Chapter 184: Reactive Attachment Disorder

Words : 1636 Updated : Oct 6th, 2025

Chapter 184: Reactive Attachment Disorder Genevieve couldn’t stop smiling as she joined Abigail and Jamal at the table. Her cheeks still felt warm from Stefan’s call. Stefan had called to say he missed her and just wanted to hear her voice and know how her day was going. She had told him she was out to have lunch with Pete and Abigail and would call him when she returned to the office. The moment she sat down, a waiter came by with a pad in his hand. "I want the usual," Genevieve said to the waiter before turning to Abigail who was holding a menu. "You should try their grilled chicken salad, Abigail." Abigail nodded politely, then glanced at Jamal, who sat across from her. He gave nothing away. His face was calm, focused on the menu in front of him. "I will have the special parfait," Jamal said finally, setting the menu aside. The waiter nodded and walked away, leaving the three of them sitting quietly. Now that all three of them were alone, they were all silent. It seemed like neither of them had anything to say. Genevieve looked from one face to the other. They both seemed so far away in thought. And because it had been her idea to bring them together for lunch, she felt the need to break the stillness. Genevieve cleared her throat. "I’ll be traveling soon. To Ludus." Abigail’s brow arched just a little—even though she already knew while Jamal remained impassive since he wasn’t supposed to care about that information. "Why? Is it about work?" Abigail asked, but Genevieve shook her head. "No. I’m due for my annual leave. I’m taking some time off to play since you’re here to handle things. I doubt my absence will make any difference to anyone," she said with a small smile. "What about the meetings? Aren’t you supposed to be in charge of those?" Abigail asked, playing along. Genevieve smiled. "I’m sure you can handle it like you did during the last team meeting. Pete will be with you." Abigail nodded slowly, then glanced at Jamal, her fingers drumming lightly against the table. She thought for a moment and then said, "I think you should tell Dad that I spoke to you," Abigail said, since she knew that Ryan already knew she spoke to Genevieve, and she also wanted to give Genevieve the impression that she didn’t have any secrets from their father. Genevieve looked surprised. "What? I should? Why?" "I want him to know I’m talking to everyone else but him," Abigail said with a shrug. Her words were cheeky, but her grin was innocent and wide. Genevieve couldn’t help laughing at that. "Okay. I will record the conversation and let you hear what he says," Genevieve promised, then looked at Jamal, "I hope you won’t report anything we said in confidence to him?" she asked, teasing, but with an edge of caution. "I won’t," Jamal said, and Genevieve nodded. Their drinks and food arrived soon after. They ate mostly in silence, each one lost in their own thoughts. While Abigail thought about how to handle the key at home because of Josh who liked to spend time in her room, Jamal was thinking about the kind of mess they would have been in had Barry not warned him in time. Genevieve on the other hand was thinking about how she was possibly going to tell Stefan the truth. Perhaps she could visit him and after spending the week with him she would tell him before leaving. That way she could hold on to that one week with him regardless of the outcome of her confession. When they were done with lunch, they returned to the office together. Abigail was more careful this time as she carried her handbag with the car key in it. For some reason it felt like she was carrying a ticking time bomb. Jamal’s warning echoed in her mind like a soft siren. Jamal had barely settled down in his seat when his phone rang. Seeing that the call was from Tom, he rose quietly and made his way to the restroom to take the call. He locked the door behind him. "What’s happening over there?" Tom asked after they had exchanged pleasantries. Jamal lowered his voice and brought him up to speed with the developments since they last talked. He talked about Ryan’s proposal that he marry Abigail, Stefan’s suggestion to have Genevieve come over faster, his conversation with Genevieve earlier and the bug. Tom didn’t speak until Jamal was done. When he finally did, his voice was low and thoughtful. "He wants you to seduce her and marry her? That doesn’t make any sense. Why would he go through all the stress of killing everyone and stealing everything from