When she saw it was me, she immediately hung up the phone, a flicker of guilt flashing between her brows.

But the next moment, she put on an impatient expression.

“It’s only the afternoon—why are you back so early? Aren’t you supposed to be out earning my tuition money?”

The joy I used to feel when coming home to my daughter was gone. I took off my delivery uniform, sat down, and said calmly,

“There weren’t many orders today, so I came back early to rest.”

After all, she was my biological daughter—some words were still too hard to say outright.

Without another word, I picked up a takeout meal that had been refused by a customer due to late delivery and began to eat.

Over the years, I had bought her luxury handbags. When she secretly wore makeup, I worried about her skin and bought her expensive brands.

But for myself, rejected takeout was the best food I had.

Seeing this, she frowned and scolded me.

“Eat, eat, eat—three years ago, if you hadn’t gone on that business trip and stayed with Mom, she wouldn’t have been burned to ashes in that car accident!

Didn’t you say you’d earn all my college tuition before my birthday? Then hurry up and make money!

And remember, the day after tomorrow is my birthday—don’t forget to transfer the house to me. Otherwise, I’ll never call you Dad again!”

Once, those words would have set off the fuse of my guilt.

Now, they just made me feel disgust.

I had denied myself decent food, denied myself facial reconstruction, pouring all my love into my daughter.

But in the end, it was all part of their scam.

Suppressing the disappointment in my heart, I looked up at her and said, unwilling to give up,

“Sophie, all these years—back when your mom was still here, too—have I not cared for you enough? Can’t you… be a little kinder to me?”

She snorted in disdain.

“You took care of me? Don’t make me laugh!

You were never home, and it was Uncle Daniel who always looked after me. After Mom died, it was Aunt Rachel who cared for me like a mother!

Look at you now—an ugly freak. Every time I go out with you, I feel embarrassed!”

Her words froze my heart completely.

In the mirror, I looked at myself.

Yes, half my face no longer resembled a normal human’s.

The day I heard about my wife’s car accident, I rushed straight to the scene. Even knowing she had no chance of survival, I charged into the flames—

and ended up disfigured.

I no longer expected much from life. I just lifted my head with a faint smile.

“So I’ve embarrassed you, have I?”

She gave a cold laugh.

“Glad you know your place.”

The words had barely left her mouth when the door swung open, and a teasing voice called out,

“Who’s gone and made our Sophie upset again?”

Daniel Carter walked in, arm-in-arm with Rachel Adams, the two of them leaning close.

Rachel’s face was flushed, and there was a shy look in her eyes as she glanced at Daniel. It was obvious they had just been intimate.

Even now, Daniel’s hand was caressing her back, and when he looked at me, there was nothing but smugness in his gaze.

In the past, I had thought they were simply showing off their affection.

Now I knew—it was his way of mocking me.

For the past three years, whenever I was out delivering food, they often came to “visit” my daughter, even taking her out to play.

They even attended her parent-teacher meetings in my place.

For that, I had been grateful to Rachel.

After all, my daughter had lost her mother, and as a minor, she needed a mother’s presence.

Every time I saw them, I had given them a genuine smile of thanks.

But now, I couldn’t smile at all.

I looked at her closely. She was indeed different from before—

once she had single eyelids and a small cherry mouth; now she had sultry red lips and double eyelids.

Even the details of her face had been altered.

The changes weren’t huge, but overall, she looked nothing like the same person.

And yet, in her gestures and expressions, there was a familiarity I couldn’t quite shake.

Back then, Daniel Carter had even joked that he’d chosen his wife based on the image of my late wife.

Ridiculous as it sounds now, I had actually believed him.

At that moment, when my daughter saw the two of them, her face lit up with joy, and she immediately threw herself into Rachel Adams’s arms.

“Mom… Aunt Rachel, Uncle Daniel—you’re here! I’ve missed you so much.”

Rachel fondly patted her head and smiled.

“Sophie, didn’t we just visit yesterday? When you have a boyfriend in the future, if you’re this clingy, he might not like it.”

My daughter giggled.

“Nonsense. Aunt Rachel, you’re glued to Uncle Daniel every day, and he never complains. When I get a boyfriend, I’m going to find someone just like Uncle Daniel.”

Daniel chuckled softly on the side.

“You little rascal. Sure, Aunt Rachel and I are close, but your dad’s not so bad—though, yeah, he’s not much to look at.”

At that, my daughter’s face twisted in disgust.

“Him? Always dirty like some beggar, and so ugly—I’d never want someone like him.

He can’t even make people happy, unlike Uncle Daniel, who makes Aunt Rachel look younger every day.

Oh, Aunt Rachel, tomorrow our teacher wants us to bring our parents to register for college applications. You and Uncle Daniel come with me, okay? I don’t want to take him and embarrass myself.”

Rachel said indulgently,

“Alright, alright. Your Uncle Daniel and I will go with you. Your dad can keep working hard to make you money.

But don’t say your dad embarrasses you—he’s been working very hard.”

Daniel beamed, clapping me on the shoulder.

