hunter Quinn, came to me claiming he was my biological father, I wouldn’t think twice before meeting with him. But you? The moment I heard you were my biological father, I felt so ashamed and devastated that the blood of a person like you ran in my veins. I was disgusted with myself,” Callan said flatly, and Ryan blinked, taken aback and hurt by his harsh words.

”I didn’t want to come here. My parents convinced me to see you and hear you out. Especially my Dad. So, that’s what I’m here to do. I want to hear you out. I want you to give me a reason why I should have anything to do with you considering the kind of things you’ve done,” Callan said as he moved closer to the bed. ”Tell me why you think it’s okay for you to show up here expecting me to be happy to see you, when we both know you know about my close friendship with Jamal and the fact that I may know all you’ve done. Tell me how you expect me to look at my family and friends in the face, knowing they know who my biological father is and all he’s done,” the more Callan spoke, the more he realized that he was actually angry at the fact that Ryan came to find him.

Ryan was silent for a moment as he listened to Callan and he sighed deeply. ”I’m sorry for all of it.”

”Sorry? I don’t think so. You’re not sorry about anything you’ve done. You’d do anything to get what you want, even pretend to be sorry. A person who is sorry wouldn’t have made or released that video. You couldn’t even admit your wrongs or take responsibility for your actions. Maybe if you had done that, I’d have been less disappointed and ashamed. You don’t care about anyone but yourself. You don’t consider how your actions affect other people. All you think about is yourself and your feelings. And your selfishness is the reason you’re here. Not necessarily because you care about me. You don’t care what your presence here would do to me or my relationship with others as long as you see me. You’re grossly irresponsible, inconsiderate, and self-centered.”

Callan’s words hurt, but Ryan understood that Callan was being that way because he didn’t know the real story of what had happened and why he did all of that.

”I don’t expect you to understand, but could you at least hear me out? Give me a chance to tell you the reason I did what I did. When you hear me out you will understand. You wouldn’t criticize me so harshly if you know what Abigail’s family...”

”Her name is Dawn, not Abigail,” Callan corrected coolly.

”Her mother ran over your Mom and it led to her death. She died giving birth to you, and her parents covered up her crim...”

”And you thought the best way to grieve was to shed so many blood because you were angry? Tell me why you believed it was okay to play God over the lives of two innocent girls...”

”Did you hear what I said? Dawn’s mother killed your Mom. Your mother was my love. She was my life. Emily told me about how you’ve been suffering. None of that would have happened if Dawn’s mother didn’t do that. She is the reason you had such a difficult life. Your mother and I would have been together had my parents not gotten in the way,” Ryan repeated.

”I heard you! I knew all of that even before coming here. It was an accident! And she was only a teenager for fuck’s sake. Did you really think telling me that would make me support you?” Callan asked incredulously. ”

Ryan frowned. ”How did you know it was an accident and she was a teenager?” He asked, since only Karen knew about what Kimberly did.

Callan took a deep breath, choosing to ignore his question. ”How could you kill your own parents? What kind of a monster does that? Let’s not even talk about the innocent domestic staff that became collateral damage. Have you stopped to think about how many people got hurt because of what you did?”

Ryan said nothing.

”I can see through you. I can see you for what you are. I’m not gullible enough to believe you’re sorry or have changed simply because you’re dying. However, I’m going to give you only one chance to make things right. Dawn and Genevieve will be here soon. When they get here, apologize to them genuinely for wasting their years and almost destroying their lives. And in the same manner you made the last video, make another video confessing to every single one of your crimes and taking responsibility for them. Do not wait for Dawn or the Hanks to expose you. Please, for once in your life, take responsibility. Only then can I stand looking at you or listening to you. I will be back to see you when you’ve done that.”

Callan turned to leave, but he paused when he remembered something. ”Do you know Delilah and Jessica? Your cousins?”

”I don’t have any cousins...” he trailed off with a frown when he suddenly remembered that two ladies had reached out to his office years ago claiming to be his cousins and he’d asked his assistant to tell them he wasn’t interested in knowing them.

He’d not even bothered to ask her for their names or look into them. ”What about them? How do you know them?”

”Delilah is my Mom. She adopted me and raised me. And maybe if you’d not been so blinded and consumed by your anger, and agreed to meet with them and build a relationship with them, you’d have met me years ago,” Callan said before walking away.

Ryan said nothing as he watched him walk out of the room. He’d been counting on the fact that Callan would be more understanding when he told him what Dawn’s mother had done to his Mom, but it didn’t go as he planned.

It hurt him that Callan had been so harsh and critical, and....