Page 43 of Rufus

“Along with dozens of other babies in between.” Rufus drew in a deep breath before continuing. “Forgive me, love,” he pleaded with Molly.

She blinked. “What for…?”

“This,” he said softly before turning back to Serena Jenkins. “You took another baby twenty-seven years ago, whom you decided to name Molly and claim was your daughter. Until you decided she had grown too old to be of further use to you, and you simply abandoned her,” he added in a hard voice.

Molly turned to Rufus sharply, knowing by the pleading apology in his eyes that he was only stating what he knew to be the truth.

Had Linus given him that information earlier?

She turned back to Serena. “Is that true?” If it was, then it meant she wasn’t related to the older woman at all. That she didn’t have any of this monstrous woman’s DNA inside her.

Serena’s top lip turned up scornfully. “Of course it’s true. Look at the two of us. Do you see any family resemblance between us?” she added derisively.

No, of course she didn’t. Serena was tall and either a blonde or a redhead, with hard brown eyes, whereas Molly was short, with glossy black hair and blue eyes. But she had always assumed that must be because she looked like her father rather than her mother.

Truthfully, this second possibility hadn’t even occurred to her.

And it should have, Molly realized crossly, if not before, then definitely since she’d learned that Emily wasn’t the only baby Sarah Harper had stolen. That there had been many others, including Ronan.

Now including Molly.

“Why did you keep me?” she choked.

Serena shrugged her narrow shoulders. “I made a mistake when I took you. You were such a tiny little thing, I thought you were younger than you were. The client didn’t want a six-month-old baby, and by that time, I’d realized how drawn people were to you. You were past the demanding newborn stage, and no one else wanted you, so I decided to keep you. For years, you became my perfect accomplice.”

“One who had no idea you were using me in that despicable way,” Molly defended.

The woman gave a hard smile. “Well, you know it now.”

Molly could see that Sarah Harper/Serena Jenkins felt absolutely no remorse for what she’d done. To Molly, or any of those other babies and their parents.

She turned to Rufus. “How long have you known?”

He grimaced. “I suspected it was a possibility when you told me about Ronan, but Linus confirmed it during his last telephone call,” he admitted.

“And you didn’t think that should have been the first thing you told me after you’d ended the call?” She glared at him as she directed almost the same accusation to him as he had to her earlier today. “I’m only kidding, Rufus.” She chuckled ruefully when he looked concerned. “The truth is, I’m so euphoric at the thought of having no blood connection to this monster that I don’t care how or when you learned the truth.” She turned to the woman who had never been a mother to her in any way. “I hope you burn in hell for the hurt you’ve caused so many people.”

“Doubtful, darling,” Serena drawled as she sat on the end of the bed and crossed her legs at the knees. Her calm expression was one of complete confidence. “By the time I’ve finished making a deal for the information I have on where and when those babies were stolen and relocated, I doubt I’ll serve more than a light sentence in a low-security prison,” she concluded smugly.

“About that…” Rufus murmured. “The internet has come a long way since its inception several decades ago. To the extent it is currently allowing my cousin to put together, with the assistance of when money was paid into your bank account, a comprehensive file of the when and the where, and the relocations, of every child whose life you changed. By the end of today, I have every confidence he will have the details of every single one of them. I suspect, even though it might take him a little longer,” he continued evenly, “that he will soon also have the name or names of the people or organization who employed you.”

“Why you?—”

“Ah-ah, naughty, naughty.” Magnus had stepped forward to grasp the hand, and fingernails, Serena had curled into talons before launching herself at Rufus.

She struggled against that hold. “Let me go, you bastard!” she screeched as she attempted to kick him with the pointed toe of her shoe.

Magnus’s arms were long enough that she came nowhere close to hitting his shins. In fact, she looked slightly ridiculous attempting to do so.

Molly ignored them to look at Rufus. “Linus really is that good?”

“He really is that good,” Rufus confirmed, taking a step toward her. “Molly, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. To be honest, I was still trying to process it myself, let alone decide how best to tell you.”

“Please don’t apologize,” she dismissed. “I really am too happy at knowing I’m not related to this woman in any way to care about the minutiae of how we came to know that information.”

All that mattered was that she was free of any connection to the monster who was Sarah Harper/Serena Jenkins.

She stilled as another idea occurred to her. “Has Linus also discovered who my real parents are?”

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