They Called Asher a Fallen War Hero... Biggest Mistake Ever

07: Sunshine

The next afternoon, the Bennett Villa was unusually quiet. Yesterday's celebration had ended in humiliation.

The expensive decorations were gone, and the laughter had disappeared.

Elaine sat in the living room with a dark expression. The newspapers lying on the table only made her angrier.

Although none of them mentioned the Bennett family by name. Everyone in the business circle already knew Blackstone Development had abruptly abandoned a major partnership.

Phones that usually rang nonstop had become silent. Several business partners hadn't returned her calls.

Elaine slammed the newspaper onto the table: "It was bad luck. It had to be."

No one answered.

Even the relatives who had praised her yesterday now avoided meeting her eyes.

A heavy silence lived in the villa.

Just then, small footsteps strode from the staircase. Lily walked downstairs wearing her school uniform.

She carefully held the little sunflower Asher had given her. The tiny flower had already turned toward the morning light.

Elaine frowned: "Why are you carrying that thing again?"

Lily hugged the flower closer: "Daddy gave it to me."

Elaine's face darkened: "I told you not to mention him in this house."

Lily lowered her head.

"But… You also told me flowers need sunlight." The little continued: "This one makes me think of Daddy."

Elaine's patience snapped; she reached out: "Drop that off."

Lily instinctively stepped back: "No! It's mine!"

The sudden shout surprised everyone in the room.

Lily's small body trembled, but she refused to let go of the flower.

Serena quickly walked over: "Mom. She's just a child."

Elaine took a deep breath before sitting back down: "Take her to school." Her voice oozed with venom: “I don't want any more arguments."

Serena nodded quietly; she held Lily's hand. As they left the villa. She looked back once, and her sunflower remained safely in her arms.

Across the city. A black sedan was parked beside the maple tree outside Bright Oaks Elementary.

Asher sat behind the wheel and looked at the school gate without saying a word.

General Hale sat in the passenger seat: "You came early."

"I wanted to."

General Hale smiled: "You've already reviewed today's reports. You attended the morning meeting and approved the hospital funding."

"Not yet… The most important appointment on my schedule is this." Asher's eyes never left the school entrance: "It always will be."

The old general didn't say another word; some answers deserved silence.

The school bell rang, and children flooded out through the gate while parents waved.

Teachers smiled in relief as the noisy afternoon was filled with laughter.

Then, Lily appeared; she walked more slowly than the other children. Her eyes searched the crowd to see if Serena had come to pick her up.

Disappointment crossed her expression, but instead of seeing her mum's face, she saw someone else, him.

Her face lit up: "Daddy!"

She ran so fast that one of her shoes almost slipped off. Asher laughed softly before kneeling.

She crashed into his arms: "I knew you'd come!"

He hugged her tightly: "Did you doubt me?"

She shook her head: "Never. I just… I missed you."

Asher gently brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face: "I missed you too, Sunshine."

Lily proudly held up the flowerpot: "Look! It's growing!"

The sunflower had opened another bright yellow petal. Asher smiled: "You've taken good care of it."

"I talk to it every day."

"What do you tell it?"

Lily giggled: "I told it Daddy will come home soon."

The smile on Asher's face remained, but something tightened inside his chest. He reached into a paper bag beside him: "I brought us something."

Lily peeked inside, her eyes widened: "Haha! Sandwiches!"

"Your favorite."

They sat together on a nearby park bench. Lily happily swung her little legs while eating. She talked about school, her teachers, and also about a classmate who always traded cookies.

She spoke so quickly that she barely stopped to breathe. Asher simply listened. Every smile on her face made the noise of the city disappear.

Halfway through lunch. Lily suddenly became quiet: "Daddy?"

"Yes?"

She looked down at her sandwich: "Are you really a bad person?"

The question pierced him.

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he gently placed his hand over hers: "Do you think I am?"

She looked up without hesitation: "No."

"Then that's enough."

Lily smiled again: "I knew it. My daddy never lies."

At that moment...

Neither of them was glancing at the white van parked across the street. Inside, a man lowered a camera after taking several photographs.

He didn't smile, but pressed a button on his phone. One image was sent, then another. Within seconds, a reply appeared.

[Keep watching, do not approach the child]

The man frowned, and he typed back.

[Understood]

He roared the engine, and the van quietly drove away.

Meanwhile, General Hale watched it disappear through the side mirror, his eyes narrowed.

"I've marked the license plate."

Asher didn't turn around: “I knew you were observant."

"You saw it?"

"I noticed them before Lily arrived."

General Hale looked surprised: “Then why didn't you stop them?"

Asher watched Lily laugh as she tried to feed crumbs to a pair of pigeons: "Because today belongs to my daughter."

His calm voice carried absolute certainty: "They wanted photographs, so let them have photographs."

General Hale understood immediately. Asher wasn't ignoring the danger; he was refusing to let fear steal even one afternoon from Lily.

The old general smiled quietly.

The people watching from the shadows believed they had discovered the great Asher River's weakness.

Are they wrong?

****

A distance away, inside a dimly lit room, a series of photographs appeared on a large screen of Asher and Lily laughing, and the sunflower between them.

A man sitting at the head of the table studied every picture without a word.

Finally, he tapped the image of the flower: "He smiles differently around her."

Another figure nodded: "Yes."

The man slowly leaned back and chuckled: "Hmm. Now we know exactly what kind of man we're dealing with."

The room fell into silence.

Outside, the first move had already been made. Neither side had drawn a weapon, but the distance between them was growing shorter…