Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 123: It Depends

Genevieve’s mood shifted as the crowd thinned and the sun dipped lower in the sky. The day was slowly coming to an end and she couldn’t help feeling sad that they’d be parting soon and he’d be going back to Ludus the next day.

As they walked past a photo booth, Genevieve stopped. ”Ooh. We have to take one.”

”You want to?”

”Yes. I need evidence of this day else I’m going to just keep thinking it was a dream,” she said, making Stefan laugh.

And so they crammed into the booth, shoulder to shoulder, faces squished together as the timer blinked down.

In the first picture, she smiled and he grinned beside her.

In the second, she made a silly face and he copied her.

In the third, she looked at him just as he turned to her, and the result was an accidental photo of them staring into each other’s eyes.

In the fourth, they burst out laughing.

Genevieve realized that she had laughed more times in all the time spent with him than she had in years. Her stomach hurt from giggling, and her cheeks ached from smiling.

The machine whirred and spat out the photo strip. Genevieve took it and stared at it with a fond smile.

”I asked for it so I’m keeping this,” she said.

”Of course you are. Need my autograph on it too?” Stefan joked.

She laughed as she looked up at him, her voice gentler now. ”I’m going to miss you.”

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Then Stefan, without thinking too much, said quietly, ”You don’t have to. You can always visit me in Ludus when you want to see me.”

Their eyes locked, and this time, it lingered. Longer than it probably should have. The noise of the fair seemed to fade just for a second, the warm lights blurring around them.

But Genevieve smiled, breaking the spell, as she slipped the photo strip into her bag. ”Is that an invitation?”

”Yes, it is. Will you honor it?” Stefan asked, feeling something new and confusing tug in his chest.

”Hmm. It depends,” she said with a small smile.

”On what?” He asked curiously, realizing that he really did want her to visit.

”I can’t tell you,” she said as she got out of the booth, ”let’s ride the Ferris wheel,” she said, changing the topic.

Stefan nodded, ”Lead the way.”

As they stood in line, the sky grew darker, stars starting to peek through. When their turn came, they climbed in, and as the wheel slowly lifted them up, the entire fair spread out beneath them like a storybook.

Genevieve leaned her head against the railing, watching the world from above. ”It’s so beautiful,” she whispered.

Stefan glanced at her, not just at her profile, soft and illuminated by the colorful lights, but at the peace and contentment on her face. And he realized he didn’t want this moment to end.

He didn’t know what it meant yet, or what he was feeling, but he knew that he badly wanted Genevieve to be good so that everything will turn out well for it.

”Why are you quiet?” Genevieve asked, turning to look at him, and she caught him staring at her.

Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed the intensity of his gaze. ”What?”

”Let’s do this again another time,” he suggested.

”I’d really love that,” she said with a wide smile as she focused on enjoying the ride.

When they were done they sat on the bench near the Ferris wheel. While Genevieve had a cup of ice cream in hand, Stefan had a stick of cotton candy.

The sky was dark but neither of them was in a hurry to leave yet. The had been told that the park was usually closed by 11 p.m on weekends, and it was just past 8 p.m., now.

”That was the most fun I’ve had in... forever,” Genevieve said softly, her voice full of awe.

Stefan looked at her, his gaze lingering. Her hair was messy from the wind, there was a smear of ice cream on the corner of her mouth, and her eyes were wide and bright.

”Right now you don’t look like the Genevieve I met in her office two days ago,” he said.

Genevieve laughed, ”I certainly don’t feel like her either.”

”Really? How do you feel? And how did she feel?” Stefan asked, and she grinned.

”How did she look and how do I look?” She shot back.

Stefan chuckled, ”She looked quite put together, in charge and in control. Now you look relaxed and flushed.”

Genevieve giggled. ”Well, that Genevieve wasn’t very happy. But this one is. Thanks to you,” she said, smiling at him.

Stefan didn’t say anything. He just smiled and handed her the last bite of his cotton candy. She took it, her fingers brushing his, and the moment stretched between them.

”Thanks for today,” she said after a while as she set aside the ice cream cup.

He shrugged, still watching her. ”I enjoyed your company, Viv. Thanks for making this visit fun. I didn’t expect to enjoy myself this much,” he confessed.

”You didn’t? Why? You thought I’d be boring?” She asked, and Stefan chuckled.

”You’re not exactly what I expected,” he admitted since that was true.

Not only was she not the real Dawn, she ended up being a bad good person, if there was a word like that to describe people who were capable good deep down but did bad things.

”Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself,” Genevieve said, her heart feeling heavy because the conversation sounded like a farewell.

Stefan turned to her, and surprised himself again when he brushed her hair behind her ear, and this time, Genevieve’s heart fluttered at his touch, and she gazed back at him.

”Why don’t you have a girlfriend?” She asked before she could stop herself.

Stefan shrugged, ”I’m surrounded by men who value women and are so much in love with their wives. I can’t settle for less than what they have. You know, there’s a club I belong to. It’s called the Gentlemen club. It’s funny that the club was established because the men wanted to spend time hanging out together whenever their wives were away because of their own club activities. At the club you hear them talk about their wives and stuff, and each time I do, I get this, ’I want that kind of love’ feeling,” Stefan said with a deep sigh.

”So you do believe in sappy love,” Genevieve teased him.

”I believe in love not the sappy kind,” Stefan said with a chuckle and then glanced at his wristwatch, ”We should start heading back,” he said, rising up.

”Yeah,” Genevieve said as she rose too.