Chapter 3

Peter didn't give those security guards a second thought.

He flung Jennifer to the ground with one swift motion, then took down all the security guards in the blink of an eye.

Jennifer was scared out of her mind.

"Elara... she lives over on Rocky Road... working at some restaurant..." Jennifer said in a trembling voice, giving up Elara's whereabouts.

Peter let Jennifer go. "In three days, we settle everything — old debts and new ones."

With that, he walked out of the Williams Pharmaceutical building without looking back.

Jennifer's legs gave out and she collapsed on the floor. A foul smell spread around her — she had been so terrified that she'd lost control of herself.

Peter jumped in a cab and sped off toward Rocky Road.

He pulled out his phone and called Robert.

"Robert! Why didn't you tell me anything about Elara and my daughter?!"

Robert's voice was calm, with a hint of helplessness. "Young master, I..."

"Cut the excuses! Start talking!" Peter snapped.

Robert explained, "Young master, when you went to prison, Miss Elara discovered she was pregnant with your child. The Owen family saw it as a huge disgrace — an unmarried woman carrying a child. They pressured her to get an abortion. But Miss Elara refused to give up the baby. To stop them from bothering her, she even scarred her own face, going from 'LA's most beautiful woman' to 'LA's ugliest woman.'"

Peter felt his heart clench.

"The Owen family threw her out. She's been raising your daughter Linda Sullivan on her own, struggling through every day. She barely spends anything on herself and even picks up shifts at a restaurant, all just to keep your daughter in one of LA's top preschools." Robert went on, "Little Miss Linda is a smart girl too. Even when other kids at school pick on her, she never tells Miss Elara — she doesn't want her to worry."

As Peter listened to Robert, it felt like an invisible hand was squeezing his heart.

He had thought he had no one left in this world, that the only reason he was still alive was to get revenge.

But the moment he found out he had a daughter, he realized there was something else keeping him going — hope.

"Elara... Linda..." Peter stared out the window at the scenery rushing past. "I'll never let you suffer again."

He made a silent vow — everyone who had ever hurt Elara and Linda would pay for it a hundred times over.

Rocky Road. A small fast food place, maybe seventy or eighty square meters.

It was peak lunch hour, and the place was packed and buzzing.

"Elara! You can't even wash a dish properly! And you take forever to serve the food! Are you trying to starve me to death?!"

A heavyset woman — the owner of the restaurant — stood with her hands on her hips, screaming at Elara.

Elara was wearing a worn, grease-stained work uniform. She was thin and pale, clearly someone who hadn't been eating well for a long time.

She stood there quietly taking the abuse, her eyes filled with hurt.

"If you can't do the job right, get out! I'm not running a charity here!" the owner kept yelling.

Elara picked up a plate of food and carefully made her way toward a table.

But her foot slipped. She stumbled and went down, taking the plate with her.

The food scattered across the floor with a loud crash.

"You useless piece of work! You did that on purpose, didn't you?!" The heavyset woman exploded with rage.

She grabbed a nearby broom and pointed it at Elara, spitting as she screamed, "What is wrong with you?! You let some man sleep with you and had a bastard kid! And now you're in here wrecking my place! You're ugly on top of everything else — you'd be better off dead!"

Elara lay on the floor, staring at the mess around her, listening to the woman's vicious words. Tears slid down her cheeks.

"If you can't afford it, don't send that little brat to such a fancy school!" the heavyset woman kept going. "A woman like you — no man would even pay to touch you!"

She jabbed her finger at Elara and snarled, "Get out! You're fired! Don't bother coming back!"

The customers in the restaurant shook their heads and sighed, but no one stepped in. They were all too afraid of the woman's temper.

When Elara heard she was fired, her heart dropped.

Ignoring the pain in her body, she grabbed onto the woman's legs and begged desperately, "Please! Don't fire me! My daughter's tuition is due any day now!"

Her voice was full of despair. "If I don't pay today, they're going to force her to drop out! Please! I'm begging you!"

The owner kicked Elara away and looked down at her with contempt. "You broke my plates and you still expect to get paid?! You should be thanking me for not making you pay for them! Now get out!"

She raised the broom like she was about to swing it. "Move it, or I'll beat you right here!"

Elara looked up at the broom raised above her. She had no strength left to dodge. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the blow.

The heavyset woman swung the broom hard at Elara, who was crouched helplessly on the floor.

Elara had no way to get out of the way. She shut her eyes in despair and waited for the pain.

Thud!

A heavy impact. The heavyset woman was suddenly knocked to the ground by a powerful force.

The broom flew out of her hand and clattered to the side.

Peter stepped in front of Elara like he'd come out of nowhere.

He looked down at the owner's fat face, his eyes cold with fury.

The customers gasped and scrambled out of the restaurant, though they couldn't help crowding around outside to watch.

Peter slowly turned around. He looked at Elara crouched on the floor — ragged clothes, skin and bones — and felt a wave of guilt and regret wash over him.

Six years ago, Elara had been the most beautiful woman in LA. She was bright and outgoing, the woman every man in the city dreamed about.

And now she looked like this — worn down and broken by life.

"You deserve this."

Peter spun back around and slapped the owner over and over — more than a dozen times — then drove his foot hard into her stomach several times.

"Ahh! Stop! Please stop!" The owner screamed like a stuck pig, her heavy body writhing on the floor in pain, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.