Family Ties and Broken Trust

On my daughter's birthday, I posted a photo on social media wishing her a happy birthday.

Unexpectedly, her boyfriend mistook me for an old man trying to steal his place.

Her boyfriend barged into my place with a group of self-proclaimed righteous individuals.

"An old man chasing after a young woman. Shame on you!"

"You're in your forties but still messing around. You shameless old man!"

They not only hurled insults but also smashed everything in my house.

Emboldened by their numbers, they even tried to physically assault me.

I called my daughter as my face turned cold. I said on the phone, "Do you want your boyfriend or your dad?"

1

After rushing back from abroad, I headed straight to the villa I had prepared for my daughter.

It was her twenty-fourth birthday that day.

Her mother passed away years ago. I went abroad and worked hard when she was young so that I could give her a better life.

Unfortunately, while I provided her enough materially, I failed to support her emotionally.

Now, my daughter was somewhat indifferent towards me.

I even saw on her social media that she recently had a boyfriend.

Although he looked decent, I could still sense the cunning and greed in his eyes.

He was not worthy of my daughter.

Therefore, I returned to have my daughter break up with him.

But I would deal with other matters later. The most important thing now was my daughter's birthday.

Thinking of that, I took out my phone and intended to send her a message to ask why she hadn't arrived yet.

But with a slip of my hand, I accidentally opened a video app.

Just as I was about to exit while frowning, a live stream window popped up.

I saw many fierce young men were racing motorcycles down the street, holding up banners high.

There were red letters on the white background of the banners.

"Punish the home wrecker!"

"An old man chasing after a young woman. How disgraceful! Step on him!"

2

I took one look and instinctively knew those were not good guys.

They looked like street thugs with no proper upbringing.

Even if they were catching someone who was cheating, it was not the way to do it, especially broadcasting it live.

I glanced at the viewer count.

It was shockingly in the tens of thousands.

It seemed less like catching someone and more like seeking attention.

I clicked to exit again.

But at that moment, I noticed the scene behind them becoming increasingly familiar.

In just a few minutes, they arrived at a villa complex.

The security at the entrance tried to stop them.

However, they punched the security guard hard.

The guard fell to the ground with a bloody nose.

The live stream viewers cheered and sent gifts, saying the guard was shielding the man who was cheating and deserved it.

I was startled.

I glanced out of the window.

Sure enough, they were now in the villa complex where I was and very close to my house.

I stopped paying attention to the stream and hurriedly called my daughter.

I intended to tell her not to come over at that moment as there was a group of lunatics there. It would be bad if she got injured.

But before I could dial her number, the gate to my villa was kicked open.

To celebrate my daughter's birthday, I had decorated the entire villa in a very pink theme, with flowers everywhere outside.

The door wasn't locked, as I didn't want my daughter to be unhappy when she came home.

But now, those lunatics easily broke in.

A young man was their leader.

He had dyed red hair, with an expensive flower from my garden in his mouth.

He looked utterly insolent and infuriating.

He seemed familiar to me.

I kept a stern face and stepped forward. I asked, "What do you want?"

3

The man spat out the flower with disdain.

He pointed to the banners behind him and said, "What do I want? I'm here to hit you! How dare you covet my woman? You must have a death wish!"

My manners stopped me from hitting such a guy.

I didn't want to ruin the birthday party I had prepared so carefully.

I sighed, "You've got it wrong. I'm already married and not the home wrecker you're talking about." As I spoke, I raised my hand to show them the ring my wife left me.

They were still young, and I was already a father.

In such a situation, the problem wouldn't be solved solely with physical confrontation.

At that moment, I thought it was simple. After they realized it was a misunderstanding, they would naturally leave.

But unexpectedly, the leading man became even angrier as he saw the ring around my finger.

He said, "I was afraid of mistaking someone, but it really is you. Guys, get him! Let him face the consequences of trying to steal my girlfriend! You shameless home wrecker!"

As the man raised his hand, those behind him surrounded me in groups.

I looked at the man again and finally remembered who he was.

He was my daughter's boyfriend, Dominick Holt.

In my daughter's social media, he had yellow hair and wore a flashy pink shirt.

Now he had red hair, and the pink shirt had turned burgundy.

No wonder I didn't recognize him.

Seeing him like that, I was more displeased with him.

I called his name, saying, "Are you Dominick? I've seen you on Kelsey's social media. I'm her father. I think you've got the wrong man."

4

I held back my impatience and explained the situation to him, even though I was unhappy.

After all, he was my daughter's boyfriend, even though I didn't like him at all right now.

