Elliot looked down and saw Layla with adorable puffed-up cheeks. "You should not use my full name like that? It's not very polite," he said in gentle reprimand.

Layla huffed, then said, "It's because you're a bad man."

"Did your mother say that?" Elliot asked. He looked calm.

He was not upset. Layla was just a child. What did she know?

She was only aware of the things that she had been taught by the adults around her.

"No way! Mommy wouldn't say bad things behind someone's back!" At this