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.”

Rachel Adams chuckled.

“Classmates, he may be ugly, but we shouldn’t be making fun of him like this.”

Then she leaned down and whispered something in my daughter’s ear.

Sophie then said,

“Mom’s right. We shouldn’t laugh at him. Even though he’s made mistakes before, he’s changed for the better now, and we should give him a chance.”

Rachel ordered me to make dinner.

Daniel Carter sat there, occasionally glancing at me with a mocking smile that pretended to be casual.

It was as if they truly believed they were bestowing some great favor upon me.

But none of that mattered anymore.

I no longer wanted the feelings I once had.

I no longer wanted my daughter.

Tomorrow, I would leave—taking everything that was mine.

Their laughter, which no longer belonged to me, continued in the background.

And I, treated like a servant, was theirs to command at will.

Daniel leaned in close to my ear, lips curling into a sly grin.

“Brother, just hang in there. Once Sophie grows up, your good days will come soon enough.”

But just then, my daughter suddenly let out a startled cry.

Rachel’s face turned bright red in an instant.

The atmosphere froze.

It ended with the unmistakable sound of two women reaching a climax.

Rachel glanced at Daniel and whispered,

“Darling, I wanted to order a few milk teas for the kids, but I accidentally opened our video—and Sophie… saw it.”

Daniel, however, was unfazed.

“So what if she saw? She’s grown up. She understands these things.

In fact, it’s the perfect time to tell her—Sophie, your mom’s going to have a baby. We already had it checked—it’s a little brother.”

He then pulled Rachel into his arms and kissed her deeply, right there in front of everyone.

Sophie’s classmates covered their mouths in shock.

“Sophie, your parents are so bold.”

Sophie replied proudly,

“Of course. My parents are the model couple of Oakridge Community.”

Eventually, the conversation shifted entirely to Daniel and Rachel.

Everyone became engrossed in their romantic love story—

how they climbed mountains together to watch the sunrise,

how they traveled to Iceland to see the northern lights.

It was then I realized they had such beautiful memories together—

memories my wife had never shared with me.

Whenever I’d suggested such things, she’d called them a waste of time.

After the classmates left, the two of them stayed and played with Sophie for a while longer.

Daniel came over to me.

“Brother, we didn’t have much of a choice earlier. They’ve always thought Rachel and I were Sophie’s parents.

If we told them the truth, Sophie would be laughed at.”

I replied evenly,

“Don’t worry. I won’t mind.”

“Good. That’s what I was hoping.”

Not long after, it began to pour outside.

Sophie suggested that they stay the night so they could go straight to her birthday celebration tomorrow.

The two exchanged a glance and looked at me.

“I don’t mind,” I said.

Sophie smirked.

“Good. After you give me the house and money tomorrow, I’ll treat you better.”

That night, the two of them slept in the guest bedroom.

When they got up in the night, I heard the sounds of their intimacy.

Though my heart was still unsettled, I didn’t want to stir up more trouble.

The next morning, before dawn, I got ready to leave.

But I ran into Sophie on her way to the bathroom.

“Why are you going out so early?”

“I’m still a bit short on your college expenses. I’ll deliver a few more orders to make up the difference.”

She waved her hand dismissively.

“Then hurry up. If you come back with too little, don’t blame me for getting mad.”

I smiled faintly.

“Don’t worry. I’ll bring the property transfer papers back with me.”

With that, I left the house, headed to the airport, and boarded a plane to the United States.

…

Not long after, the others began to wake up.