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.

heart whenever she saw the pitiful look on Queenie's face when she asked for her papa. Yet, she could only turn away and wipe her tears as she had no answer for her dear

needs a

eyes only fueled her

but she finally agreed, “Alright,

because she needs a papa in her life. But let me give you a

fact that Queenie calls you papa does not mean

Nathan nodded his

opportunity to reunite with Queenie because she wanted the

her to forgive him for the pain he had inflicted

years of suffering in silence had spun an invisible web within her, creating a deadly mess of entangled knots. He knew that it would take time to untwine and

inside the elementary classroom of Golden Apple Kindergarten, the teacher was nowhere to

decked in designer wear was

neck of a little girl who was being towed along like

makeshift leash impatiently and shouted at her, “Don't you

grubby face stained with chalk

with the winsome features of a pretty,

tugging at the rope around her

or I'll get everyone to wallop you. You're a stupid b****** who

eyes red-rimmed, Queenie sobbed pitifully, “No, don't call

place and when I say you're a b****** you'd better act like one. Now, do as I say and bark like a dog!” The fat boy

at what they saw, as if they were

reached the entrance

of her daughter being leashed like a puppy threw Penny into a state of shock. She

the rope from Queenie’s neck and tossed it away as if it were a repulsive snake. “What happened to you, Queenie?”

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 in the

What?

through Penny's veins, making

named Max Zahn. He always picked on Queenie as

inhumane treatment that Queenie was receiving

as she consoled her, “You have a papa,