Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 406: It’s Fickle

Mari woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. She groaned as she blindly reached for it to silent it so she could go back to sleep.

’What if it’s Jax?’ A voice in her head asked, and she immediately sat up and picked up the phone.

She scowled when she saw it was Jamal but answered anyway.

"Jam, I had a long night working and you just interrupted my beauty sleep. This better be worth it," she said with a yawn.

"Sorry," Jamal said, "I called because it’s urgent. But you can go back to sleep. I will leave a text."

She frowned when she didn’t hear the humor she expected in his voice. "What’s wrong? Why do you sound so serious? What’s going on?"

"I guess you haven’t seen the news because you’re sleeping. There was an explosion at I-Global Hotel in Westend. The room Genevieve was staying at," he explained.

"What?" Mari asked, sitting up immediately. "What exactly happened? Was it an electrical malfunction or something?"

Jamal sighed. "I don’t have enough information on it yet. But I think it was a bomb because of the damage. We suspect that she was targeted."

Mari sucked in a breath. "No way! That is insane."

"Yeah. It’s crazy. I don’t understand it myself," Jamal murmured.

"Was she in the room? Please tell me she wasn’t there," Mari said.

"Her line is not going through and a badly damaged body was found in the room," Jamal said, leaving her to make the deduction herself.

"Oh God," Mari whispered, feeling very upset by the news. "How is Dawn taking the news? What about Stefan?" Mari asked, wondering how those two were doing since they were closest to Genevieve.

"That’s why I called. I was wondering if you could help me check on Dawn. I’m on my way to the airport. Stefan wants to go to Westend and I’m going with him," he explained.

"Oh. Yeah. Sure. I don’t know what I’m going to say to her, though. But I’ll definitely go," Mari promised.

"Thank you. I have to go now," Jamal said.

"Give my love to Stefan. I’m not sure I know what to say to him right now. Let me know how it goes, okay? Love you."

"Love you, too," Jamal said before hanging up.

Mari sat on the bed, and stared into space. This was something they watched in movies or read in books, not something a person close to them should experience.

She didn’t like how unpredictable life was. How in one moment someone was alive and the next they were gone.

She had no idea what she was going to say to Dawn. She knew that even though Genevieve had been a bitch to Dawn, she had been a part of Dawn’s life for so many years, and theirs too.

Although she’d not met Genevieve in person, she remembered how she’d monitored Genevieve’s social media pages over the years before they realized she wasn’t Dawn.

Sighing deeply she went online to search for news about the explosion. She saw that so many blogs and news sites were talking about it.

Feeling the need to talk to someone, she dialled Emily’s number, even though she knew it was almost midnight in Husla and Emily was likely asleep.

She’d always considered the time difference hence she hadn’t been reaching out as often as she used to but after Emily’s complaint about their reduced communication, she decided not to let the time difference bother her anymore.

Emily would just have to deal with it.

Surprisingly the call connected almost immediately.

"Hey, doll. I was just about to call you," Emily greeted pleasantly.

Mari smiled, "I thought you’d be sleeping by now."

"Yet you called," Emily said dryly.

"Yeah. So you’d miss my call and I can nag like you did," Mari said and Emily giggled as she tucked her legs under her in bed.

"I was seeing a movie with Cal after dinner. And now I’m catching up on my novel. What’s up with you? How’s our very hot boyfriend doing?" Emily asked, and Mari smiled.

"He’s okay I suppose. Before I get carried away. Did you see the news about Genevieve?" Mari asked.

Emily frowned. "What news? Did she release another video?"

Mari sighed and told her about her phone call with Jamal.

There was a pause on the line.

"What?" Emily said slowly.

Mari could hear the rustle of sheets as Emily sat up. "Wait... what kind of explosion?"

"A big bomb blast judging by the damage done," Mari replied quietly. "Jamal thinks she was targeted."

Silence filled the line. Emily didn’t speak for several seconds.

"Why would anyone target her? Who would go to such lengths?" Emily finally asked.

"I have no idea. It didn’t occur to me to ask Jamal," Mari murmured, thinking about it now.

"This sounds like something out of a movie," Emily whispered.

"My thoughts exactly. Everything happening in our lives right now feels that way. Did I tell you Diva didn’t survive the accident?" Mari asked, and Emily raised a brow.

"For real?"

Mari sighed. "Yeah. Life is just so... I don’t know... It’s fickle. It’s a really depressing thought."

"It is," Emily said with a sigh, then asked, "Did they confirm that Genevieve was inside?" Emily asked just as Callan stepped out of the bathroom.

"I think investigations are still on," Mari replied. "But Jamal said they found a damaged body in the room."

Emily let out a slow breath. "Oh my God..."

Callan raised a brow as he got on the bed and she mouthed to him that she was talking to Mari and would tell him after the call.

Mari leaned back against the headboard and rubbed her face. "I can’t believe this," she murmured.

Emily was quiet again. Then she asked softly, "Dawn is going to be really distraught."

"Yeah. Jamal wants me to go be with her."

"So you said." Emily’s voice grew softer. "Leaving her behind must be hard for him. And this whole thing would be hard on Stefan too. I can’t imagine how they’re all faring. This is a messed up situation."

"I’m not sure what to say to Dawn. What am I supposed to say? Am I supposed to try to cheer her up or just sit silently with her?" Mari asked Emily, completely at a loss.

Emily was quiet for a moment. Mari could almost hear her thinking.

"I don’t think you should try to cheer her up. I remember when my stepmom’s dad died," Emily finally said quietly, "my dad tried to cheer her up and she got really angry. She said she didn’t want to cheer up and she just wanted to mourn her father in peace."

Mari nodded slowly even though Emily couldn’t see her. "That’s what I thought. I remember feeling that way when Susan died. Remember?" She said referring to her Nanny, who had raised her from birth.

"Yeah. We were in middle school then," Emily said as she shifted on the bed. "But who knows? Dawn could be different, you know?"

Mari sighed softly. "Different strokes for different folks."

"Exactly. I don’t know. But I just think there is nothing you can say that will make this better. So maybe just be there and you can ask her what she needs you to do," Emily suggested. "Sometimes people don’t need words. They just need someone sitting beside them and holding their hands."

"Yeah. This whole thing is crazy," Mari muttered, then pushed the blanket off her legs and stood up. "I should get ready to go."

"Call me after you see her," Emily said.

"I will."

"Take care. Love you," Emily said.

"Love you too. Give my love to Callan," Mari said before hanging up.

Mari stood still in the quiet room for a few seconds staring at the phone in her hand.

Then she exhaled slowly and placed the phone on the bed.

She quickly freshened up and a few minutes later she was dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweater. And she was ready to leave.

As she got into her car, one thought kept running through her mind.

Just yesterday Genevieve had been alive. Now the world was talking about her like she was already gone.

She shook her head when she remembered how Diva had also died just a few days ago.

Human life was short. Too short.