The Reaper's Redemption

Chapter 002

"Grandma, what's wrong?" Jenna whimpered, shrinking into Brit Lohan’s embrace. She stared warily at the towering man in the black coat.

"I... I just came to see her," Robert Depp rasped, his normally unshakable voice trembling.

"You have no right to look at her!" Brit screamed, clutching the terrified girl. "She has nothing to do with you! Get out!" She spun toward the market crowd, her voice cracking with panic. "Help! Kidnapper! He's trying to steal my grandchild!"

The sudden commotion terrified Jenna. She buried her face in Brit's chest and began to sob, overwhelmed by a sudden, inexplicable urge to cry at the sight of the giant man looking so utterly helpless.

"Boss, we need to move," Viper muttered, grabbing Robert’s arm with an iron grip. "Don't force this reunion. Let's fall back."

Robert’s boots felt like lead, but logic dictated retreat. As Viper forcibly dragged him away, Robert looked back repeatedly, his eyes filled with agonizing reluctance.

Barely a moment after they vanished, a frail, exhausted woman rushed over. It was Lily Lohan, wearing a faded red sweater and casually holding a lit cigarette.

"Mom, what happened?" Lily asked, seeing her daughter in tears.

Brit shook her head frantically, unable to speak. Lily followed her mother’s gaze and caught a fleeting glimpse of a broad, familiar back disappearing into the bustling crowd.

The cigarette slipped from her fingers. For a second, her pale face went entirely blank. Then, the numbness shattered into explosive, volcanic fury.

"You animal!" she shrieked. "Stop right there!"

She lunged forward, but Brit instantly tackled her into an embrace. "Let go of me! I'm going to kill him!" Lily thrashed and screamed, her feral agony forcing the onlookers to cautiously back away.

When Robert's silhouette finally disappeared, the fight drained from Lily. She collapsed into her mother's arms, her eyes dead and hollow, and wept hysterically. This was the monster who had incinerated her future—dragging a brilliant, aristocratic dance prodigy down into the gutters, branding her as a lunatic scrambling for survival in a dead-end job.

"Mommy, don't cry," Jenna pleaded, wiping her mother's tears.

The little voice pulled Lily from the abyss. She snatched Jenna up. "Promise me," she gasped. "Promise you'll never, ever leave Mommy."

Back at the clinic, the raw sound of Lily's hysterical wailing still echoed in Robert's mind.

"Boss... do you blame me for pulling you out?" Viper asked quietly.

Robert lit a cigarette, staring blankly ahead. "If I truly wanted to stay, you couldn't have stopped me. I just didn't have the courage to face her."

Viper sighed heavily. "To Lily, Jenna is her entire world. You show up out of nowhere, and she assumes you're here to steal the child. You ruined her life. You can't blame her for hating you."

"I know," Robert exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. "Eight years of deep-seated hatred won't be erased with a simple apology."

"You are Jenna's biological father," Viper added. "Blood is thicker than water. With time, you can tear down those walls." Robert simply nodded, staring silently at the sky.

The next evening, an exhausted Lily arrived at Sunnydale Elementary School.

"What do you mean she's already gone?!" Lily’s voice spiked in absolute panic. "Did a man take her?!"

"I don't know!" the flustered teacher stammered. "Jenna said she saw you outside. It was crowded, so I let her out. She never lies to me!"

"What kind of teacher are you?!" Lily roared. She spun on her heel and sprinted to the busy street. Her mind instantly flashed to the broad silhouette from the market. Her blood ran cold. Is that bastard back to steal Jenna?

"Robert Depp," Lily gasped, her fists clenched as tears of sheer terror blurred her vision. "Jenna is all I have left. If you dare take her from me, I will kill you."

Meanwhile, several blocks away, Jenna stood by the road, a massive plastic trash bag slung over her tiny shoulder. Her large eyes were fixed on an empty water bottle held by a young couple.

"Do you want this bottle, sweetheart?" the young woman asked.

Jenna nodded vigorously. The couple gently dropped it into her bag.

"Thank you, Uncle and Auntie!" Jenna chimed, delivering a deep, perfectly executed bow.

Charmed by her manners, the young woman pulled out a fifty-dollar bill. "Here, buy yourself a treat."

"My mommy says I can't take money from strangers. Just the bottle is fine!" Jenna refused politely and bolted down the street like the wind.

By 7:00 PM, an exhausted Jenna was dragging her bulging sack toward the scrapyard. Her arms ached, but the thought of easing her mother's burden kept a bright smile on her face.

Suddenly, her foot caught on the pavement. Jenna tumbled forward, and the heavy bag ripped wide open. A cascade of crushed cans and plastic bottles clattered loudly against the side of a parked luxury BMW.

The driver's door swung open, and Big Dave—a heavy-set local kingpin weighing over two hundred pounds—stormed out.

"I'm sorry, Uncle! I didn't mean to!" Jenna paled. She scrambled up, bowed frantically, and pulled a handful of dirty coins from her backpack. "I can pay for it!"

There wasn't a single scratch on the car's paint, but seeing the pathetic handful of coins pushed the man over the edge.

Without a word, Big Dave delivered a brutal, backhanded slap straight across Jenna’s tiny face.

"Do you know how much this car costs?!" he bellowed, spit flying from his lips. "Call your parents right now! If they don't bring me fifty grand, I'm throwing you in a police cell!"