Having worked at a top-secret facility for five years, my mother recently called me frequently to say that my daughter was crying all day long, begging to see me.

Time was running out, so the meeting place was chosen not far from the restricted area of the base.

As soon as I parked the car, a SUV speeding at nearly 200 miles per hour barreled toward me, along with the bang of the car crashing, I heard a sharp and piercing cry.

I stumbled out of the car, only to discover that my five-year-old daughter was tied to the roof of the SUV. 

I quickly wiped the blood from my head and pulled my daughter down, grabbed the driver by the collar and shouted, “Tying a child to the roof of a moving car—are you out of your mind?!”

He shoved my hand away with a sneer. “It’s this little brat who wanted to visit her dead father. I’ve had enough of her tantrums! You’re lucky I didn’t strap her to the wheels.”

Before I could react, he climbed back into the car, started the engine and revved it furiously. His eyes were wild as he pointed at me, foot pressing down on the gas.

“You bastard, move your car! Don’t you dare block me!”

Clutching my daughter tightly, shielding her with my body, I shouted back, pointing to the sign behind me. “Are you blind? This is a restricted zone!”

He laughed bitterly, spitting venom. “Restricted? This land’s still part of the U.S., isn’t it? Unless you're the Roberts Family, you have no right to stop me. Now get out of my way!”

Hands shaking with fury, I pulled out my phone and dialed my wife’s number. 

“You really chose the wrong person to work for you. Aren’t you afraid he’ll drag the Roberts family name through the mud?”

——

Just as I was about to confront her for handing our daughter over to such a beast, the call was abruptly hung up.

The man, who had previously shown some hesitation, burst into laughter upon seeing Lakeisha Roberts hung up the phone without a word, “I thought you were so powerful? It turns out you are just a useless person.” 

“Now, get out of my way! I don't have time to play house with you here!"

After saying that, he rushed forward to grab my daughter.

In the struggle, my daughter's smartwatch rang.

My daughter glanced at the caller ID and fear filled her eyes.

But before she could react, the man grabbed her wrist and answered the call, “Lakeisha..."

As if sensing the anger in the man’s response, before he could finish speaking, Lakeisha's sharp voice came from the other end of the phone, “Elena, did you make father Elton angry again?! Kneel down and admit your mistake!”

Lakeisha's words left me stunned in place. 

Father Elton? Kneel down?

Before I could speak up to question her, my daughter struggled out of my arms with trembling fear, her eyes filled with terror as she knelt down before the man with a thud.

“Elena, is your mouth sewn shut?! Apologise!”

Accompanied by Lakeisha's hysterical scream, my daughter held back her tears, knelt down and grabbed the man’s trouser leg to apologise, “I'm sorry... Father Elton, it’s my fault. Don’t be angry with me..."

Her daughter's obedience calmed Lakeisha's anger somewhat, she gave a cold snort, then her tone softened instantly, “Elton, you've been through a lot on this trip. I just finished meeting with a client, I'll be there later. Tonight, I'll make it up to you, okay?”

I didn't hear a single word of their sweet dialogue, I was just shocked by what just happened.

Lakeisha promised me that she would take good care of our daughter, but when I looked at my daughter, I saw her clothes disheveled and tears streaming down her face.

She even clenched her fists tightly.

I snatched the phone from the man’s hand and roared at Lakeisha on the other end of the phone.

“Lakeisha..."

But before the word had even finished echoing, the call was hung up again.

I was like a raging beast, the anger in my heart could no longer be suppressed.

I took out the phone and started frantically calling Lakeisha, but the call wouldn’t go through anymore.

“Father Elton, don't be angry with me. As long as you take me to find my father, you can ask me to do whatever you want..."

“Kneel down and kowtow! We won’t leave until you’ve done a hundred kowtows!”

The man pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, leaned against the car door and coldly watched my daughter kneeling before him.  

My daughter was sobbing as she prepared to kowtow, so I stepped forward and wanted to pick up my daughter.

But as I did that, my daughter broke free and looked at me with tears in her eyes.

“Uncle, it's okay. I want to see my father, so a hundred times kowtow is nothing for me.”

In the chaos, I hadn't noticed her head was covered in scars, some hadn't even healed yet.

My heart ached like it was being pierced by needles. I held her hand and held back my tears as I asked, “Do you often kowtow at home?”

“They only let me see Dad if I do that."

“What are you waiting for? Don't you want to see your dead father anymore?! Kneel and bow!”

The man stepped forward and dragged my daughter to his feet, forcing her head down onto the ground with all his strength, then charged toward me, glaring at me with wide eyes and shouting, “You bastard, mind your own business!”

Before the man could finish, I slapped his hand away, glared at him with bloodshot eyes and shouted, “I’m going to handle this today because I’m her father! Today, I’m going to teach you a lesson for my daughter!”

