Salute To The General

Chapter 2 The Reunion Of Father And Daughter

Penny did not struggle in his arms. It was as if she had lost her will to fight.

The only sign of defiance was the tears that spilled over the corners of her eyes.

She had lived her life in the past five years like a zombie, benumbing herself to the relentless insults and humiliation targeted at her. She had thought of ending her life several times to escape from the pain and misery, but each time, her daughter's face would surface in her mind. With her daughter as her sole anchor, Penny gritted her teeth and forged onward.

It was all because of this devil who had torn her life apart!

Nathan was the one who had brought the relentless misery and despair upon her and her daughter. She swore that she would strive to work hard and stay single for the rest of her life. Her only purpose was to make up for her daughter's sufferings by giving her a blissful and promising future. Little did she know that the man who had started the tragedy five years ago and brought upon the most torturous times of her life was now back to haunt her. It was like rubbing salt in her wound. Upon his reappearance, all the poignant memories which had been long buried came back to life, flashing across her mind like indelible ghosts.

How she yearned for a break. She prayed to God for a little salvation, earnestly begging the heavens to stop piling up on her hardships.

The sight of Penny's piteous state was unbearable to Nathan. He gently put her down and let her stand on her feet.

“Can you give me a chance to make up to you and our daughter, please?” A stony-hearted creature like him was a complete stranger to tenderness, but he begged for the first time in the gentlest manner he could muster.

“For the sake of our daughter, and for you as well, please give me a chance,” he pleaded.

Penny quivered uncontrollably when he uttered “our daughter’.

It gifted her with a glint of hope as she slowly lifted her eyes.

“Trust me, I know what kind of hell you both have gone through over the years,” Nathan continued to plead in his soft voice, “I know that you loathe me too, but please give me a chance to make amends.”

“Children from single-parent families are more prone to suffer from personality disorders, which may affect their overall well-being.”

“Please give me a chance, Penny.”

Penny's eyes reflected a whirlwind of emotions as she ruminated on his words. Queenie was growing up fast and getting more sensible by the day.

A family without a father could never be complete, let alone offer a sense of normalcy and oneness to the child.

her heart whenever she saw the pitiful look on Queenie's face when she asked for her papa. Yet, she could only turn

Queenie needs

determination in Nathan's eyes only fueled her

she finally agreed,

needs a papa in her life. But let me give

that Queenie calls you papa does not mean you are my husband, do you get

nodded his

him the opportunity to reunite with

take a lifetime for her to forgive him for the pain he had inflicted on

creating a deadly mess of entangled knots. He knew that it would take time to untwine and unravel those knots of pain

inside the elementary classroom of Golden Apple

wear was gloating

end of the rope was tied to the neck of a little

tugged on the makeshift leash impatiently and shouted at her, “Don't you know you're my dog, Queenie?

face stained with chalk

grime and dust was a well-defined face with the

at the rope around her neck, which

inaction, the fat boy pestered her again, “Queenie, I'm warning you, bark, or I'll get everyone to wallop you. You're a

pitifully, “No, don't

like one. Now, do as I say and bark like a dog!” The fat boy was

rest of the kids laughed at what they saw, as if they

Penny had just reached the

threw Penny into a

and tossed it away as if it were a repulsive snake. “What happened to you, Queenie?”

any longer upon seeing her mother. Like a dam that had exploded, she sobbed until her little body trembled, “Mama, Max Zahn has said that I'm a b**** and that he wants me to bark like a dog, otherwise, he would get everybody

What?

rage, fury coursed through Penny's veins,

this fat bully named Max Zahn. He

when she saw the inhumane treatment that

consoled her, “You have a papa, Queenie. They're