The Day Our Promise Breaks

As Dahlia expected, Charles was moved by Sandy's tears and paused, his eyes slowly dropping to meet hers.

Sandy, noticing Charles's attention, let her tears flow even more freely. Her eyes, red and puffy from crying, were locked on Charles with a look full of longing and yearning. She clung to his leg with one hand, reaching out with the other, pleading for a hug. "Daddy, I really know I messed up. Please don't leave me. Without you, the other kids at school pick on me. Look, they beat me up so badly. It hurts, Daddy."

When Charles didn't pick her up, Sandy sobbed harder and opened her coat to reveal her tattered school uniform underneath. Her skin, exposed and bruised, was a shocking sight. These injuries were her ace in the hole. Whenever she was bullied at school, her father would explode in anger, defending her fiercely, ensuring those responsible faced consequences.

That day in the hospital, he had cradled her so gently, calming her tears and promising to officially recognize her as his daughter. Sandy had basked in Charles's love for years, truly experiencing his fatherly care. She couldn't believe Charles would abandon her over something as trivial as making a voodoo doll of Charlie. It was just a way to vent her jealousy. Charlie was gone, after all, and a doll couldn't hurt him.

She was sure her dad was just upset temporarily. Leaving her last night was because he was mad, but beneath it all, he must still care. Seeing her bullied like this at school, surely he'd feel sorry for her again.

Charles stared at the bruises, his face unreadable. In a low voice, he asked, "Why did your classmates hit you?"noveldrama

Without skipping a beat, Sandy answered, "They see me as an easy target without a dad to protect me, so they hit me for no reason..."

Charles's eyes turned cold at her response. She was beyond help. She had no awareness, or perhaps no guilt, for being the bully who was now facing retaliation. She only chose to share the bits that would make him feel sorry for her.

Charles pulled his leg away coldly. With her support gone, Sandy fell to the ground.

"Daddy..." she said, looking up at him confused. She couldn't understand why he was unmoved by her injuries, why he had withdrawn so heartlessly.

From last night, Charles's view of Sandy had completely changed. He was convinced that poor upbringing leads to poor character. Sandy was beyond saving. If it weren't for her teacher reaching out after Sandy was beaten, checking his reaction, he wouldn't have known that Sandy, who seemed so sweet at home, was capable of such awful behavior at school.

The protection he'd given her had become a shield for her to bully others. Despite being bullied herself in kindergarten, instead of learning empathy, she tore down others, leaving them worse off. At just seven, her mind was already so dark, beyond what he imagined for a child her age.

Remembering what the principal said about Sandy's harsh treatment of her classmates, he realized he'd unknowingly been an accomplice to her bullying. As a father, the thought of his own child, if Charlie were still alive, enduring such bullying made him regret his past indulgence of Sandy. With every bit of self-hatred, his aversion to Sandy grew.

alive,

"Don't let these two show up at the company entrance again. I don't want to see them," Charles instructed the security guard coldly before walking away.

Now, even seeing Dahlia and Sandy made him wish he could erase them from his life. Sandy, realizing Charles was leaving for real, panicked, instinctively reaching out to him. "Daddy..."

She crawled, crying, trying to reach Charles, hoping to grab his leg and stop him. But his steps were too swift for her to catch. By the time she stumbled to her feet, Charles had already reached his car. Crying, she tried to follow, "Daddy, are you really going to leave me? Daddy!"

The security guards blocked her

way, but they didn't dare touch her. They'd worked at Jenkins Enterprises for years and knew all about Dahlia and Sandy, and how much Mr. Jenkins had once doted on Sandy. They remembered the grand fireworks display two years ago that had mesmerized the whole city.