Page 77 of Ruthless Serenade

As she turns to face me fully, her voice comes out low and intense, full of emotion. "So… about Maurice-" she starts, but I decide to cut her off. I don’t want to talk about Maurice right now. There’s something more pressing on my mind.

"What about Sharon’s father?" I ask.

Mindy’s breath catches. She opens her mouth, then closes it again. It is obvious that she’s caught off guard and struggling to find words. "Sharon…" she trails off. "Her father…"

"Mindy, what happened?" I press, sensing the tension in her voice. I must know the truth. "Is he dead? Did he hurt you?" The thought makes my blood boil. If some abusive cunt knocked her up after we broke up, I’m going to hunt him down and gut him like a pig.

She shakes her head, and I notice tears in the corners of her eyes. My mind races, imagining worst-case scenarios, but I wait patiently. My fists clench and unclench as I struggle to contain my rising rage. If someone hurt her, I’m going to rip the motherfucker open with my bare hands.

When she finally speaks, her voice comes out so soft that I have to strain to hear what she’s saying. "Sharon’s father isn’t dead and he didn’t hurt me. He was close to death once… but he’s very much alive."

I struggle to make sense of this. Is she implying what I think she is? "Where is he?" I ask the million-dollar question and my words come out as a hoarse mumble. My heart is beating against my rib cage and my throat is drier than a fucking desert.

Mindy turns to me. Her lips tremble, and for a moment, I think she’s going to change the subject. But she doesn’t. "Sharon’s father is right here, Maron," she says. "In this room with me."

I stare at her dumbly.

Her words knock the air from my lungs. My mind reels, desperately trying to comprehend what I’ve just heard.

Impossible.

And yet…

And yet it’s true. I knew it. Somewhere, deep down, I knew it the moment I saw Sharon on that stage, struggling to find her voice. I knew it the moment I realized how much she resembles Cordelia. And I knew it the moment I walked into that hospital room and saw Mindy resting by her bedside.

"Say that again," I demand, staring at her like an idiot.

Mindy’s gaze locks onto mine, unflinching. I see a flood of emotion in her eyes, including the unshakeable love she has for Sharon. Then she drops the bombshell, leaving no further room for doubt.

"Sharon is your daughter, Maron."

Chapter Thirty-Three

Maron

I can’t fucking breathe.

My eyes squeeze shut, as if I could block out this reality by sheer force of will. But when I open them again, Mindy is still here, her focus steady, waiting.

You have a daughter, mudak.

A daughter from Mindy.

Sharon is your daughter.

Of course, she is. It all makes sense now. The inexplicable pull I felt toward her, the connection I couldn’t explain, and her seemingly random resemblance to Cordelia. A bond that the deepest part of my brain, my gut, my very viscera could feel - but my conscious mind never understood.

"When did you find out you were pregnant?" I finally manage to ask, but it comes out as a hoarse croak.

"Months... after the Tramoxine launch. After you left," she replies.

My throat tightens and something in me snaps. I left? I didn’t leave.Shedid.Shefucking betrayed me. And now she’s telling me that I had a daughter all this time and she never once thought to mention that to me?

"Why didn’t you tell me, Mindy?" I ask, trying to hide the tension in my tone.

"Tell you what?" she asks.

"That I have a daughter. Why?"

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