The truth gradually emerged.

The case was severe, and all the officers had scattered to search for clues, but nothing turned up. Father had just returned from outside and hadn’t caught his breath when his phone rang.

“Yutao, why didn’t Manman come home for dinner today? It’s her grandfather’s birthday. What’s going on?”

It was Grandmother.

Upon hearing this, Father’s briefly relaxed brow tightened fiercely once more.

“Don’t ask me about her! Her death outside has nothing to do with me!”

He hadn’t closed his eyes for an entire day and night; his emotions had reached a breaking point.

“You heartless man! Yao Yao is dead, and you treat her daughter like this!” Grandmother cursed him bitterly before slamming down the phone.

Captain Liu had just stepped into the office when he heard Father’s angry outburst. He paused, puzzled. “Manman didn’t go to wish her grandfather a happy birthday? She’s not an irresponsible child. Is something wrong?”

Father threw his phone onto the desk in frustration. “Let her die! I don’t ever want to hear that name again!”

Captain Liu opened his mouth but said nothing further.

Suddenly, a commotion arose outside.

“My daughter is missing! Please, help me find her!” a man’s voice, full of grief, echoed through the police station’s lobby, accompanied by painful sobbing. “My wife passed away early, leaving only this daughter. I cannot live without her!”

Father and Captain Liu exchanged a stunned, hopeful glance—finally, a lead—and rushed out immediately.

“Sir, when did you realize your child was missing? Can you describe her features?”

The man’s weathered face was etched with pain and anxiety. He came rushing in to report the case, having lost a shoe in his haste.

How enviable—to have a father who loves you so deeply.

A pang of bittersweet emotion stirred within me, a feeling I had never known.

The man collapsed onto the floor, choking back his tears. “My daughter is just over 1.6 meters tall, very slim and beautiful, only 18 years old.”

“She went to a classmate’s house yesterday morning. I was home catching up on sleep after my night shift. In the evening, before I left for work, she hadn’t returned, but I didn’t worry, since sometimes she stays out late. But today, she still hasn’t shown up!”

His voice grew shaky, as if imagining the worst possible scenario, his whole being unraveling into despair.

Captain Liu’s eyes widened as he turned to Father.

After a long pause, Father hesitated. “The female corpse found on the Guojiang Bridge last night... she was about 1.6 meters tall, slender, just reached adulthood...”

Upon hearing this, the man suddenly looked up at Father, eyes wide with disbelief. He opened his mouth to speak but could only utter incoherent sounds.

His face instantly drained of color. He struggled to rise but his limbs felt powerless, unable to stand.

Captain Liu sighed and helped him into a chair.

After a while, the man regained his voice. “I... I want to see her.”

This nearly two-meter-tall man, unable to walk, almost crawled to the morgue door.

The door creaked open.

He trembled as he approached the female corpse covered by a white sheet.

With shaking hands, he pulled back the cloth and glanced once—then collapsed to the floor, laughing and crying at the same time.

“No, no, this isn’t my girl. My girl has six fingers on her left hand.”

Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, this man’s beloved daughter was still alive, though concerns remained about the whereabouts of the young girl and the identity of the body on the autopsy table.

Just then, the man’s phone rang.

“Hello, Qiao Qiao’s dad? We found the child!” an excited female voice came from the other end.

“Dad, I’m sorry for worrying you. I was hit by a car, and my phone got broken. I’m at the hospital now, sobbing...” The girl’s voice was full of helplessness.

Instantly, the man clutched the phone, tears streaming down his face.

“My darling, you scared me to death. Where are you hurt? Is it serious? Dad will come get you.”

As he spoke, he finally steadied himself. Strength returned to his limbs, and he leaned against the wall, heading toward the door.

He took two steps, then turned back to bow apologetically to the officers. “Sorry for troubling you all, but there’s one more thing I must ask.”

“Please, officers, don’t let the murderer get away. This little girl is so young. Her parents must be waiting for her to come home.”

“I saw she wore a safety lock around her neck. She must be a precious treasure to her family.”

That was the gift my father gave me when I was three. At that time, he lifted me high and placed the safety lock around my neck with his own hands.

“My dear Manman, from now on, may you always be safe and live a long life.”

But sadly, I only lived eighteen years.

No one will ever wait for me to come home again, nor will anyone genuinely wish for my safety.

I died—yet my father still rejoiced.

Father promised him, “We will. We will make sure every child comes home.”

After speaking, he turned to look at the corpse on the autopsy table. Perhaps the safety lock seemed familiar to him. He picked it up, examined it, then put it down again.

“It’s nothing special, just an ordinary safety lock,” Father muttered softly before covering the body once more.

Captain Liu frowned in worry. “Manman has been missing so long. Why don’t you call her and make sure she’s okay?”

No sooner had he spoken than Father’s expression darkened again. His voice became cold. “Liu, I told you, don’t mention her!”

He displayed no attempt to hide his loathing for me.

I smiled bitterly to myself. If he could, perhaps he would gladly kill me with his own hands.

Yet the next moment, when his phone rang, his twisted features softened completely. “Hello? Yuanyuan?”

At that instant, his gaze was full of tenderness, a stark contrast to the hatred he had just shown me.

“Good girl Yuanyuan, Dad’s been busy with a case lately. I might not be home for dinner tonight.”

“You want to travel? Dad will send you ten thousand. If that’s not enough, I’ll send more. Don’t be stingy.”

“When you cross the street, watch the traffic lights carefully and look both ways, okay?”

I just stood there, watching helplessly, as my father—someone not even related to me by blood—released his warmth and fatherly love.

This was the kindness I had never received.

At the police station’s entrance, a package appeared.

The recipient was Yutao; the sender was Xiaoman.

In this tense and chaotic moment, a delivery arrived abruptly, as if fate itself was hinting at something—perhaps the truth.

“That jinx, always bringing me trouble!”

The security guard urged Father to pick up the parcel. Muttering curses, he strode toward the door. “The case isn’t solved yet. Who has time to deal with this?”

Seeing the name written on the box, a bright look of disgust uncontrollably crossed his face.

Father bent down, grabbed the box, and was about to toss it into the trash. Anything related to me, he refused to see.

Captain Liu just happened to be leaving, saying they had a lead on the corpse.

He raised a hand to greet Father, but when passing by, he suddenly stopped and shouted, “Wait! Old Yu! What are you holding?”