“Everyone in the capital knows how precious the son of President Jones is. That man is finished today.”

“This is what happens when someone overestimates themselves, trying to play the hero with no real power. He has only himself to blame.”

Some onlookers watched with pity in their eyes, while others sneered with mockery.

My daughter sobbed as she tried to shield me, but Tanner roughly shoved her aside, nearly sending her tumbling.

“Romeo, I’ll clean the plane for you right now. Please, please let this uncle go,” she cried.

She looked at me, lying in a bloody heap on the ground, then bit down on her lip, picked up the toy plane, and began gently licking it clean.

Her tiny tongue carefully wiped away the dust and grime, her tears falling freely.

My mouth was already full of blood and foam. Straining through the pain, I shouted with all the strength I had left. “Don’t lick it!”

“Stop right now!”

But she turned away, fighting her sobs, and handed over the now-cleaned plane.

“I’ve cleaned it. Please tell them to stop hitting him. He’s going to die…”

Romeo slapped the plane to the ground with a look of disgust.

“You’re disgusting. It’s covered in your spit now. It reeks just like you. I don’t want it anymore.”

“But you promised…”

My daughter trembled, her voice weak, eyes filled with disbelief.

“I did promise to let him go. But now it’s Uncle Tanner calling the shots. He didn’t make that promise,” Romeo said smugly, his eyes locked onto hers with cruel amusement.

Her face turned pale as snow. The sparkle that once lit up her eyes had been completely extinguished by their merciless cruelty.

Tanner stepped forward, puffed up with pride, and gave me two more kicks.

“The young master’s right. He dared to smash that plane. I’ll be the first to make sure he pays!”

My daughter’s face was drained of color, her gaze hollow, stripped of light, stripped of hope.

Then, in a flash, I twisted and rolled, dragging Tanner to the ground with me.

I swung my fists and pounded him with everything I had.

Blow after blow landed as he howled in pain, his face swelling into a mess of bruises.

“Ahh! Kill him for me!”

By the time the security guards dragged me off, he was nearly unrecognizable, screaming like a lunatic.

Just then, the sharp sound of footsteps approached, followed by a cold voice.

“What are you all doing?”

I looked up and locked eyes with Kylie.

She pushed through the crowd, hurrying toward me. Her gaze swept over me, disbelief clouding her expression.

“Brody Jameson, y-you’re still alive?”

“Does my being alive disappoint you?” I asked coldly, meeting her eyes without flinching.

Even after six years, she was still breathtaking, as if time had never touched her. She looked exactly like she did the day we married.

But the tenderness in her eyes was gone. In its place was something cold, unfamiliar.

She was still the same on the outside. But her heart had changed.

“Y-You’re my dad?”

My daughter looked at me, stunned.

And then, without warning, she threw herself into my arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Daddy, I missed you so much. Why did you only come back now? I dream about you every night, but Mom burned all your photos. I can’t even remember what you look like in my dreams.”

I gently and sorrowfully stroked my daughter’s hair, letting her release all her grievances in my arms.

Then I looked up, my eyes dark with hatred, my voice cold as steel.

“Kylie, in the six years I was gone, you stopped loving me, remarried, fine, I won’t blame you.”

“But what did my daughter ever do wrong? What gave you the right to treat her like this?”

Kylie’s expression instantly darkened, her voice filled with mockery.

“Ariana is also my daughter. How I treat her is none of your business. You have no right to lecture me, Brody. Now that you’re back, let’s settle the divorce.”

The crowd stirred in shock.

“That guy’s actually President Jones’s husband?”

“Husband? That was a lifetime ago. Everyone knows she’s married to Young Master Velez now, and they already have a kid.”

“With how much Young Master Velez adores her, this guy’s done for. If he falls into Velez’s hands, he’ll beg for death.”

I blocked out all the noise around me and drew in a deep breath.

“Fine. But I have two conditions.”

“Kid, don’t tell me you’re eyeing President Jones’s massive company and planning to make some outrageous demands?”

Before Kylie could say a word, Tanner cut in again with a mocking tone.

“I suggest you drop that thought. Or you’ll choke to death on your own greed.”

I simply gave him a cold glance, then turned back to Kylie.

“First, I want you to return the wedding gift my mother gave you.”

“You mean that worthless little pendant?”

Kylie frowned and pulled a dark pendant out of her bag.

My eyes trembled at the sight of it.

That was the very pendant my mother had tied around Kylie’s neck on her deathbed, entrusting her to love me, to hold on to our bond.