After saying that, I pushed the man in front of me away.

Then, I quickly stepped forward and held my daughter in my arms.

My daughter seemed to have been scared out of her wits, repeatedly whispering “Daddy” in my arms.  

The man paused for a moment, before bursting into a thunderous laugh.  

He smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt that I had just crumpled, lit a cigarette and walked toward me as he sneered, “Oh, you're this little brat's dead father? I was just having a private conversation with Lakeisha and you overheard it. Sorry about that!"

“Since you're already here, it saves me the trouble. Let's get this over with. After we're done, I'm taking this little brat back. Lakeisha said on the phone that she'd reward me tonight.”

When my daughter heard the man was taking her back, she trembled uncontrollably in my arms, clinging tightly to my clothes and whispering in my ear, “Dad, I don't want to go back. Please, save me..."

Seeing those scenes, I naturally couldn’t let my daughter go back with him. But I had to make him account for the humiliation he had caused my daughter that day.  

I hugged my daughter tightly, stepped forward and looked down at the man holding a cigarette, saying coldly, “I don't care what you and Lakeisha do, but you’re not taking Elena back today. Not only that, but you have to apologise to her!”

The man sneered and raised his eyebrows in disbelief, “Apologize? How?”

“Kneel the way she did just now, do it exactly the same way and bow back!”

The man immediately lost his smile, picked up the burning cigarette butt in his hand and pressed it against my daughter's calf.

I quickly sidestepped and the cigarette butt ‘sizzled’ as it pressed against my shoulder.  

Instantly, the smell of burnt flesh filled the air.  

My daughter was so scared she was trembling and crying. 

At that moment, the man lit another cigarette and, without my noticing, pressed it directly onto my daughter’s calf. 

Instantly, my daughter let out a heart-wrenching scream.

I looked at my daughter's burned calf and pushed the man away.

At that moment, I wanted to tear him to pieces, but the unit had rules. [An army can't lay a hand on ordinary people.]

Thinking of this, I quickly took out my phone and called the nearest village chief.

Soon, the village chief came with a group of villagers.

The nature of the base's work was confidential, but we had been dealing with the village chief there for five years.

I briefly explained the situation to the village chief.

“Please, keep an eye on him until the police arrive. I'll take my daughter back to the unit first."

I thought I had made myself clear, so I picked up my daughter and started walking back to the base. 

But as soon as I turned around, I was hit on the head with a blunt object.

The person who beat me was the village chief

Soon, the villagers surrounded me in three layers. 

“Mr. Gale, what are you doing? Didn't you hear what I said? He's the one who abused my daughter. Why are you attacking me instead of him?”

The man approached slowly, his steps heavy with disdain, then drove his boot into my lower abdomen.

“Idiot!” he spat. “How many times do I have to say it? As long as we’re in the U.S., only the Roberts family can command me. You? You’re just a worthless punk who doesn’t know his place!”

The village chief stepped forward, eyes filled with helplessness as he pointed at me.

“Son, you’ve overstepped. Do you really think you can afford to offend the Roberts Family?”

He turned to the crowd, his voice somber. “Everyone here depends on them to survive. Out in these remote mountains, even the rice in your bowl might come from the Roberts Family’s donations.”

When Lakeisha and I first married, she was nothing more than a struggling secondhand property agent. 

But over the years, my company recognised my contributions and gave her company preferential treatment in policies, from land acquisition, land approval, to loans—every process was smooth sailing.  

Yet she not only failed to show gratitude, but instead grew arrogant to this extent, taking advantage of the company’s support for her family.  

But if she pushed too far, all it would take was one snap of their fingers and she’d be right back where she started.

“Why waste words with him? Teach this scum a lesson!”

As soon as the man finished speaking, dozens of villagers armed with iron rods rushed forward.  

I clutched my daughter tightly to my chest, as countless fists and iron rods struck my body, instantly soaking my clothes in blood.  

Seeing this, my daughter frantically struggled out of my arms and once again knelt before the man with a thud, bowing her head and pleading, “Father Elton, please spare my father. I'll go back with you.” 

“I'll wash your clothes, cook for you, bow to you every day and wash your feet. Okay?”

Tears could no longer be held back. I forced myself to stand up to help my daughter, but I kept falling down under the blows.   

The man laughed wildly.

Ignoring the pain on my body, I began crawling toward my daughter.  

Amidst the chaos, a familiar voice came from afar. “What’s going on? All this commotion!”

When my daughter saw Lakeisha, fear filled her eyes.

She knelt on the ground, not even daring to raise her head.

I took advantage of the villagers stopping to quickly get up, walked to Lakeisha and pointed at my daughter kneeling on the ground, shouting, “Lakeisha! You promised me that you would take good care of our daughter, is this how you act as a mother?”

“You must give me an explanation today! Otherwise, we will get a divorce!”