Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 209: How It All Began (1)

As Ryan walked out of the building, he turned to his men. ”Clean it up,” he ordered and then took out his phone to call his private investigator.

”I need you to find me someone urgently. His name is Callan Quinn,” Ryan ordered as he got into his car.

Ryan sat in the backseat and looked out the window. The sky was dark. His heart felt dark too.

He was furious. He was mad that it had taken him thirty-one years to find out the whole truth. He was angry that it took him so long to find out about his son.

He had waited for over three decades for this. He had plotted and planned to take everything from his parents and the Moores from the moment he knew what they had all done.

He thought back to when he was young. Thirty-one years ago. To Nancy. His beautiful Nancy with her shiny black hair and pretty blue eyes that looked sad sometimes.

He was twenty and in college when he met Nancy. He was rich. Everyone knew his family. Everyone called him arrogant.

Nancy was eighteen and the only child of her poor parents. She worked at his favorite diner. No, it had become his favorite diner after he met her there.

It had been love at first sight for him. One look at her beautiful smile across the room as she attended to other patrons and he had fallen for her.

He still remembered what she had been wearing that day like it was yesterday; a white apron and a blue dress.

She did not smile at him like she had done with the others when she brought him coffee. She had disliked him at first sight. His reputation as an arrogant jerk had preceded him and she had decided even before they met that she wanted nothing to do with him.

She did not care that he was rich. That made him want her more.

He started coming to the diner every day. He sat at the same table by the window. He watched her walk from table to table. She tried to ignore him.

He waited for her to finish work. He followed her to the bus stop. He tried to talk to her.

”Please, just have dinner with me,” he would beg.

”No,” she would always say, ”I don’t like boys like you.”

She had turned down all his gifts and every extravagant effort he made to win her heart.

He brought her flowers. She left them on the counter.

He bought her gifts. She gave them back or threw them in the trash when he refused to accept them.

He offered her money. She got angry and told him never to insult her again.

But he did not stop.

One evening after over six months of chasing her, it rained hard. Nancy was standing under the bus stop roof. She looked cold. Ryan parked his car in front of her.

”Please, let me drive you home,” he said.

Nancy looked tired. She was wet and shivering. Finally, she nodded.

That was the first time she let him help her.

After that day, she started talking to him a little. She let him walk her to her door. She let him carry her bag.

He started showing her that he cared. He asked about her dreams and visited her sick father with a basket of fruits. He did not try to buy her anymore like he did with other girls. He only tried to know her.

Little by little, Nancy stopped frowning at him. She started smiling.

They went for walks. They sat in the park and fed birds. Ryan admired how she was simple. It didn’t take much to make her smile.

One night while they were talking, Nancy cried. ”I am afraid,” she whispered.

”Why?” he asked.

”Because you will leave me,” she said. ”I’ve heard all about you, Ryan. I know how you don’t stick with one girl for so long. I tried not to fall for you, but you made it so difficult.”

”I will never leave you,” he promised and he kissed her under the stars and their relationship began.

Months later, Nancy told him she was pregnant. She was scared. She thought he would be angry.

But Ryan was happy. He hugged her. He kissed her forehead. ”We will raise this baby together,” he promised.

Nancy smiled, but her eyes were sad. She wanted to believe him, but she was afraid.

Ryan went home and told his parents about Nancy. He told them he loved Nancy and that she was going to have his child.

His parents were furious. ”She comes from nothing! She can offer you nothing!” his mother yelled.

”I don’t care,” Ryan said. ”I love her.”

”She will ruin your future!” his father shouted. ”You will end whatever madness you have with her. I’m not going to stand by and watch you destroy everything I’ve worked for,” his father said.

Ryan stood tall. ”I’m going to marry her,” Ryan said. ”I would rather you disown me than leave Nancy.”

His parents were shocked. His mother cried. His father turned red with anger.

Ryan went back to Nancy’s small apartment. He told her, ”We will run away. We will leave this place. We will start fresh in another city. I have enough money.”

”My parents...”

”We will take care of them,” he promised.

”Perhaps I should abort it as Karen said...”

”Karen? Who is Karen?” He asked with a frown.

She smiled. ”My best friend. She works a different shift at the diner.”

”We won’t have an abortion. I’ll take care of you and our baby,” Ryan promised, placing his hand on her belly.

Nancy put her hand on his. She started to believe him.

But when Ryan got home that night, he was tired. He went to his bedroom. His mother came in a moment later with a glass of juice in hand.

”We are sorry about earlier. I understand how you feel. Maybe we can get to meet her,” his mother said, and Ryan felt hope swell inside him.

”Really? Will you give her a chance?” He asked, and his mother smiled.

”It’s not like you left us a choice. We can’t afford to lose our only son to something like this, can we?” She asked, holding out the glass of juice.

”Your favorite juice. Consider it a peace offering,” she said.

”Thanks, mom. I promise you’re going to love Nancy. She’s a really lovely girl,” Ryan said as he drank the juice.

A moment later he began to feel sleepy and he went to bed. When he woke up, he was not in his room. He was on a plane.

His head hurt. He looked around. Two men in suits sat across from him.

”What is going on?” Ryan asked.

”You are going abroad for a while,” one of them said. ”Your parents said it is best.”

Ryan’s heart pounded. He had been tricked. He was trapped.

”My phone? Where is it?” He asked, touching his pocket and looking around.

He could not call Nancy. He could not find her.

”Can I borrow your phone?” He asked. The man shook his head but said nothing.

It took him a week before he was given a new phone and he tried to reach her. When he did, it did not ring.

Soon after a message came from her.

Nancy:> I’ve stopped dreaming. It’s time to face reality. I have decided to get rid of the baby. I am moving on with someone else. You should too.

Ryan felt like someone punched him.

He tried to reach her but no matter how many times he called she never received the call. He sent series of texts but never got a response.

He grew angry. Angry at Nancy for having so little faith in him. Angry at his parents for deceiving him and ruining his relationship. Angry at himself for trusting his parents.

Blinded by pain and anger he had a vasectomy done. He wasn’t going to give his parents any grandkids since they rejected the only one he wanted.

He stayed abroad. He started drinking. He started sleeping with many women. He did not care anymore.

Four years passed. He came back home and started working at the family company. He figured if he couldn’t have love he should have money. He was never going to give his heart to any woman. He made the mistake once and he was never going to repeat it.

He rented a place far from his family and hired his own staff. A cook, a maid, a gardener.

After some weeks, anonymous letters started coming. They were in plain envelopes.

Letter One: Nancy deserves justice. She was killed in a hit and run accident and the culprits were not punished.

Ryan threw the letter away. Why should he care what happened to a woman that dumped him?

Letter Two: You broke her heart and abandoned her. The least you can do is find who killed her after you destroyed her life.

Ryan’s hands shook with suppressed emotion. Broke her heart? Abandoned her? What did this person know?

Letter Three: Kimberly Moore was the driver. She drove under the influence of alcohol. Her family covered it up.

Ryan felt sick. Kimberly Moore. The sweet girl everyone loved.

Nancy may have dumped him but he believed that was only because she was scared and didn’t trust him enough to take care of her and their baby. But the Moores had no right to cover up her death the way they did. Nancy deserved justice and he was going to make sure she got it.