Chapter 4

4: 4

I shot to my feet. “What happened to him?”

Nolan handed me his phone.

I glanced at it, and if anything, I felt relieved.

He wasn't hurt. He was as lively as ever.

It was just that he had turned up in someone else's livestream.

Whoever it was clearly meant well. They'd spotted my father begging, and while streaming, they were asking him “Sir, do you still remember where your home is?”

My father sat on the ground, both arms wrapped around his knees, refusing to look at the camera the whole time.

He just muttered under his breath “I'm hungry.”

The streamer bought him a sandwich right away.

My father wolfed it down like he hadn't eaten in centuries.

The streamer said to the camera “Folks, you can tell this man is really starving. He's no fake beggar running a scam.”

The viewers flooded the comments:

【Good man, streamer. Bless you!】

【No idea whose father this is, poor old man!】

【Hope his family sees this and takes him home!】

【Anyone recognize this old man? Drop it in the comments.】

Some people tipped the streamer, too, and left notes saying he should keep half and donate the rest to my father.

Before long, my father had eaten his fill.

The streamer asked him “Sir, do you still remember where your home is?”

My father dodged the question and wouldn't speak.

Just then, our neighbor Miranda Lambert passed by nearby, took one look, and said “Wait, isn't that Geraldine's father?”

The moment the streamer heard someone recognized my father, he perked right up and swung the camera onto Miranda.

Miranda, all fired up, spraying spit as she went off about me “That Geraldine, she's an ungrateful daughter, is what she is.”

“I mean, the old man raised her from a baby, wiped her filth, and she can't even be grateful. Instead she treats her own father like this.”

“If you ask me, a woman like that deserves to be struck by lightning. If she were my daughter, I'd have thrown her out when she was little.”

The streamer stared at Miranda, shocked “You're saying this man's daughter treats him badly?”

Miranda said “Badly? That's putting it mildly. She's about as low as they come.”

“She beats him, curses at him, starves him every day, forces him to do all the housework, and sends the old man out to pick up bottles.”

“Oh, how can there be such a heartless person in this world? Even we neighbors ache for him.”

The comment section exploded.

Viewers piled on, calling me worse than an animal.

The streamer got worked up too and asked my father “Sir, did your daughter throw you out?”

My father's tears came instantly.

He wiped them away and said “I……I have to go.”

He tried to slip away, but the streamer kept following him.

The streamer said earnestly “Sir, don't worry. There are a few hundred thousand people in my livestream right now.”

“Which means a few hundred thousand people are watching over you.”

“If your daughter dares to mistreat you, there's no way we'd just stand by.”

“And if she really is that heartless, I'm sure there are good people who'll take care of you in your old age so you won't have to worry.”

My father hesitated and asked “Really?”

The streamer nodded hard.

The comments answered in one voice too “Really!”

The streamer asked my father “What that lady just said, is it true?”

My father hesitated a moment, then nodded.

The streamer said angrily “Do you dare take me back to your home? Let a few hundred thousand viewers witness it, and we'll confront your daughter together.”

My father said evasively “Do as you see fit.”

The streamer grabbed my father, excited “Good. Let's go.”

Watching that, I quietly set the phone down.

Nolan's face was pale. “This thing has already blown up online. The livestream is almost at a million people now.”

“Honey, you really did go a bit too far. There's a good chance you'll get mobbed online.”

“Why don't you lie low for a while? We'll deal with it once the noise dies down.”

Right then, there was a knock at the door.

Nolan said in a panic “Let's stay quiet and pretend nobody's home.”

I let out a cold laugh. “Afraid of what? I did it, so I'm not afraid to be confronted.”

I opened the door.

In an instant, the streamer shoved the camera right into my face “Ms. Lambert, right? Would you like to tell our million-plus viewers why you abuse your father?”

I said, unbothered “He does it willingly. He likes to work.”

My father worked up his courage beside me “It's not willing. I want to rest.”

I fixed my eyes on him and narrowed them “Think it through. Are you sure it isn't by your own choice?”