CHAPTER 326: CHAPTER 326: I WON’T LET ANY HARM COME TO YOU

Everyone says Daddy’s a smart man, but he believed my stories so easily. Guess he’s not that smart after all.

"I won’t..."

He wanted to say, "I won’t let any harm come to you," but after what happened to Chantelle, the words caught in his throat.

Stephanie interrupted him at just the right moment. "Mommy’s a strong woman. She said we have to learn to protect ourselves instead of always counting on others."

That’s because she got hurt when she relied on me. Daniel felt devastated again after hearing her daughter’s words.

Stephanie could tell Daniel was feeling depressed again. She let out a sigh and thought to herself, Mom was right, men are really hard to deal with.

"Mr. Daniel, your body can’t take any more injury. You already have abscesses in a few areas, especially your right arm. If you push it again, the damage could be permanent," the doctor said while treating his injuries. He looked genuinely concerned.

Daniel gave a sullen nod. "I know."

Earlier, when he heard Chantelle was in danger, he jumped on a motorcycle and rushed to find her. He made it just in time and fired a bolt from his mini crossbow at the truck driver. The driver swerved to dodge it, turning the wheel sharply and avoiding hitting Chantelle.

But the sudden move caused the truck to crash into both Oscar’s truck and Daniel’s motorcycle. Luckily, Daniel managed to leap away at the last second, narrowly escaping being crushed.

When Daniel landed on the road, he injured his right arm.

After the doctor left, Stephanie and the butler brought his dinner on a tray.

She noticed his arm was now in a cast. She scooped some soup, gently blew on it, and held the spoon near his mouth.

"Say ’Ahh,’" she said softly.

Daniel’s bad mood faded the moment he saw her warm smile.

"Your face is the only nice thing about you right now. If you keep frowning, Mommy won’t like it," Stephanie said with a cheeky grin.

Daniel smiled at her words. "Does your mommy think I’m handsome?"

Stephanie briefly paused, then gave him a small nod.

"What else did she say about me?" Daniel asked, clearly curious.

Stephanie looked at his right arm and said, "She also said you’re really strong. But if your arm doesn’t heal and you can’t carry heavy things anymore, she might stop liking you."

Daniel chuckled. "Hmm. Sounds like your mommy has good taste. Don’t you think?"

He knew Stephanie was just trying to lift his spirits, but her words still made him feel happy.

It showed that his daughter cared about him, and that meant a lot.

"Heh, you think too highly of yourself," Stephanie said, making a face at him.

Daniel couldn’t help but pinch her chubby cheek, which made her fight back. The two of them ended up laughing and playing, pinching and tickling each other.

That night, after brushing her teeth, Stephanie knocked on Daniel’s door. He was busy attending the company’s work on his laptop. Thinking it was the butler, he said, "Come in," without looking up.

After a moment of silence, he realized the person hadn’t said anything. When he looked up, he saw Stephanie standing beside him, hugging a doll and staring at the photo on his laptop screen.

Daniel seemed to realize something. "Do you know him?" he asked.

The photo on his screen was a sketch of "Trenton," someone he had seen in the castle on Kamai Island. Daniel had recreated it from his memory and was planning to send it to the Wilson Group Of Companies’s branch in Carcosa.

Stephanie shook her head. She didn’t recognize the man.

Daniel didn’t ask further. He gently patted her head. "Were you looking for me?"

"Why am I sleeping in the basement?" she asked.

Earlier, the butler had led Stephanie through a few hidden doors to a room in the basement of the villa. She had no idea that place even existed.

Even though it looked cool, Stephanie didn’t want to sleep there alone tonight.

"I’ll ask Mr. Charles to stay with you tonight, okay? Just for one night."

"I don’t want that. I want to sleep here," Stephanie said as she kicked off her slippers and climbed onto Daniel’s bed.

Daniel quickly removed the blanket that she had pulled over her head. "Stephanie, can you listen to me just this once?"

"I wanna listen to a bedtime story, Daddy. Mommy always reads us bedtime stories before we go to bed," Stephanie said, clearly ignoring his request.

Daniel sighed and gave in for now. He planned to move her to the basement after she fell asleep. It was the only safe place in the villa.

He found a bedtime story on his phone and started reading it to her.

The story was a dull version of Snow White, and Stephanie quickly lost interest. Her eyes started to shut.

Daniel thought she had fallen asleep. He gently patted her back, then bent down to lift her from the bed.

Just as he lifted her from the bed, her eyes fluttered open. She whispered, "Daddy, that person in the sketch wasn’t Trenton."

"Have you met Trenton before?" Daniel asked curiously.

Stephanie nodded seriously while observing her father’s reaction. "Trenton is about your age. He’s extremely handsome."

Daniel’s frown deepened. He didn’t like the idea of some good-looking man his age trying to win Chantelle’s heart.

"Stephanie, do you know how Trenton and your mommy met?"

"I don’t know. He’s just always been around for as long as I can remember. He visits Mommy a lot and always brings us lots of presents."

Daniel noticed that Stephanie showed no discomfort or hesitation when talking about Trenton.

He began to suspect that Trenton had strong feelings for Chantelle. And when she rejected him, he might have lost control.

"It’s time to sleep, Stephanie," Daniel said softly, trying to coax her to rest as his mind wandered to what might happen later that night.

Stephanie blinked a few times, then quietly obeyed. She soon drifted off to sleep.

However, when Daniel was heading down to the basement, the alarm suddenly rang loudly.

Stephanie jolted awake and her heart pounded hard. In an instant, it felt like the whole world flipped upside down. When she came to her senses, she saw two bullet holes right where they had been standing just moments before.

But she hadn’t heard any gunshots.

"Daddy, you can put me behind there," she said, pointing at the sofa.

She knew she couldn’t be a burden to her father at this crucial moment.

Daniel shook his head and hugged her tightly. "Don’t move, Stephanie."