Abigail just to make you marry her and have you inherit it all? I understand that he wants you to keep an eye on Abigail but it all doesn’t make sense. It’s not adding up," Tom said, though it sounded more like he was thinking aloud and talking to himself than to Jamal. "I’ve been wondering the same thing. I figured he likes to play games and he’s enjoying messing with Abigail’s life," Jamal said and Tom sighed. "It’s more than that. I think he is messing with you too. A man like Ryan doesn’t play without a reason. He won’t keep you around for long. He would get rid of you when he has gotten the information he wants you to get from Abigail or whatever it is he wants from you," Tom said thoughtfully. "Well, thankfully he won’t be getting anything from me. And we should be out of here by then," Jamal said, but Tom remained quiet for a beat. "Don’t underestimate him, Jamal. The worst mistake you can do is to underestimate your enemy. I’m glad that you didn’t jump at his offer. Hopefully when the DNA result comes we will get one of the answers to our questions. And as for the bug, we will use it to our advantage by feeding him false information. We will let him believe what we want him to," Tom said and Jamal nodded even though Tom could not see him. "What about Stefan’s suggestion to have her visit now that she has gotten the permission? Can he invite her over? I think he should. With her gone it would be easier to arrange a meeting for you and Abigail," Jamal said and Tom sighed softly. "Judging by the discussion you said you had with her earlier, I think it’s time to remove her from Ryan’s influence. Once we confirm her paternity, Stefan can invite her over. Let’s get it all moving. For now Barry and the tech team are scanning Ryan’s digital trail. They’re combing through every email, file, text, everything to see something we can use against him. If possible get a list of his enemies we can use to fight him as well. As soon as they find enough evidence we can use against him, we will attack on all sides," Tom said, and Jamal nodded. "Alright. I trust you. I’ll be waiting. I need to get back to my seat now," Jamal said, and just before he could hang up the call, Tom stopped him. "By the way, Barry has been looking into the number you sent... The one blackmailing Genevieve. Our men will make contact soon. She seems to be in hiding," Tom said, and Jamal’s eyes narrowed. "Did you find out her name and how she is connected to Genevieve?" Jamal asked with interest. "Her name is Karen Combs. We don’t know the relationship yet. But we will as soon as our men get to her." Jamal sucked in a breath. "Karen Combs?" "Yes," Tom replied. "Does the name mean anything to you?" Jamal didn’t answer immediately. He couldn’t tell Tom about Callan’s request without Callan’s permission. He was certain that Callan would want to talk to Tom if he told him about this. "I’ll let you know if I remember," Jamal said quietly. "I need to go now." "Keep your head low, Jamal," Tom said. "You’re in deep now." "I will. Give my love to Lucy..." "She doesn’t need it. Mine is enough for her. You can give yours to Abigail," Tom cut in and Jamal chuckled before hanging up. As Jamal returned to his seat he couldn’t help wondering what manner of coincidence it was that Callan had just reached out to him hours ago to help him get information on Karen Combs and now he was finding out she was Genevieve’s blackmailer. He wrinkled his nose at the thought that the same shitty person, who was blackmailing Genevieve and had likely made her do nasty things at such a young age with those men, was the same person who had given birth to Callan and abandoned him. It made him think about his maternal grandmother. He had heard about how she had sold off his mother at birth and abandoned his uncle, Harry, with his grandfather. Was it that every generation had such shitty people? Did the world never run out of them? Jamal pondered. He couldn’t imagine how Callan would feel if he found out his birth mother was that kind of person. As far as Jamal was concerned, it was best if Callan didn’t find her. Callan had enough problems to deal with considering his reactive attachment disorder. The last thing Callan needed was a crazy mother to add to his mental health problems. He was still having nightmares for crying out loud. Jamal decided he wasn’t going to say a word of it to Callan until they found his mother and he knew what kind of person she was.

Chapter 184: Reactive Attachment Disorder

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