Echoes of Honor Chapter 2

Returning home, my father sat on the sofa, panting heavily.

Fine sweat covered his forehead.

A moment later, he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

My father carefully unfolded it.

I froze for a second before realizing what it was.

It was my admission letter to the police academy from back then.

More than a decade had passed, and it was already covered with the mottled traces of time.

The once bold and vigorous characters were now blurred and illegible.

But my father picked up his glasses from the table, sat up straight, and softly began to read.

"Student Sarah Sterling, you have been admitted to our academy... to become a prospective cadet..."

My father's voice grew louder, and waves of sorrow welled up in my heart.

My whole being was enveloped in grief; I couldn't catch my breath for a long time.

Scenes from the past flashed before my eyes.

I remember it was a summer day, the sweltering heat making my clothes stick tightly to my body.

I held the admission letter in my hand and ran towards home.

The cool breeze brushed my cheeks, as if the whole world were cheering for me.

"Dad! I got in! Dad! I got in!"

I yelled all the way, attracting the neighbors' attention.

My father, in his prime then, ran out from the hallway immediately.

His face was filled with joy.

His big hands held my admission letter, looking at it over and over again.

The bright light in his eyes was as scorching as the sun in the sky.

"Good girl, you are Daddy's pride. Daddy is proud of you."

He grabbed my waist and lifted me high.

That was the closest I ever got to the sky.

I remember that day, my father took me walking around the neighborhood for a whole day.

He showed the admission letter to everyone he met, proudly patting his chest.

"Police academy, my daughter, got in."

Every neighbor who saw it gave a thumbs up, smiling and saying.

"Like father, like daughter."

"Arthur's daughter is just as good as any man, getting into the police academy, making us proud."

But no one expected that in the second year, I would be expelled from the academy for insubordination.

The day I came home carrying my luggage, my father's eyes were bloodshot. It was the first time I ever saw him cry.

He clutched his belt tightly in his hand, only whipped me twice, then sobbed and started whipping himself.

"It's because I didn't educate you well, it's all my fault."

That night, my father and I hugged each other and cried the entire night.

From that day on, my father completely lowered his head in front of the neighbors.

His straight back also gradually bent.

He stayed cooped up at home all day, no longer going out to chat and play chess like before.

He was afraid they would talk about me, afraid to hear their mockery, and even more afraid to hear their pity for me.

Just like that, ten years passed.

And I took a path completely opposite to before—joining the underworld.

At first, my father scolded me, beat me, used all the words and logic he could think of to persuade me to turn back.

But later, seeing that I never changed, he became completely desperate.

He cut off all contact with me and changed the locks on the house.

Even if I waited outside all night, all I got was his hateful glare.

The father and daughter were no longer as harmonious as before, completely severing ties like enemies.

So, when I saw this admission letter, I simply couldn't believe it.

He actually still kept it.

A long-standing bitterness, buried deep in my father's heart for ten years, enveloped me.

I seemed to see him in countless days and nights, holding the admission letter and crying bitterly.

Everything from before shattered all my father's pride, and the image of him crying bitterly hit me right between the eyes like bullets.