23. Conflicted

Seeing her father after so many years filled her insides with a feeling she despised—and a father she had begun to despise.

Sophia stood straight, not allowing the man before her to see her waver in his presence, not even a little bit, "What are you doing here, Father-" she paused, a smile pulled up her lips before she opened up to speak again, her words sliced through the tranquility of the atmosphere, "Oh, that was a mistake. What are you going here, Mr Smith?" she rephrased her words, and the flicker of emotions that flashed through his eyes didn't go unnoticed by her—nothing about him right now could go unnoticed by her.

He was aging, a sliver of gray hair ran down his smoothly brushed hair, and the wrinkle by the edge of his eyes was obvious—too obvious, Sophia noted. And lastly, she didn't fail to notice that her father now walked with a stick, one that staked through his majestic charm.

"I didn't come here to repeat myself, Aliyah. I'm here to see your rumored twins. The one yo