Chapter 55

Daniela had been slapped by her father.

The entire staff at Elite Lux was very angry.

Daniela, however, quietly went to her office, sat in her chair, and stared at a video.

The video showed Joyce at a bar, standing on a table with a glass in her hand. Her carefree and bold attitude was on full display as she loudly announced to the crowd, "Dad always says that meeting me and my mom was the best thing in his life. We brought a joy to his world that he never knew before. He even says that every time he sees Daniela, he's reminded of his her mother and feels utterly repulsed. So what if Daniela puts on a tough front? She's nothing compared to me!"

Daniela's hand shook ever so slightly as she clutched

her phone.

So, this was the truth.Growing up, she always had this nagging feeling that her father didn't love her.

When her mother was alive, he made an effort to pretend.

Once her mother died, he completely distanced himself, and Daniela naively believed it was because he was drowning in grief over her death.

Yet, before her mother's funeral had even ended, he had already remarried.

Daniela was left stunned and utterly confused.

She tried to rationalize it in every way she could.Maybe he needed someone to help him cope, or perhaps he was so lost in missing her mother that he couldn't express it. After all, love didn't always have to be spoken; maybe he carried it silently.

She knew her father was still young, and it wasn't entirely fair to expect him to live alone for the rest of his life.

But everything changed on one blistering afternoon when the central air conditioning broke down,jolting her awake from the suffocating heat.

Wanting to find out if there was a power outage, she stepped out of her room.

But as soon as she entered the living room, she froze in her tracks.

There, in the middle of the room, was Katrina.She was wearing her mother's clothes, sitting on Caiden's lap. The sound of their labored breathing filled the room, like an unbearable echo.

She overheard Caiden telling Katrina, "Katrina,I love you and only you. That awful woman is finally gone.She used her money to control me, but what man would tolerate being treated like a servant? All she ever did was earn money-she was useless for anything else. A woman who can't even make a man happy...What kind of woman is that? Katrina, it's only after meeting you that I've learned what it feels like to be a real man. You are the wife I've chosen to spend my life with."

It was a scorching summer day, and as Daniela stood at the top of the stairs, everything in her life seemed to fall apart.

She saw them in the living room, locked in a sweaty embrace, their faces flushed and dazed. Without a second thought, she ran to her room, leaned over the toilet, and retched uncontrollably.

To everyone else, Caidenappeared to be the ideal husband and a loving father.

No one could have imagined that behind his respectable front hid a heart so twisted and depraved it was impossible to see.

Lost in her thoughts, Daniela didn't notice when the office door creaked open.

Joyce's harsh words-"He even says that every time he sees Daniela, he's reminded of his her mother and feels utterly repulsed"-played on an endless loop in her mind.

She clung to every word like a punishment, as though engraving Caiden's cruelty into her memory,hurting herself over and over.

Then, a hand took the phone from her fingers.

Daniela blinked, snapping out of her daze, looking up in confusion.

Before she could process what was happening,someone knelt down in front of her, wrapping her in a comforting embrace.

Cedric's steady, low voice filled the quiet room.

"Daniela! You're not alone. Don't be scared. I'll always be by your side."

In that instant, Daniela let her guard down,surrendering her strength as she leaned into his shoulder.

She wasn't one to cry.

Since that summer, she hadn't shed a tear.

Caiden hitting her wasn't new; she never cried.

But now, as Cedric held her close, his voice trembling more than hers, whispering that she didn't need to be afraid, her eyes began to fill.

It felt like walking alone for ages down a dark,desolate path. She could pretend it didn't hurt,and saying it aloud seemed unnecessary. Yet, the moment someone stood up for her, the floodgates opened, and the emotions she'd buried for so long spilled out uncontrollably.

Cedric's heart broke into pieces. The woman he had cherished for so many years cried quietly against his shoulder.His chest tightened with so much pain that it felt like he couldn't breathe.

The night gradually settled in.

Daniela stared into the darkened sky and murmured,"Cedric, from this moment on, I no longer have a father."