Stefan, caught off guard momentarily, allowed Mitchel to take Janey.

He quickly attempted to take her back, saying, "Mr. Dixon, please give Janey back to me."

Mitchel, having been containing his anger in front of Janey, his gaze ice-cold as he retorted, "Who do you think you are to order me to return her to you?"

The more Raegan listened, the more she felt something was wrong. Her heart started to race wildly. She reached out to pull Janey away and said sternly, “Mitchel, what are you doing? Let go of my daughter!"

Mitchel looked cold and restrained. He stared at Raegan for a while and asked coldly, "Are you sure she is just your daughter?"

Raegan was taken aback, not expecting such a sudden question. For a brief moment, her thoughts were in chaos. Her grip on Janey's clothes tightened involuntarily, her knuckles turning white from the pressure.

Mitchel observed Raegan closely, not even blinking. He found himself wishing, at that moment, that Raegan would simply say, “Yes, Janey is just my daughter." This would mean she didn't know about the mystery surrounding Janey's paternity, making him feel a bit better.

But Raegan's averted gaze and the involuntary tightening of her grip told him everything he needed to know. She was aware of him being Janey's biological father. Worse, she intended to keep this a secret from him.

Janey, still in Mitchel's arms, couldn't grasp what Mitchel and Raegan were talking about but sensed Mitchel being mean to her mommy.

She began to cry out in distress, "Daddy Mitchel is a baddie... Let me go... Don't bully my mommy!"

Crying, Janey hit Mitchel's chest with her small fists, repeating, "Baddie Daddy Mitchel, baddie daddy..."

As upset children often did, Janey's chant of "baddie Daddy Mitchel" soon became "baddie daddy" through her sobs.

This made Raegan's heart beat faster. In a rush, she reprimanded, "Janey, be polite!" How could Janey call Mitchel “Daddy Mitchel" or "baddie daddy"? Where did they even come from?

Janey, who initially wanted to stick up for Raegan, now felt wronged as Raegan was scolding her, driving her to seek comfort in Mitchel's arms instead.

Raegan felt at a loss. She didn't mean to scold Janey but reacted in the moment.

Yet, Mitchel's actions left her dumbfounded.

Despite being assertive previously, he was now gently comforting Janey, patting her back.

Once Janey seemed a little calmer, Mitchel softly explained, “Janey, darling, your mommy isn't mad at you, and I'm not arguing with your mommy ."

He glanced at Raegan and added, "We're just trying to talk about some things that we need to sort out."

With tears still in her eyes, Janey looked up and asked uncertainly, “Really? Daddy, you're not being mean to my mommy?"