My Toxic Daughter’s Regret

Three months ago, I took on a child abuse case. The accused was the manager of a training facility who was suspected of using corporal punishment against many young girls. I represented the victims through a non-profit organization and spent three long days in court, proving my case with the evidence and the families’ testimony. Even now, I could not bear to look too closely at the photos of the girls' bruises. On the day we settled, I finally got the accused to agree to compensation and a public apology. The mother of one of the victims grasped my hand in tears. “Thank you, Mr. Lincoln. You did so much for our family!”As I was about to reply, the door opened with a creak. Seven-year-old Nancy poked her head into the room, holding a doll. Her eyes were bright. The mother smiled at her. “What an adorable little girl.”Nancy smiled too, sweetly and innocently, her eyes narrowing into slits. Then she tilted her head and said naively, “There's no need to thank my father,

Soon, Nancy’s accusations on the livestream spread all through the Internet. The video someone had recorded gained a million views in half an hour. It was titled, “Famous lawyer's daughter accuses him of assault mid-livestream.”I tried to hold back my temper, asking her in a trembling voice, “Why do you keep doing this to me?”Nancy slowly smiled, blinking her large eyes. “Your eyes were so bright when you looked at the chat just now, Daddy. Much brighter than when you look at me. “It's your fault for ignoring me. Rebelling is my way of getting your attention.”I could not help it any more. For the first time, I hit her. Her eyes widened in shock, then she let out an ear-piercing wail. Her expression said she was stunned and hurt that I would dare to hit her. That was when my wife came back from work. Nancy immediately ran into her arms. “Mommy, Daddy hit me! I hate him! I'll keep rebelling against him!”When my wife heard the whole story, she turned pale. She crouched

“Understood, thank you. Judges and members of the floor, I’ve filed an application with Child Protective Services to terminate my adoption of Nancy Lincoln, complete with proof of her framing me.”With that, I put down my mic and headed into the crowd.Behind me, Nancy’s voice shook as she cried out for me in genuine panic. “Daddy, don’t go! I’m sorry! I won’t rebel against you again!”She went wild with regret, screaming “Daddy” constantly. When CPS took her away, her eyes were wet with tears, like an abandoned puppy.However, I knew that those were her usual crocodile tears.Later, I followed CPS to their state-run orphanage. There was an archive at the end of a very long corridor. The staff opened the door and took an old file from the steel cabinets, showing it to Nancy. “Little girl, here are the details about your birth parents.”Her father was Jack Jones, unemployed, and sentenced to fifteen years in jail in 2015 for assaulting a young girl. Her mother was Jennifer Way

Three years passed in the blink of an eye. My daughter Sunny was an obedient and sweet little girl.One day, when I took her to the playground downstairs, she looked at me curiously. “Daddy, I heard an older girl talk about “decluttering”. What does that mean?”I crouched down and rubbed her head. “That means to get rid of things that do you harm. When you grow older, Sunny, you might have to cut some people out of your life if they make you unhappy or uncomfortable.”She nodded a little blankly then jumped into my arms. “But I wanna stay with you forever, Daddy! Never cut me out, okay?”I blinked then laughed, hugging her tight. “Alright. I’ll never cut you out, Sunny.”It was bright and sunny out, just like my cheerful little daughter.After that, she made new friends at kindergarten and came home with a ton of stories every day. “Daddy, Mary said her daddy bought her a Barbie doll. I told her that my daddy is a lawyer who helps lots and lots of little kids fight bad guys!”Sh