Emily’s pov
I stared in shock at the middle-aged man in the middle of the baby store.
There was nothing about him that reminded me of my father, except his face and his physical appearance. The warm, loving light I remembered shining in his eyes had disappeared, replaced by an icy, disgusted look: his mouth, usually stretched in an open smile, was reduced to a thin, narrow line, and his body was tensed, ready to attack.
For the first time since I was born, I was afraid of him.
"Who are you?" Xavier asked him, his voice firm as steel.
My father ignored the question and continued to stare at me in horror.
"I didn’t want to believe it," he whispered, his voice shaking with rage. "When Clayton told me you'd been kidnapped and convinced of those... terrible things. I felt sick to my sto