But he came out to catch another guy.

It suggested that he might have gotten some information about another guy from somewhere.

Although I didn't believe my daughter would do such a thing, I must help her handle this matter properly as her father since Dominick came.

I admit I favored my daughter. But I couldn't stand by idly when I was faced with such a thing, even if Kelsey might have made a mistake.

To prove my identity, I specifically showed them a recent photo of my daughter and me.

It was the one I posted on my social media.

Kelsey graduated from her master's program that day. And I flew back from abroad just to attend her graduation ceremony.

The photo was taken at the ceremony.

Kelsey was in a good mood at that moment and smiling brightly with her head slightly leaning on my shoulder.

Although she resembled her mother more, she and I shared similar features.

So anyone with eyes would never mistake me for some affair partner.

I thought that after I showed them the photo, Dominick would believe my words.

But he just sneered, "I've seen this photo. If I hadn't seen it on her phone, I wouldn't have believed she was cheating on me. Everyone in the live stream, do you believe it? My girlfriend has been alone since she was a little girl. I've never heard of her parents. Some old men love deceiving naive young girls. And that day, my girlfriend didn't even go home. He might have taken her to a hotel!" Dominick said angrily, and the people behind him joined in the uproar.

5

"Exactly. Old men love young girls. Let me be blunt. Do you even know if your girlfriend is still a virgin? If this old man got to her first, you'd be the one being cheated on!"

"Don't worry. We'll punish this old man and avenge your girlfriend!"

"If he dares to do it, he should dare to face the consequences. Let's teach this home wrecker a lesson!"

I clenched my fists. Their words were getting more and more offensive. They even slandered the pure relationship between a father and daughter.

They were simply inhumane.

I looked around.

I'd been working out for years. Although I was getting older, I'd kept in good shape.

On the table not far away was an iron rod I used to secure a flower stand.

If it came to a fight, I might not lose.

Dominick's people were getting more riled up.

Some of them even started wreaking havoc in my house.

I had bought many expensive materials to decorate the villa and carefully designed the furniture for Kelsey's birthday party.

And even the villa was newly renovated.

The paintings on the walls were part of my cherished collection. I had never shown them to others.

But at that moment, Dominick's people were casually tearing them down.

I watched helplessly as a painting worth eighty million was ripped from the wall and shredded to pieces.

"Dominick, look! He is good at pretending. The blind old man in my community could paint ten of these worthless paintings one day. But he treated them like treasures on the wall. It's ridiculous."

The green-haired man casually scattered the pieces.

Eighty million dollars fluttered down like confetti.

He laughed at my pretense, and I laughed at his ignorance.

6

Dominick looked smug. He held his phone and showcased my house to the live stream audience.

"Everyone, take a look. My girlfriend is really rich. This old man is just a gigolo. He tricked my girlfriend into spending money on him. So he got this villa like this."

I touched my face.

Not to boast, but I do look quite good.

And because I was rich, I exuded a mature charm.

Even though my daughter was already grown, there were still plenty of women abroad who showed interest in me.

The livestream comments were going wild.

Besides expressing amazement, they were mostly condemning me.

"Dominick, you're amazing. No wonder you're catching a home wrecker. If this old man deceived your girlfriend successfully, imagine how much wealth he'd gain. He will never work hard for the rest of his life."

Dominick pretended to mind it. "Hey, we are not doing this for money. We're doing it for justice. We can't stand people who laze around and do nothing, and we can't stand men who become home wreckers for their selfish desires!" Dominick said righteously.

His followers started to act.

Some of them saw valuable items and directly pocketed them.

Some others were eager to impress Dominick and charged at me.

I stepped back and grabbed the rod from the table.

I hit one of them with the rod.

My muscles weren't just for show.

The man fell to the floor, clutching his head and rolling in pain.

Seeing this, Dominick set his phone down.

"Everyone, today I'll show you how to catch a home wrecker live!" With that, Dominick charged at me too.

He was tougher than the previous guy. He could at least fight against me for a while.

Just as I was about to hit him again, two other men on the floor grabbed my legs tightly.

I struggled but couldn't break free at that moment.

Dominick smirked wickedly and punched me in the face.

I turned my head from the blow.

The corner of my mouth bled.

7

The live stream erupted in cheers.

Dominick grew more arrogant and punched me repeatedly.

No matter how I struggled, the two men clinging to my legs wouldn't let me go.

The one on the left even bit my leg to make it easier for Dominick to hit me.

A grown man actually resorted to such tactics.

"You just say she's your daughter, so she really is? Maybe she is. But I am the one in her bed."