“Brother, I’m just saying—you’ve got to loosen up. Sure, your wife’s gone, but besides earning money, you’ve got to learn how to make a girl happy. You still have a daughter, don’t you?”

He had teased me like this before, but I’d always thought it was a joke. I never noticed the mockery in his eyes.

I stepped aside from his hand and said coolly,

“You’re right—life goes on. My wife’s dead, but that doesn’t mean I’ll never remarry. Who knows, maybe I will someday.

In fact, I’ve decided not to give Sophie the house just yet. I’ll keep it for the future.”

My words startled all of them.

The next second, my daughter pointed at my face and lashed out.

“You ugly freak—you think you can get married again? How much money can you make delivering food? What a delusional joke!”

Hearing this, Rachel’s expression darkened, and she frowned at me.

“Jason, you’ve always given Sophie whatever she wanted. Why are you suddenly saying things to upset her?

And your wife’s only been gone three years—already thinking of remarrying?

If you marry again and give your money to another woman, what will Sophie have in the future?”

Olivia Parker—my wife—now stood before me with another face, scolding me as if I didn’t know who she was.

It was almost funny.

Daniel chimed in,

“Brother, I’m telling you, at your age and with your face the way it is, just be honest and earn money for Sophie.

Her birthday’s the day after tomorrow. I heard you promised to give her the house and all the tuition you’ve saved up.

You’re not going to back out now, are you? Aren’t you afraid she’ll hate you even more if you do?

Maybe if you give her the house, she’ll finally listen to you.”

I stared at him.

“Didn’t you just tell me to loosen up? Now that I say I might remarry, you’re panicking?”

Daniel was left speechless.

Rachel gave my daughter a meaningful look.

My daughter looked at me reluctantly.

“You promised to give me the house. If you go back on your word now, I’ll never call you Dad again.”

Watching the three of them anxiously fuss over my house and money, I sneered inwardly.

On the surface, though, I smiled lightly.

“Just teasing you. Everything I have belongs to Sophie. The day after tomorrow, you all come over to celebrate her birthday together. I’ll give her the house and the money right in front of you.”

The three of them exhaled in relief.

“Since Sophie loves being around you two so much, and it’s still early, I’ll go deliver some more orders—see if I can earn a bit more for her to spend.”

Without waiting for their response, I pushed the door open and left.

The moment I closed it behind me, I heard my daughter shout,

“That ugly freak is finally gone! Once I get the house and money, I’m going to curse him out to his face.”

“Sophie, just bear with it for the next two days. Once we have the house and money, we’ll go travel around the world.”

“Yay!”

I gave a cold laugh as I walked away. Tossing my delivery uniform into the trash bin downstairs, I headed straight to a cosmetic surgery clinic.

For my daughter’s sake, I had never been willing to spend money to fix the burn scars on my face from the day I rushed into the fire to save my wife.

Part of it was also to remind myself constantly to protect my daughter and never let such a tragedy happen again.

But now, guilt had turned to hatred.

At the clinic, I used the 200,000 yuan I had saved over years of delivering food to pay for surgery.

To avoid stirring up trouble before leaving, I covered my reconstructed half-face with a mask.

Then I called a friend, asking him to help sell both my house and the one Daniel Carter had been living in, and contacted a lawyer to reclaim them on my daughter’s birthday.

Back when I was still a white-collar worker, I had bought two apartments.

Later, when Daniel came to me for help, I let him live in one.

Even then, I often saw my wife going over to his place. When I asked, she always said she was delivering him pastries.

One night, after working late, I found she wasn’t home. I ended up finding her at Daniel’s place—she claimed she had been cleaning for him, got tired, and fell asleep.

Looking back now, the affair—and the plan against me—had probably started long ago.

That night, my daughter didn’t come home.

But I no longer cared where she went.

I packed my luggage and important personal belongings, then went to bed early.

It wasn’t until the following afternoon that Rachel Adams and Daniel finally brought my daughter back—

and they also brought a few of her classmates.

When they saw me, one of the classmates asked my daughter who I was.

“Oh, that’s the servant my parents took in. He got his face burned when he was caught stealing.

I’m sure he’s wearing the mask today because he knew you guys were coming.”

Someone gasped.

“Oh my god, Sophie, your family actually took in someone like that?”

My daughter replied nonchalantly,

“Well, my parents have kind hearts.”

Immediately, her classmates looked at Daniel and Rachel with admiration.

“From the other half of his face, he actually looks kind of handsome—maybe in a rugged, surprising way.”

Daniel gave a faint smile.

“Why don’t you take the mask off and show them? Don’t worry—they’re all Sophie’s classmates. They won’t laugh at you.”

I shook my head.

“Better not. I wouldn’t want to scare them.”

But then Daniel pulled out a photo and showed it to everyone.

“This is what he looks like—go ahead, take a look.”

Turning to me, he said,

“You’re just too modest—it’s fine.”

Before he could finish, the room erupted in laughter.

“Oh my god, how can someone be this ugly? The other half of his face actually looks decent, though.”

“Guess the uglier they are, the more outrageous their life gets.”