"Evelyn!"
Blaze's screams competed with the sound of the waves crashing. It reached a man and a little girl playing on the beach. Meanwhile, Blaze ran closer followed by Lillianne slightly behind.
"Dad!" The girl left the man who still seemed stunned by Blaze's presence. It was too late for him to stop the little girl from approaching her father. "Why are you here, Dad? This is dangerous. You could drown again!" she exclaimed in panic.
"Say that to yourself. Why are you even here with this unknown man?" Blaze was too angry. He ignored his daughter and approached the strange man. "Who are you? How dare you take my daughter?!" he shouted, grabbing his collar.
"Dad, it's not his fault. He--"
“Evelyn!”
When Evelyn was about to approach the two arguing men, Lillianne finally took part. She held the girl.
"Let them talk. You come with me," she said to her student.
"But Dad misunderstood, Ma'am. Uncle Rick is completely innocent!" cried the girl on the verge of crying. She tried to struggle from Lillianne's hold. "Dad--"
"Take her to the car, Lillianne," Blaze ordered, still gripping the stranger by his collar.
“B-But, Dad--“
"Do it immediately, Lillianne. Now!" Blaze shouted, his voice getting higher and higher.
Well. It seemed like that was the most proper step to do. Blaze was so furious that it would probably end with punches and kicks. She agreed that the unfamiliar man deserved it, though.
That was why she immediately picked up the child's tiny body and took her away. The girl struggled with a scream, but she chose to restrain her rather than let go. As she stepped away she used his ability to listen to the conversation between the two men from afar again.
It seemed like it couldn't be endured any longer. Blaze finally threw his first punch at the kidnapper's face.
"What is your problem, damn it? How dare you take my daughter away!" he shouted shortly.
The man, on the other hand, looked calmer than expected. He didn't even hit back or brush Blaze's hand away from his collar.
"No. You are wrong. She is not your daughter but mine."
Those words stopped Lillianne in her tracks as soon as she heard them. She turned around to check on the two men who were still fighting a few dozen meters away from her position. She completely ignored Evelyn who was still trying to break free from him.
‘Don’t tell me…’
"What? Your daughter?" Instead of sounding angry, Blaze chuckled at that. However, that couldn't hide the anger within him. "Are you some kind of psycho or something? How dare you claim someone else's child as your own! I was actually trying to restrain myself from beating you more and handing you over to the police, but it seems like you asked for it."
"Don't you remember me, Mr. Davies?" Just as Blaze's fist was about to fly towards his face again, the man spoke again. "We met a few years ago at Rhea's friend's wedding party at The Cartwheel Galaxy hotel. She introduced me to you as a colleague."
"I don't remember and I don't think it's important to remember. Besides, what if it's true? That doesn't give you the right to claim our daughter as you please." Blaze finally pushed him roughly. "Just wait, I will call the police."
"We slept together that night, after you just left her in the middle of a party to deal with your job."
Blaze's hand movements stopped suddenly when he heard that. He looked at the strange man again with a sharp gaze.
"Watch your mouth, dude. Don't you dare disrespect my wife like that after what you did to my daughter? I could really lose it and kill you instead,” he said in a trembling voice.
"No. I am not lying. Rhea was so disappointed in you that night, that she drank all night. I... actually have liked her for a long time and was a little unhappy to hear about her marriage. So, when I had the opportunity, I decided to take it--"
"Shut the f*ck up!" Blaze grabbed his collar. His breathing sounded louder. His anger rose to the highest level ever. "Stop saying nonsense. I am not kidding that I could kill you."
"Then, why don't you just check her DNA? I already did it. The results are that she is 99.99% my daughter."
“You…”
Blaze was so provoked that he threw another punch. However, at that time, other visitors who were just watching immediately came to intervene. Beach police officers also arrived not long after.
Meanwhile, Lillianne continued her steps by taking Evelyn to their car.
***
"Ma'am, let me go. I have to go back there. I can't leave dad on the beach because he could drown and die. I also don't want him to scold Uncle Rick because he is innocent. He is actually a good person."
Evelyn Davies was still whining even when they were in the car. Lillianne was actually sick of her. However, she still handled herself.
"A good person wouldn't take someone else's child in secret like he did to you. You too? Weren't you taught not to carelessly obey people you don't know? Why did you do that?" She was angry, but then again he was still in control.
"Because I know him. He is a good person," she reasoned, not wanting to lose.
"How do you know that?"
"He always accompanies me every day at school when no one else wants to. He likes to be friends with me. He also never puts me in danger. That's why he is a good person!"
What an innocent thought. Lillianne didn't understand this girl's thinking. She had confirmed that Evelyn was the one who built a high fence against other people around her including her friends, though. She might even think that they don't care about her and that a strange man talking to him through the wall does.
Although maybe that was not completely wrong. If the man's statement that he was Evelyn's biological father was true, then we can be sure that he had no evil intentions toward her behind his creepy attitude. It was probably the only way for him to approach his daughter who was known as someone else's daughter.
"Whatever happens, you shouldn't do that, Evelyn. You can't follow someone you don't know, especially without permission from your father and nanny. He isn't a good person if he did that."
"But he was willing to go to the beach without me having to worry that he will drown like my father before."
Another complicated situation. Indeed, as a non-human, she found it difficult to understand their way of thinking. She didn't even sense what they were feeling. As for everything she said earlier, it was also purely because she imitated other humans she had seen.
She felt Blaze's presence approaching shortly after. Lillianne quickly touched Evelyn's head to put her to sleep. It was better than having to listen to her whine on the way.
"Eve, I--" Blaze was confused when he saw his daughter lying in the back seat. Frantically, he immediately checked her. "E-Eve, are you okay? Wake up."
"She is fine, sir. You don't need to worry. I think she was just too tired and fell asleep," she lied.
"R-Really?" Blaze was still worried. He checked her daughter's pulse and heard her breathing. Relief was visible when she believed there was nothing to worry about. "Thanks God. But we should take her home immediately. I will call our doctor to check her."
Lillianne let the man do his things first. Meanwhile, she secretly did another magic trick. She popped some medicines in her hand.
"All set now. Now, let's go home," said Blaze, who finally followed her into the car and returned to the driver's seat.
"Wait, sir." Lillianne suddenly moved closer to him to touch the cotton to his wound. "Let's treat you first."
The man looked confused by that. "W-Where did you get this?"
"There is a drugstore around here," she said nonchalantly as she focused on treating him. At a time like this, how she hoped to have the ability to treat other people like Elara who was from the Giatros tribe.
“Is it?” Blaze was confused, looking around, but he couldn't find what she meant. It made him look at her strangely again.
'She showed something strange again. I still don't understand how she found Evelyn like that.'
"What about the man earlier?" Lillianne's question broke his thoughts.
"He's been taken by the police. After dropping Evelyn off, I will follow him there. That man is crazy. He keeps saying nonsense," he said angrily.
Even though Lillianne had a lot to say about that, she decided to keep her mouth shut for now. She would look at the situation first before intervening.
“We are done,” she said after putting plaster on Blaze's face.
"U-Uhm, yeah, t-thanks. Let's go now," Blaze buckled his seat belt. He took the time again to check on his daughter in the back seat. After that, he started the engine and was about to leave, but he suddenly glanced at Lillianne again. "Actually, there are a lot of things I still need to ask you regarding all of this, but I will save that for later. You'd better prepare good answers for that," he said at the end.
***