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!”

I said this because there was a piece of land in the southern part of the city that would be auctioned soon.

If we could secure it, it would bring in profits of over a hundred billion.  

To qualify for the auction, Lakeisha wouldn’t even meet the minimum requirements without my unit’s recommendation. That was why I originally intended to use this matter to warn her.

Unexpectedly, she had already become arrogant that she didn't know her place.  

After a two-second silence, Lakeisha burst into laughter, looking me up and down with contempt in her eyes, “Mario, don't you even look at yourself? With your poor appearance, you dare to mention divorce to me?”

“But since you’ve brought it up, I’ll grant your wish today!”

After that, she took out two pieces of paper from her bag and threw them to me.

“All that's left is your signature. Hurry up and sign it. Once it’s done, I’m leaving. I have plans with Elton tonight.”  

Mentioning that, she and Elton exchanged a lingering glance.  

I glanced at the drafting date of the divorce agreement. Four years ago.

It turned out this woman had already given up on me.

In the divorce agreement, I didn’t get a single penny of the property.

I didn’t care about that, but custody of our daughter was also in her hands.

I threw the divorce agreement back at her.

“You can have whatever you want, but you can’t have custody of our daughter because you don’t deserve to be a mother!”

Lakeisha raised an eyebrow at me and sneered, “Mario, you're still as stupid as you were five years ago. Do you think your daughter wants to follow you, this good-for-nothing father, or follow me, her glamorous mother?”

“What do you expect your daughter to do with you? Regress into a wild monkey in this remote mountainous area?!”

As soon as Lakeisha finished speaking, the surrounding area erupted into thunderous laughter.

“This father is truly foolish! What future could his daughter have with him? Although Mrs. Roberts is strict with her daughter, at least she can provide her with a bright future!”

“Exactly! Besides, the daughter already calls this man ‘Father Elton.’ She must despise his poverty-stricken appearance, yet he still doesn’t get it!”

I glanced at these ungrateful villagers.  

Over the past five years, the unit had provided them with electricity and water and I had often gone down the mountain to help them. Yet I hadn’t received a shred of genuine gratitude in return.  

When I returned, I would definitely report this to the unit and have these ungrateful people sent back to live in poverty.  

I didn’t want to waste any more time on them. My family visitation leave was about to end and my daughter wasn't in a good state either.  

I ignored Lakeisha and took my daughter's hand and walked towards the base.

Lakeisha roared at me from behind, “Mario, you bastard! Let go of my daughter! If you take another step forward, I'll run you over!”

I didn't even bother to respond to her, I continued walking forward while holding my daughter's hand.

But just as I stepped over the edge of the base, a loud roar of a car engine suddenly came from behind.

I turned around and saw Elton already driving Lakeisha towards the restricted area.

This base was the highest-security restricted area. 

If they were to break in, it wouldn't just be a matter of accountability and imprisonment, whether their lives could be spared would depend on my influence.  

At that moment, I didn't care about the lives of these two beasts, but I didn't want to cause trouble for the unit.  

I immediately shielded my daughter behind me and quickly stood in front of the speeding car. 

I was certain that these animals were just putting on a show. When it came to human lives, they wouldn't dare.

But even so, this outermost layer of protection worked.