Sienna Johnson stopped Adrian Desmond from speaking and answered for him, "He is... a thief! He came in to steal things! He'll leave once he gets what he wants. He won't hurt us, so don't be afraid."
"Damn it!" Adrian cursed under his breath. This woman was relentlessly tarnishing his image in his daughter's eyes.
He had planned to acknowledge his daughter, but before he could, this damn woman had labeled him a 'thief'. How could Adrian possibly allow such a thing to happen?!
If he really left like that, wouldn't that just confirm he was a thief?
Since they were bound to meet sooner or later, why not today?
Adrian cleared his throat and said, "Um, Curly, I am your father!"
With that, he looked nervously at Curly, wondering if she could accept her 'dead' father suddenly reappearing as if he'd risen from the grave.
Curly blinked at Adrian, her face filled with confusion.
