Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress-Chapter 380: Becoming Dawn Hank

The house was quiet after Tom and Lucy had left for the office. Dawn had stood at the door to wave them off, her hair tied back, her arms folded against the cool morning air.

"Call me if you need anything," Lucy had said.

"I will," Dawn replied.

Now the house felt big and calm. But it did not feel lonely. It was the kind of silence she needed to record her podcast.

After feeding up, Dawn stood in the middle of her bedroom and looked around, trying to ensure that she’d chosen the right spot for the video she was about to record.

Satisfied, she walked to the corner of the room where two medium-sized boxes sat on the floor. She knelt and pulled the first one closer.

She smiled when she saw her name was printed on the label.

Dawn Hank.

Tom was already working on her name change.

She carefully tore off the tape from the first box to reveal the ring light. She lifted it out slowly and smiled as she turned it in her hands.

She ran her fingers over it gently, almost lovingly.

Finally, she could make a video of herself, and she didn’t have to hide, she thought as she set it down and opened the second box.

The podcast microphone lay wrapped in plastic, shiny and new. "Hello, new friend," she murmured to it, kissing the mic.

She stood and began to set everything up.

She fixed the ring light on its stand and adjusted the height. She plugged it in and switched it on. A soft white glow filled the room.

She laughed happily as she picked up her phone to take a selfie with the ring light.

The light made her skin look smooth. Her eyes looked brighter.

Before she could go further, her phone rang, and she answered when she saw it was from Brenda.

"Hey, B," she greeted pleasantly.

"Hey, D," Brenda returned, making Dawn giggle. "What are you up to? I figured you’d be home alone. I’m yet to leave for my lecture, and I’m home alone too, so I thought, why not check on Dawn?"

Dawn smiled. "I’m setting up my ring light and mic. I’m about to record my first video episode," Dawn said, her voice filled with excitement.

"Really? That sounds wonderful. Can I see? Maybe we can switch to video. I hope I can be a guest on your show, though. By the way, we were listening to your podcasts last night, and I tell you, it was wonderful and so on point!"

Dawn laughed, "Thank you. Let’s switch to video call then."

After switching the call, Dawn positioned the phone on the couch in a way that Brenda could watch her as she set up the microphone while they continued chatting.

"So, how is school? What’s going on with you?" Dawn asked as she connected the microphone to her laptop.

"School is okay. Nothing much is going on other than dealing with the pressures that come with being a beautiful girl," she said with a grin, and Dawn giggled.

"And what are those pressures, please? Excessive male attention?" Dawn asked with amusement.

"Yeah. You could say that. How’s my sweet little pea doing?" She asked, referring to Josh.

"He’s okay. He’s being spoiled silly by his great-grandfather. Jamal will be going to pick him up later in the day. He needs to start school soon," Dawn said, talking into the microphone to see if it was working.

She smiled when her voice echoed back through the speakers, clear and warm.

"I’m going to get out of your hair now so you can get to work. When you make the video, make sure to tag me. You know I have lots of followers."

"I will. Give my love to Bella and Branden. Be good, okay? Love you," Dawn said, and it was only after the call had ended that she realised what she’d said.

She smiled, surprised by how easily she’d warmed up and opened her heart to them.

She guessed it was easy to love them so openly that way because loud, public declarations of love seemed to be the normal way of life in the Hank Clan.

When she was done setting up, she walked over to the mirror to check her appearance and make sure she looked appropriate for the video.

Her hair was neatly packed in a high ponytail. Her skin looked fresh, and her makeup was light and pretty. She adjusted her top slightly, then tilted her head left, then right.

"Okay," she whispered to herself. "You can do this."

Her stomach fluttered.

She sat down to record but then decided that she wanted something to keep her occupied as she talked, so she rose and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

Dawn made herself a cup of coffee and placed two cookies on a fancy plate. The smell of coffee calmed her nerves.

She carried everything back upstairs and settled on the couch in her room. She placed the cup and cookies on the coffee table beside her.

She sat upright, took a sip of coffee and inhaled deeply before pressing record.

For a second, she just stared at the camera when the red light blinked.

Then she smiled. "Hi," she began softly. "For so long, I introduced myself to you as Nobody. Not because I was ashamed of my identity, but because I didn’t know who I was. Today, I’m here to show you my face and introduce myself to you properly. My name is Dawn Hank."

She paused.

"For most of my life, I believed my name was Abigail Harris. That was the name I answered to. That was the name I signed on forms. That’s the name you’d find on all my documents."

Although her heart raced, she did not fidget. She raised the cup to her lips again and took a sip.

"I know you’re probably wondering why, but you see, that’s because I was involved in a traumatic accident when I was a kid, and I lost my memory. I also lost my voice, literally and figuratively. I spent twenty years of my life not knowing who I truly was."

She swallowed, but her voice did not shake.

"And so, for the next couple of days, I’ll be sharing pieces of my life with you slowly. I’ll talk about the incident that led to my memory loss and how I regained my memory. The years in between, the journey of reuniting with my family, and most especially, how I met the love of my life and the role he played in all of this."

A small smile touched her lips at that.

"This is just an introduction. If you’ve been listening to my audio podcasts, thank you. Please keep listening if you’re new here. Welcome. Please subscribe, like, leave your comments, and share."

She leaned forward slightly.

"This space has always been my personal paradise. And now, I’m inviting you to see it. See you at the same time tomorrow. Bye."

Her heart was beating fast as she reached forward and ended the recording.

She watched the video once, expecting to cringe, but she didn’t.

She nodded. "This is good. I guess I was born for this," she murmured.

She edited it a little and then uploaded it to her podcast channel. Then she clipped a short part of the video and posted it on her social media page, tagging Brenda and major news outlets.

"Becoming Dawn Hank," she typed in the caption.

When she finally set her phone down, she leaned back and exhaled.

It was done.

She finished her coffee and nibbled on one cookie, her mind already thinking ahead.

After a while, she stood and went to freshen up properly. She changed into a fancy jumpsuit and blazer, let her hair down and brushed it.

She touched up her makeup and looked at herself in the mirror one last time before grabbing her bag and her phone.

She wanted to surprise Jamal at the office since she’d never been there during work hours. And she needed to see how the place worked before considering his offer of office space.