My father wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, exuding an air of elegance and refinement.
He looked exactly like the pictures I'd seen online.
No, wait. In-person, there were faint wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and a few blackheads on his nose. He seemed more approachable, more human than in the photos.
When my father saw my mother supporting me, a surge of joy flashed across his eyes, weathered by decades of life's experiences.
"Aria, is she our daughter?"
My mother nodded, her face beaming with a smile.
"Yes, Phoebe is our daughter."
Upon seeing my father, the harshness and coldness on my mother's face vanished. She became gentle and sweet, captivating my father completely.
My father touched his head and laughed.
His laughter was simple and innocent, like a lovestruck teenager.
"Phoebe, I'm your biological father, I..." Before my father could finish, my body suddenly fell backward, pulled towards Sienna.
"Are you all out of your minds, suddenly coming here to snatch someone else's daughter?
"Mary is my daughter, not yours!
"If you keep randomly claiming daughters, I'm going to call the police and have you arrested!" Sienna gripped my hand tightly, her face filled with malice and spite.
My hand ached from her grip, and I tried to break free, but Sienna held on tight as if she wanted to break my hand!
"Ma'am, please let go!" I stared coldly at Sienna, the woman who had raised me for ten years but also abused me for ten years.
Sienna's eyes, puffy with dark circles, widened in anger as she glared at me. "What did you call me?" she snarled.
"I said, ma'am, let go. My biological parents are here to take me home.
"I want to go back to my own home!" I shouted with all my might, wanting to vent all the grievances and frustrations I had accumulated over the past ten years.
"You little bitch, you're asking it!"
Humiliated in front of strangers for the first time, Sienna took out her anger on me, raising her hand to slap my face!
Just as the wind from her palm was about to hit me, my father caught Sienna's hand and flung it away.
"Ma'am, my daughter is not some bastard you can bully.
"If my daughter loses another hair, I'll make sure you never see the light of day again!"
My father's tone was even colder than my mother's, his aura even more intimidating.
Sienna was frightened by my father. Her eye bags trembled, and her body shook involuntarily.
I couldn't help but sigh.