Chapter 2

The moment I arrived at The Velvet Lounge, my desperation made me bypass all pleasantries. I demanded to see the manager, but the bouncers at the door thought I was just some random troublemaker.

I didn't have time for their games. I raised my fists and fought my way in. The entire club, which was in the middle of busy hours, was thrown into absolute chaos as I tore through their security.

Seeing that things were getting completely out of hand, the manager finally showed his face, shaking with fear under my physical threats. He hurriedly searched his database for my daughter's records.

Finally, he found her location. Lily had been assigned to a private VIP room.

When I rushed to the room, two middle-aged men were just stepping out, buckling their belts and laughing.

"That chick was wild, but she couldn't take much."

"Tell me about it. Passed out before we even got warmed up. But honestly, that fragile, broken look of hers... really had a special flavor."

The blood in my veins turned to liquid ice. I kicked the door open with a thunderous crash.

Lily lay on the sofa, her clothes torn and disheveled. Her body was covered in dark bruises and filthy stains.

"Lily... Daddy's home..."

My hands shook violently as I touched her pale cheek. My voice was completely broken, tears streaming down my face.

But she didn't react. Her face was deathly white, and only the faint rise and fall of her chest proved she was still breathing.

Seeing this scene, the manager of the Lounge looked as if his soul had left his body. He spun around and screamed at the floor supervisor, "Didn't I tell you to keep her in the hospital to recover? Who gave you the permission to bring her here?!"

The supervisor’s face turned white as paper. He fell to his knees, trembling. "A... a woman gave me ten thousand dollars. She told me to make sure this girl serviced clients ahead of schedule."

"I thought... we have so many girls here anyway, no one would notice one more. So I..."

I grabbed him by the collar, lifting him off the ground. "Who was the woman? And what do you mean, recovering in the hospital?"

The supervisor stammered, saying the woman had her face covered, but her only defining feature was a distinct red birthmark on her arm.

The manager quickly explained that when Lily was first delivered to them, her body was covered in severe wounds and she was severely malnourished.

Seeing her pretty face, the manager had decided to put her in a private clinic first, intending to wait until she recovered before putting her to work. He hadn't expected someone to bypass him.

Hearing this, my heart felt like it was being shredded by a chainsaw. Covered in wounds... malnourished... How much had my baby girl suffered while I was away? I had wired over a hundred thousand dollars home every single month, yet this was how my daughter lived!

The manager cried out in panic. "Those two brothers swore up and down that she was just a thief of a maid who committed a crime in their house... Those goddamn liars!"

"A maid?" My body shook, my knuckles cracking.

Lily was the treasure I had raised in the palm of my hand. Those two boys were just adopted orphans I had taken in, yet they dared to treat her like trash!

The luxury and wealth I had provided them all these years had made them forget what kind of vermin they actually were!

Forcing down the towering rage that threatened to consume my sanity, I gently scooped up my unconscious daughter and rushed her to the nearest hospital.

Once she was safely admitted, I immediately called those two ungrateful beasts. But the bastards actually hung up on me and blocked my number!

Laughing from pure rage, I drove straight back to the villa to settle the score face-to-face.

At that moment, back in the villa, Carter and Ethan were carefully applying ointment to Cynthia’s bruised face.

Cynthia sighed, her voice soft and sweet. "Carter, Ethan, you shouldn't have hung up on Dad. What if he had an emergency?"

"What emergency could he possibly have?" Carter sneered.

"Lily must have complained to him. Dad always favored that bitch. Instead of listening to him yell at us, blocking him is much easier."

Ethan nodded, his expression filled with righteous anger. "Exactly. Cynthia, you are just too kind. You got beaten up like this, and you're still worried about him."

"He actually laid a hand on you! If it weren't for the fact that he raised me, I would have beaten the old man up myself!"

A fleeting look of smug triumph flashed in Cynthia’s eyes, but she quickly masked it, biting her lip tearfully. "But Dad really seems to hate me... The only one he cares about is Lily..."

Seeing Cynthia on the verge of tears, the two brothers panicked.

They held her, making grand promises to soothe her.

"Don't worry, Cynthia. He doesn't have a choice. Lily is a vicious, spoiled brat. How could she ever compare to you?"

"Exactly. If he doesn't accept you, then we won't accept him as our father either!"

"He can't afford to lose us anyway. He doesn't have any other sons. He has to rely on us to inherit his company. If we walk away, he'll be the one begging on his knees."

To hide my mercenary identity, I had always lied and told them I ran an overseas corporate business.

Standing just outside the open door, I heard every single word of their conversation. The fury in my chest exploded, and I kicked the front door off its hinges with a deafening bang!

"Well, well. It seems I’ve spent the last decade raising a pack of ungrateful vipers!"