Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 215: Family Meeting

Although the family meeting was supposed to hold that weekend, when everyone heard that Evelyn was in Tom’s house, they began to arrive one after the other, with the exception of their kids since most of them were in school and they also didn’t want them involved.

The Hanks all gathered with the exception of Tom’s younger brother, Bryan Hank, who was out of the country shooting a movie. But his wife, Sonia, was the first to arrive.

The same applied for Jamal’s stepdad, Matt, who was also away on a movie production, but Jamal’s mom, Candace was present as was the other members of the Jonas family apart from Mari’s stepmom, Andy, who was out of the country with her husband.

Stefan sat beside Jamal’s grandfather as he waited impatiently for the pleasantries to end so he could hear the reason for the impromptu meeting.

After Tom’s discussion with his mother earlier, he had called back Harry to tell him what they had decided, but Harry had said he was coming over with Jade, and they should hold on.

Lucy had also called her best friend, and a sister-in-law, Sonia to inform her that Evelyn was in Ludus, and Sonia had said she was coming over, and just like that the news of her arrival and the plan had spread and everyone decided it was best to have the meeting before anything was done.

Tom had been the one to invite Stefan over. He figured that Stefan would have Genevieve’s best interest at heart since everyone would be too concerned with Jamal and Abigail and their little boy, to care about Genevieve.

”Alright, everyone. We all know why we are here,” Tom said after they’d all settled down around the large table in the conference room in his mansion.

”For the sake of those of you that haven’t heard the update on the issue, Harry will give you an update before we commence,” Tom said, glancing at Harry, since he was better at giving concise information.

Harry cleared his throat and dove right into it. When he was done, his wife, Jade shook her head. ”I don’t get what you mean. Ryan committed a crime. Several crimes. And you think simply because we understand his motive we should resolve things peacefully and just do what? Let him go?” She asked incredulously.

”That man is a criminal. A cold blooded murderer. Do you have any idea how many people he killed? He killed Kimberly and her parents, he killed his own parents and all the staff in the house with them! No way. I don’t care what Kimberly or anyone else did. He ruined lives! He should be made to pay for his crimes,” Jade said firmly.

Lucy nodded in agreement. ”I agree with Jade. While I agree with Evelyn that we should go get Dawn and Jamal out of there, I don’t think we should let Ryan go Scot-free. Nothing stopped him from giving Dawn to us after getting his revenge.”

”He should be made to pay for what he did. He has no respect for human lives,” Sonia added.

”What he did to Kimberly and the others is not for us to avenge,” Tom said calmly. ”And let’s not forget that Callan is in the picture now. We have to consider him.”

”No one is talking about avenging anyone. That’s not what I’m saying,” Jade cut in, ”Let’s get a confession out of him and submit to the necessary authorities. He should be prosecuted. I believe Callan would understand that his father needs to pay for his...”

Jamal’s mom, Candace cut in before Jade could finish. ”Can we at least get the kids out of that hellhole before we decide on what to do about Ryan? I honestly don’t care about him. All I want is for Jamal, Dawn, and Josh to be brought out of there. Let’s focus on what matters. The safety of the kids.”

”What about Genevieve? If everything has changed, does this mean the plan for her visit to Ludus is no longer valid? Are we leaving her behind because she is no longer useful to the plan?” Stefan asked, since he was yet to hear anyone mention Genevieve, and he had really been looking forward to spending time with her.

In as much as he promised Jamal that he was staying loyal to the family and following whatever decision they made regarding the issue, he didn’t think it was fair that no one was thinking of Genevieve despite knowing all about her background now.

Everyone turned to Stefan, and some of them, who didn’t know about his feelings for Genevieve, wondered why he was talking about her.

”I’ve been thinking about that,” Tom said, looking at Stefan, ”I don’t think it’s a good idea to take her along with the others. It might come as a shock to her and she’d most likely feel betrayed.”

Harry nodded. ”You have a point.”

”Who cares what she feels after all she has done?” Sonia muttered.

”Stefan cares. And I’m sure Jamal and Abigail do, too. And if you think about it, life hasn’t been fair to her and she’s a victim in all of this too, so we should care,” Lucy said with a shrug.

Sonia sighed. ”That’s true.”

Aaron, Jamal’s grandfather, who had been silent for a while, cleared his throat to get all their attention, and all eyes turned to him. ”Stefan, how about you take one of the private jets to Westend? Instead of having Genevieve visit you, surprise her and take her somewhere far away for a while, while we handle things. If you can get her to open up to you while you’re both away, it’s better. You can let her know the truth, and bring her back with you. By then Jamal and Abigail will be here with us and Ryan would have been taken care of.”

Everyone around the table nodded as they processed Aaron’s plan, ”What about work? With Jamal gone I have to...”

”When you were away with Jamal, the company was running smoothly in your absence. Everything will be fine,” Aaron assured him. ”Go get Genevieve out of there. Once she’s out, we can take Jamal and Abigail.”

Stefan looked from Aaron to Harry, and then to Tom, and when he saw he had all their approval, he felt relieved. ”Thanks. I will do just that. I’ll go wrap up what I have to do at the office and I’ll be on my way,” Stefan said as he rose.

”He’s in love with her?” Sonia asked in disbelief as they watched him go.

Lucy smiled at her, ”If Bryan could fall for you after you blackmailed him into being in a relationship, that shouldn’t surprise you.” Everyone at the table laughed including Sonia.

”Well, let’s hope she will still be interested in him after she finds out he’s not Jamal Jonas,” Jade murmured.

”She should be grateful he’s interested in her. He saved her after all,” Candace pointed out.

”That’s true,” Jade said with a nod.

”So, now that Genevieve has been taken care of. What’s the next plan? Getting Jamal and Dawn? Or meeting with Ryan?” Lucy asked, reminding them they had more important things to talk about. ”Also, I think we should get Jamal and Abigail onboard with our plans before we execute them.”

”Yeah. And it’s also fair that Abigail should have a say in what happens to Ryan,” Sonia said with a thoughtful nod.

”I don’t think that conversation is something that should be had over the phone,” Jade said, and Lucy shook her head.

”I don’t see why not. Everything we know about this issue was gotten over the phone. We can’t leave them in the dark over what’s happening now. And I can bet all I have that Stefan is already talking to Jamal about it. Callan is Jamal’s best friend. He should hear about this from us,” Candace pointed out. ”I’ll say we get the kids out, and then go after Ryan. That way we don’t have to worry about their safety when dealing with Ryan.”

”Candace is right. Let’s give Jamal a call, so we can get moving,” Evelyn said quietly.

”Harry, how about you go talk to Hunter while I handle things here? Barry says Ryan has no plans of returning to Westend until he finds Callan, so maybe we can delay that meeting from happening until Jamal and Dawn are out of there with the kid,” Tom said, and Harry gave him a nod as he rose.

”I’ll come with you,” Jade said, rising with her husband.

Harry chuckled, giving her a knowing look, ”Why do I feel as though you just want to keep an eye on me?”

”Because that’s exactly what I want to do. I’m the conscience of this whole family and you’re my husband. I have a feeling this would be a mafia family if I weren’t part of it and keeping you all in check,” Jade said, and everyone laughed as they watched them leave.