Chapter 346

Someone knocked on the kitchen door. Through the frosted glass, a small figure appeared. When Maria Lewis opened the door, Ella rushed forward and wrapped herself tightly around her leg, burying her face in it. Maria blinked, surprised, and glanced up to see James Bennett giving a helpless smile. “What happened?” she mouthed in silence. “She’s scared of me,” James muttered, his smile turning even more bitter. After finally getting the chance to embrace his daughter as her father, she’d recoiled again and again, crying and clinging to her mom. It didn’t make sense. Ella used to like him a lot. She'd sweetly called him "Uncle James," and she always knew he was her dad. So why did she become so distant the moment everything was out in the open? Maria picked Ella up, the little girl clinging tightly to her neck. She gently rubbed Ella’s back and coaxed her in a soothing voice. “Sweetheart, he’s your dad. You and your brother already knew that, right? Come on, baby, call him daddy.” Ella wh