Kylie stared at it for a moment. A flicker of nostalgia flashed through her eyes.

But in the end, she only nodded and tossed it to the ground at my feet like it meant nothing.

I bent down, picked it up, and gently wiped the dust away.

Kylie’s voice rang out, filled with impatience. “What’s your other condition? Hurry up and say it.”

“The second condition is I want custody of Ariana,” I said firmly.

“That’s impossible. Ariana is my daughter,” Kylie snapped without hesitation.

“You still have the face to call her your daughter?”

I clenched my jaw, my fury spilling out in a near-roar.

“If you truly treated her like your own, would you stand there and watch her kneel before your assistant and your bastard son?”

Kylie’s expression turned cold.

With a sharp crack, she slapped me hard across the face.

“Bastard son? That’s my biological child! Don’t talk so disgustingly, Brody. I’m warning you: don’t push your luck. Sign the divorce agreement now, or I’ll make you agree in a hundred different ways.”

“Mama, don’t hit Dad. I won’t go with him anymore.”

Ariana knelt, trembling as she begged.

I immediately pulled her to her feet.

“Ariana, remember this: she’s not your mother anymore.”

“A woman like her doesn’t deserve your kneeling!”

That slap from Kylie crushed the last piece of what remained between us.

From this moment on, I wouldn’t show an ounce of mercy.

“Kid, if Kylie isn’t worthy, then what about you?”

“At least she raised Ariana,” Tanner sneered.

He scanned me from head to toe and mocked, “Just look at yourself. Can you even feed yourself properly? And you think you’re qualified to raise her daughter?”

Before I could utter a word, Kylie cut in coldly.

“You want to take Ariana away? Fine. Let’s see if you even have the means to raise her. What if you just sell her off to some mountain village and vanish again?”

“How do you plan to test my capability?” I asked fists clenched tight.

This time, I had rushed back in such haste just to see the two of them still wearing my old lab uniform.

The worn-looking suit might have seemed shabby, but it was both radiation-proof and bulletproof.

Even after the brutal beating earlier, I was only bruised on the surface, with no real injuries.

That suit had protected me.

“Whatever you’ve got, bring it out. Show us something worthwhile,” Tanner sneered.

“Daddy, I’ve been secretly saving for years. There’s a hundred thousand dollars on this card. I don’t eat much, and I also feed stray dogs and cats. I can support myself.”

The tears I had just swallowed rose again, blurring my eyes.

Gently, I slipped the card back into her pocket and said in a hoarse voice, “Don’t worry. Daddy will show them something worth seeing.”

I took a deep breath and dialed that number directly.

A faint chuckle came from the other end.

“Hehe, Brody, you’re finally back. But instead of reuniting with your wife, you’re calling me?”

“Sir, there’s something I need to say,” I said solemnly, inhaling deeply.

“My wife has remarried and even has a child. I want custody of my daughter, but they want proof of my capability.”

Before I could finish, Tanner suddenly snatched the phone from my hand.

“Old man, you're that punk Brody’s boss? Haha, he wants to act all high and mighty in front of our President Jones? Even if I lent you a hundred guts, would you dare show up?”

There was a pause.

On the other end, my superior was clearly stunned. It must’ve been the first time anyone had dared to call him an old man.

“Alright. I’ll borrow your guts, then. I’m sending people over now.”

With that, he hung up.

“Brody, the guy you called is just as full of bluff as you are. Says he’s sending people? What’s he gonna send some of your day laborer pals to impress me?”

Tanner burst out laughing.

Kylie shook her head in disappointment and spoke coolly, “Brody, sign the divorce papers and get lost while I’m still calm. Otherwise, soon, you won’t even have the chance to leave.”

“Ariana, come back with me!”

“Remember, your father no longer exists.”

My daughter clung tightly to the hem of my shirt, refusing to let go.

But under Kylie’s pressuring gaze, she lowered her head and hesitantly stepped back toward her.

I gently pulled her back.

“My precious girl, from now on, you never have to be afraid of anyone again. At least in this country, no one dares lay a hand on you.”

“Kid, stop pretending. President Jones is the sky in the capital.”

“Then that sky is about to fall.”

The moment the words left my mouth, a deafening roar filled the air.

People instinctively looked up.

“Look! What kind of planes are those?”

“They don’t look like civilian aircraft. Why are they flying so low?”

Under the stunned gaze of the crowd, several aircraft landed steadily right in front of the Jones Group headquarters.

Powerful gusts of wind swept through the crowd.

In that instant, everyone’s expression shifted.