The moment the word left his mouth, Hua Jing froze.
Then she laughed.
It wasn't a light laugh, nor was it amused. It was sharp, broken, and edged with madness, as though something inside her had finally snapped. Her laughter echoed through the room, drawing startled looks from the officers nearby.
"Father?" she repeated, her eyes red-rimmed as she stared straight at him. "You're my father?"
Her laughter abruptly cut off, replaced by a shout that seemed to tear straight out of her chest. "You dare call yourself my father?!"
Years of suppressed pain surged forward like a flood that had finally broken through a dam.
"Where were you when I was locked in that house like an unwanted stray?" Hua Jing demanded, her voice shaking but loud, every word drenched in bitterness. "Where were you when Chen Li humiliated me every single day, when Hua Ling smiled sweetly to your face and turned around to torment me behind your back?"
