a comforting arm around her, pulling her close.
It was Glen who stopped Nerys from searching for something she wasn’t going to find.
‘Looking for these?’ he asked, holding the papers out towards her.
She froze rigid. Her face seemed to pale alarmingly, her eyes to fill with abject terror. It was apparent to her that he had read the information the papers contained.
Looking back at her with disgust and loathing, he said harshly, ‘You know what I can do to you and your precious husband with this information I have on you both. I’ll strike a bargain with you instead. Tell me what you did with my daughter so that I can get her back with me where she belongs. Give me back my house and my business. You can keep what money you have in your bank. Then both of you can pack your bags and make sure you get far enough away that you never risk bumping into me again. Either you agree to my terms or you know what the consequences will be. Oh, and one more thing. You agree to leave Caitlyn with us. You’ve obviously never loved your daughter . . .’
Nerys gave a shrill laugh. ‘That’s because she’s not my daughter. My daughter is dead! When you lose a child you dearly loved, the pain and heartache of that loss never goes away. Then I saw a chance to put a stop to the never-ending torment through the arrival of another child in my life. I would make this child mine, change her name to my child’s, and then she would become her and it would be like we’d never lost her.
‘I tried and tried but I just couldn’t love her, and neither could Samuel. Our love for our own child, our flesh and blood, was too great to share with another. I began to hate the sight of the other child, resent her for being alive when my own daughter was dead, but by that time it was too late for me to get rid of her so I had no choice but to put up with her until she was old enough to fend for herself. So have your precious daughter back with my blessing. Go on, take her now. Get her out of my sight!’
Glen froze at the significance of what Nerys had just told him. He spun his head to look over at Cait, huddled next to Jan who was holding her protectively. Jan was looking back at him, her face wreathed in shock. He couldn’t see the look on the face of the girl he now knew wasn’t Caitlyn Thomas at all but his own beloved daughter Lucy. She had her head buried in Jan’s shoulder and he could see she was quietly sobbing. He desperately wanted to rush to her now, gather her in his arms, declare his undying love for her, but their reunion would have to wait as first he needed to deal with this selfish wicked woman before him, get her out of his and his daughter’s life for good.
He gave Jan a look that asked her to stay here with Lucy and look after her while he saw to what he needed to do. Then he took hold of Nerys’s arm tightly and, with her screaming at him to let her go, dragged her out of the bedroom and down the stairs, into the lounge where the other selfish, wicked individual, oblivious to what had been going on above his head, was waiting for her to attend to him. Pushing Nerys inside the room, Glen turned and shut the door firmly behind him.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
It was gone eleven o’clock when an exhausted Jan sank down in an armchair opposite Glen to look worriedly at him. He was seemingly staring into space, looking absolutely shattered, though that wasn’t surprising with all that had gone on earlier and what he was having to deal with now. She desperately wanted to go over to him and put her arms around him and offer him comfort, but not as a friend which she knew was all she was to him.
Sensing Jan had returned, Glen looked over at her and flashed a wan smile. ‘Is she all right?’ he asked, though in truth he knew it was a hollow question as it would take Lucy far longer than a few hours to accept and come to terms with the truth of her birth.
Jan nodded. ‘She’s finally fallen asleep. Poor lamb was absolutely