Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 523: I Like It

Callan watched Emily as she slept soundly beside him on the jet.

She’d been sleeping for hours now, and he couldn’t blame her considering how busy the last couple of days had been.

Once again, they had been unable to go on their date the previous day as planned because both their mums had wanted to have girls’ time with Emily and had insisted that Callan and Emily go on a date when they got to Husla since they had all the time to themselves and lived under the same roof.

Watching her sleep, Callan thought about Jamal and Dawn, and about their relationship problem.

He wondered how they were going to resolve things.

He’d tried reaching Jamal that morning before he left for the airstrip with Emily, but the call had not gone through.

It seemed as though Jamal had turned off his phone.

If even Jamal and Dawn, who seemed to have the perfect love story, could have such a huge misunderstanding over something so little, what hope was there for himself and Emily whose relationship foundation was so shaky?

Callan sighed deeply and shook his head.

It was obvious that no matter how much love was involved in a relationship, no relationship was devoid of problems.

He was going to have to put in more work to make sure his relationship with Emily didn’t fail.

Thankfully, they were undergoing couple counselling already; still, he needed to work more on his end to make sure that even if they had any misunderstanding, it wouldn’t be because of him.

He made a mental note to make sure that he didn’t allow anything to stop him from taking Emily out on a date.

He didn’t want them to become too comfortable with just living together as though they were just roommates and friends.

Even though they were not having sex, he needed to be more romantic and keep her swooning.

He didn’t want her to ever have to feel like Dawn that there was no spark between them.

Emily deserved a man that would keep sweeping her off her feet. He was going to make sure she never got off her feet. He’d keep sweeping her off them daily.

Turning away from Emily, he picked up his tablet and decided to make a list of things he was going to actively work on to make sure his relationship with Emily improved.

He scrolled to some of the past lessons he’d jotted down from the gentlemen’s club meeting and took note of some of the important points on how to improve relationships.

Next, he made a top three list of the couples he most admired in his life. He tried to come up with the reasons he admired their relationship, and what input he believed the men put into their marriage to make things work.

He was still working on that when Emily woke up.

The moment he heard her moving behind him, he turned off his screen so she wouldn’t see what he was doing.

“Someone finally remembered she wasn’t alone on the flight,” he teased.

Emily smiled as she stretched. “You should have slept too.”

“And miss the privilege of watching you sleep? I don’t think so.”

Emily rolled her eyes but giggled. “What have you been up to?”

“Watching you sleep,” Callan said easily.

“I didn’t realise you have eyes behind your head,” she said dryly. “When I opened my eyes, your back was turned to me.”

Callan chuckled. “Well, watching you sleep took most of my time. Then I studied a little.”

Before Emily could ask what he studied about, Callan changed the subject.

“Would you mind us doing a relationship review?”

Emily’s brows drew together. “A relationship review?”

Callan nodded. “Yes. I’d like to know how well our relationship is doing. Are you up for it?”

Emily smiled. “Sure. But I’m famished.”

Callan immediately pressed a button, and a moment later, a hostess showed up. Once they’d told her what they wanted, she left.

“So, what do you want to know?” Emily asked curiously.

Callan clicked on his tab again while staring at her. “So, what improvements or changes have you been grateful to notice in me this past week?”

Emily’s brows pulled together at his question.

It sounded like they were about to have a serious discussion.

“Did Dr Reynold say we should do this?”

“No. This has nothing to do with her. I know she’s our counsellor, but we also can put in some work on our own end to make sure our relationship goes smoothly,” he explained, then raised a brow. “So?”

Emily’s face lit up. “Let’s see…”

She tapped her chin with her forefinger as she carefully thought about his question.

“I love that you’re not as secretive as you used to be. I also noticed that you pay a lot of attention and I’m most grateful that you are more intentional about our relationship. Sometimes I think you put in a lot more effort than I do now.”

Callan smiled, then nodded slowly. “Thanks for noticing.”

Emily grinned. “What about me? Anything you are grateful for?”

Callan nodded. “Yes. I’m very grateful that you’re not bringing up my past as often as before.”

Emily scowled. “Just that?”

Callan chuckled. “I’m also grateful that you’re not always trying to seduce me with your yoga outfits or joining me in the shower.”

Emily giggled. “I see.”

Callan looked at his screen, then asked, “What regressions have you noticed in me this past month? Maybe something I used to do that you didn’t like, and now I’m doing it again?”

Emily thought about it for a moment then shook her head. “I can’t think of anything. You?”

“Nothing either. So to the next question here, is there anything that happened in passing that didn’t seem like a big deal but still crosses your mind negatively?”

Emily pursed her lips. “It’s not about you. It’s more about me.”

Callan frowned. “What?”

Emily looked at him for a moment. “Promise not to get mad.”

Callan paused. “What did you do?”

“First promise not to get mad,” Emily insisted as the hostess brought their meal.

Callan watched Emily without saying a word as the hostess served the meal, and after she left, Emily sighed.

“So, I didn’t want to say anything but I don’t want to keep any secrets from you. I told Mari about Jamal and Dawn,” Emily said.

Callan frowned. “You promised not to.”

“Relax. Mari wasn’t even upset. She was in support of Dawn…”

“That’s not the point,” Callan said, cutting her off. “Jamal told me something in confidence, which I told you as my girlfriend. And I asked you not to talk to Mari about it.”

“I wouldn’t have. But I guess Jamal assumed Mari knew already, so he sent her a text asking her not to talk to Dawn, and when she asked me what the text was about, I had to explain to her.”

Callan didn’t say anything for a moment. He really didn’t want to fight with Emily over something like this.

He wasn’t going to.

“I’m sorry,” Emily whispered, looking at him.

Callan exhaled slowly, then shook his head. “I get that Mari is your best friend, but Jamal is mine too. I won’t feel good if I told Jamal something about us in confidence and then he relates it to Dawn, who then relates it to Genevieve. That’s what I’ve just done, and I don’t like it. You’re my girlfriend, Em. I should be able to trust that whatever I say to you remains between us, else I might not be able to confide in you about certain things. We may be a large group of friends, and there should be established boundaries.”

Emily nodded. “I get it. It won’t happen again. I promise.”

Callan held her gaze for a while, then nodded. “It’s alright. I don’t want us to fight over Jamal’s and Dawn’s problems, any way. We have more than enough of our own to deal with.”

“We have problems?” Emily asked with a frown.

Callan chuckled. “Every relationship has its own problems. Hopefully we won’t have very serious ones. Let’s continue our review as we eat.”

As they began to eat, Callan and Emily asked more questions about their relationship.

“Let’s have a motto for our relationship,” Callan suggested halfway through their meal. “It will be our family motto when we get married and have kids too.”

Emily raised a brow. “What motto?”

“Honesty, kindness, and non-defensiveness. Let’s always speak with truth, act with love, and listen without armour.”

“I like it.” Emily smiled and raised her wineglass. “To honest words, kind hearts, and open minds.”

Callan raised his. “To kindness over everything and truth over pride.

“Long live our love,” Emily said, and Callan chuckled as they clinked glasses.