Chapter 1: The Moment I Came Home Early
🔥 I Came Home Early… And Found My Daughter Kneeling on Durian Shells
🔥🔥🔥The penthouse was supposed to be silent when I returned early from my business trip to the United States.
Instead, the first thing I heard was my daughter screaming.
I dropped my suitcase at the door and ran toward the sound.
What I saw in the living room made my entire body freeze.
My 17-year-old daughter, Lily, was kneeling on a pile of sharp durian shells scattered across the floor.
Her school uniform had been torn apart. Deep red marks covered her back and arms, proof of the brutal beating she had endured. Blood stained the expensive white carpet beneath her.
And standing over her was Victoria.
My wife of only six months.
She held a leather belt tightly in her hand, raised above my daughter like she was about to strike again.
“Cry louder, you ungrateful little brat!” Victoria sneered. “Your father thinks you’re so perfect. Let’s see how perfect you look when he comes home.”
Lily’s voice was barely a whisper as tears streamed down her face.
“Please… stepmother… it hurts so much… my knees…”
Victoria laughed coldly.
“You really thought you could compete with me?” she said. “I’m his wife now. You’re nothing but a reminder of the woman he loved before me.”
Then she lifted the belt again.
“You think your father will always choose you? You’re wrong.”
The moment the belt moved toward Lily’s back, I stepped into the room.
My voice came out low, shaking with uncontrollable anger.
“Victoria.”
She froze.
Slowly, she turned around.
The belt slipped from her hand and hit the floor.
The confidence disappeared from her face.
For the first time, she looked afraid.
Her expression turned pale as she stared at me standing in the doorway.
“Darling…” she whispered.
“You’re home early.”
The penthouse was supposed to be silent.
After three exhausting weeks in the United States, all I wanted was to walk through the door, hug my daughter Lily, and tell her I was finally home.
I imagined her running toward me.
I imagined her complaining about school.
I imagined a normal father-daughter evening.
But instead...
I heard her scream.
Not a normal scream.
A scream filled with fear.
My suitcase dropped from my hand before I even realized it.
“Lily?”
No answer.
Only a broken sob.
I ran toward the living room.
And then my entire world stopped.
My seventeen-year-old daughter was on her knees.
Not on the soft carpet.
Not on the marble floor.
On a pile of sharp durian shells scattered across the ground.
Her school uniform was torn.
Her face was wet with tears.
Her hands were trembling as she tried to hold herself up.
And standing above her...
Was Victoria.
My wife.
The woman I married six months ago.
The woman I trusted.
She held a leather belt in her hand.
My blood turned cold.
“Victoria.”
The single word left my mouth.
She froze.
Slowly, she turned around.
The confidence disappeared from her face.
The belt slipped from her fingers.
“Darling…”
Her voice shook.
“You’re home early.”
I looked at Lily.
Then I looked back at my wife.
“What did you do?”
Victoria immediately changed her expression.
A fake sadness appeared on her face.
“Daniel, you misunderstood. She was being disrespectful. I was only trying to teach her discipline.”
Lily lowered her head.
But before I could speak...
She whispered something that broke my heart.
“Dad…”
“I tried to tell you.”
I walked toward her.
“Tell me what?”
Her lips trembled.
“Every time you left…”
“She became different.”
My fists tightened.
Because I realized...
May you like
This was not the first time.
It was just the first time I saw it.
