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.

face when she asked for her papa. Yet, she could only turn away and wipe her tears as she had no answer

needs

in Nathan's eyes

decide, but she finally agreed, “Alright, I'll give you a chance to reunite with your

needs a papa in her life. But let me give you a stern warning - do nothing that might upset

papa does not mean you are my husband, do you

nodded

with Queenie because she wanted the young

the pain he had inflicted on her,

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 unravel those

the elementary classroom of Golden Apple Kindergarten,

decked in designer wear was gloating with delight, pulling

rope was tied to the neck of a little girl who was being towed

leash impatiently and shouted at her, “Don't you know you're my dog,

victim crawled on her limbs like a puppy, her grubby face stained with chalk dust. She was a little girl

and dust was a well-defined face with the winsome features of a

kept tugging at the rope around her neck, which left

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

pitifully, “No, don't

of this place and when I say you're a b****** you'd better act like one. Now, do as I say and bark like a

at what they saw, as if they were watching a

and Penny had just reached the entrance of

Penny into a

as if it were a repulsive snake. “What happened to you, Queenie?” She asked worriedly, her eyes burning

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****

What?

fury coursed through Penny's veins, making

fat bully named Max Zahn. He always picked on Queenie as

the inhumane treatment that

have a papa,