Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 34: You’re Not Mute?

Jamal sat by the window of the plane, resting his elbow on the armrest as he stared out at the runway but his mind was elsewhere.

A frown was etched between his brows as his encounter with the mute girl replayed in his head.

Had he been rude?

No, he told himself. He had simply established boundaries. There was nothing wrong with doing that.

She had come up to him out of nowhere, asking personal questions. Who did that? He didn’t owe her anything— not his number, not his time, and certainly not his patience. But even as he justified his actions, a strange unease settled in his chest.

He usually didn’t like being rude or curt with people that way, but she had sort of reminded him of Abigail and he hadn’t wanted that.

A sudden movement in the aisle caught his eye.

He turned his head and was surprised to see the mute girl walking past him though she didn’t see him.

Jamal frowned. ’She’s on this flight? And in first class?’ He mused.

He wasn’t the only one taken aback. Beside him, Stefan let out a low whistle. ”Well, would you look at that,” he murmured. ”I didn’t expect her to be here.”

Jamal said nothing, merely watching as she settled into a seat a few rows ahead.

Stefan leaned back, shaking his head. ”You know, I thought she was talking to you earlier because she wanted money from you.”

Jamal’s head snapped toward him. ”Why would you think that?”

Stefan shrugged. ”I don’t know. It was just a thought. She followed us, and I didn’t know what she was asking you. It just seemed like one of those situations to me.”

Jamal exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. ”You shouldn’t think that way about people.”

”You know I don’t,” Stefan admitted, sighing. ”It was shallow of me. I just assumed.”

Jamal didn’t reply. He looked back at the girl. She seemed to be staring at her phone, but he could see the slight tension in her shoulders.

A thought nagged at him— why was she really talking to him earlier? Why did she ask for his number?

He shook it off. It didn’t matter.

Yet he couldn’t look away from her. Each time he managed to look away, his attention returned to her again.

Now she was adjusting to a more comfortable position in her seat and her EarPod were plugged to her ears.

Just then, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

”Excuse me, sirs,” one of the flight attendants said politely. ”There seems to be an issue with seating arrangements. A passenger has requested to switch seats for a medical reason. Would you both be open to swapping with another first-class passenger?”

Stefan frowned. ”Who?” He asked before Jamal could.

The flight attendant motioned toward a man seated across the aisle. ”This gentleman needs to be closer to his wife due to a medical condition. We can move you both to equally comfortable seats so that they can both have your seats and be together.”

Jamal followed the flight attendant’s gaze and saw the older man nodding apologetically. His wife was a few rows ahead, already seated, and looking worried.

Jamal sighed. He wasn’t heartless. Before Stefan could protest, Jamal spoke. ”It’s fine. We will.”

”Thank you, sir,” the flight attendant said with a relieved smile as she motioned for them to follow her.

Jamal grabbed his carry-on, feeling Stefan’s scowl on him. ”You realize you could easily have suggested that either of their sitting partners should swap, right?”

”No, I didn’t think about that, genius. I’m sure the attendants didn’t think about it either and just wanted to separate us,” Jamal said dryly, and Stefan chuckled as they followed the flight attendant down the aisle.

Jamal paused for half a second when he saw where they were taking him.

The empty seat was right beside the mute girl who looked like she was fast asleep with her ears stuffed.

The flight attendant motioned toward the seat and his brows lifted slightly as he wondered what manner of coincidence that was.

Seeing that it was the same mute girl from before, Stefan approached him, ”Want to swap?” He offered when he saw the way Jamal was staring at her.

Jamal shook his head, ”It’s okay,” he said as he slid into the seat beside her, thinking it was probably best he seat next to her and found out what she wanted from him.

Just as he sat down, she opened her eyes and her heart skipped a beat as their eyes met.

What was he doing here? Why were they on the same flight and sitting together?

For a moment, neither of them moved.

”I didn’t choose to sit next to you. I was seated at the back but the flight attendant asked me to move here so that an old couple could have my seat...” before he could finish blabbing she shut her eyes again and turned her face away from him, ignoring him since her music was still playing.

As much as his abrupt dismissal earlier had stung, she understood. It showed he was a decent guy. If she were his wife or girlfriend, she would expect him to do that if a random female asked for his number.

And about him being in a relationship, it wasn’t like she expected him to stay single all these years. It had been a one night stand which she requested and he had moved on. That was fine.

But what she didn’t understand was why the universe was determined to mock her by having him sit right next to her.

Why did she have to endure the torture of being right next to the first and only man she had ever loved or been with? The man who was the father of her little boy but had moved on without even knowing he had a son.

She thought she had moved on from whatever feelings she had, so why was she feeling like her heart had been torn out of her chest and shattered into tiny pieces?

With Jamal seated beside her, this was going to be one very long flight, and she wasn’t looking forward to it.

”This sucks,” she said with a deep sigh, and then froze when she realized she had spoken out loud.

She opened her eyes and turned to look at him hoping he was too busy minding his business to pay any attention to her.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him staring at her, still in the same position he was when she turned away from him a minute ago.

”You’re not mute?”