Chapter 1

A member in the parents' group chat shared a video.

"I just saw this from my son's smartwatch. It looked like a teacher was punishing a child. Whose kid is this? Better make a trip to the kindergarten now!"

I tapped on the video, and my heart dropped. It was my daughter, Hazel York.

A teacher had cornered her in a stairwell, holding a metal rod more than three feet long, repeatedly striking her. Visible blood stains marred her clothes.

Hazel was still little. Even when beaten, she dared not escape and merely apologized loudly. "I'm sorry, Ms. White! I won't do it again!"

Hearing her cry in such a broken manner, I felt my chest being torn open. Immediately, I called her smartwatch, but all I got was a busy tone.

There was no time to waste. I called the police, then the ambulance. After that, I grabbed my things and rushed to the kindergarten with my bodyguards.

On the way, I managed to reply in the group chat, "It's my daughter, Hazel. I'm heading over right now. Thank you for sharing this!"

Thankfully, I had chosen to send Hazel to the private kindergarten right next to my office building. From downstairs, I could already see the school.

It was almost dismissal time. The entrance was packed with parents, a dense crowd pressing forward. At the gate stood a woman, speaking loudly and passionately, as if she were giving a speech.

I looked more closely and then recognized her at once. It was the teacher from the video.

She stood there in a white dress, putting on a show in front of all the parents, dabbing her eyes as if she were crying. "My husband and I have been married for six years. We love each other deeply—never even arguing.

"A few days ago, he came back from a business trip and brought me a custom-made brick display. I placed it in my office, then a student from the next class saw it and insisted it was hers.

"I thought she just liked it and wanted to claim it because it was pretty, but later, I found out something shocking—she's actually my husband's daughter with another woman!

"And that display piece? I'm guessing he had one made for both that woman and me."

As she spoke, she pulled out her wedding photo with her husband, a family picture from Hazel's smartwatch, and the display piece, showing them around before lowering her head to wipe her tears again.

Most of the people picking up the kids were grandparents or housemaids, essentially older folks who were easily drawn into a scene like this.

When they saw that the man in the photos was indeed the same person, they immediately began to condemn him.

"What a poor woman. She's so beautiful, and her husband still doesn't cherish her!"

"All men are the same. They look respectable on the outside, but who knows what they're doing behind your back?"

"Ms. White, you should just divorce him and be done with it. I happen to have a single son. Come be my daughter-in-law instead."

Seeing everyone turn their anger toward her so-called beloved husband, Ms. White's expression flickered with a hint of worry. She quickly steered things in another direction.

"But I know this wasn't my husband's fault," she said. "He's the CEO of York Group, worth billions. Women out there are always after his money, trying to get close to him. I bet that bitch went after him first!"