"Daddy, look! The yellow bus is taking all the kids to school," Lily whispered, pressing her small face against the grimy window of their cramped apartment, her breath fogging the glass as she watched children in pristine uniforms climb aboard a vehicle that might as well have been a spaceship to another world.
Ethan's phone buzzed with a system alert that made his blood run cold:
**[CRITICAL WARNING]**
**[EXPOSURE METER: 28% - RULE FLUCTUATION DETECTED]**
**[LAST NIGHT'S ACTIVITIES TRIGGERED SURVEILLANCE PROTOCOLS]**
**[MANDATORY COVER OPERATION REQUIRED]**
**[RECOMMENDATION: LARGE-SCALE LEGAL EXPENDITURE TO MASK DIGITAL FOOTPRINT]**
"Daddy," Lily turned from the window, her eyes bright with the kind of hope that could break hearts, "I found three bottle caps yesterday! We can sell them for three whole dollars today!"
The innocent pride in her voice—pride over three dollars earned by crawling through garbage—hit Ethan like a physical blow. Here was his daughter, celebrating pocket change while other children her age were driven to school in cars worth more than most people's houses.
"You know what, princess?" Ethan said, scooping her into his arms and feeling something fundamental shift in his chest. "Today, we're going to do something special. Something that will change everything."
An hour later, their taxi pulled up to the gates of Royal Galaxy International Kindergarten, the most exclusive preschool in the city. The building rose like a crystal palace, surrounded by luxury cars that gleamed like mechanical jewelry under the morning sun.
Lily's eyes went wide as she took in the marble columns and gold-trimmed windows. "Daddy, this place is so pretty. But... but I'm too dirty for somewhere this nice."
She looked down at her patched clothes with the kind of self-awareness that no five-year-old should possess, and Ethan felt his heart crack like ice under pressure.
---
The moment they stepped through the ornate entrance, a woman in an expensive suit materialized like a well-dressed vulture. Director Wang Meili's face twisted with disgust as she took in their appearance—Ethan in his thrift store clothes and Lily in her carefully mended dress.
"Excuse me," Wang Meili said, her voice dripping with the kind of condescension that could strip paint, "but I think you're lost. The recycling center is three blocks down. Please don't bring any... bacteria... into our facility."
She actually pinched her nose as she spoke, as if their poverty was contagious.
"We're here to enroll my daughter," Ethan said calmly, pulling out a carefully filled application form.
Wang Meili's laugh was like breaking glass mixed with the sound of children crying. "Oh, this is rich!" She snatched the application and tore it in half with theatrical flourish. "Do you have any idea what it costs to attend Royal Galaxy? The donation alone is $200,000, and we require three generations of financial verification."
She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. "We don't accept charity cases here. This is an institution for the elite, not for people who can't even scrape together two dollars and fifty cents."
That's when Roxanne Sterling appeared, her heels clicking against the marble floor like gunshots. She'd been visiting the school on legal business and couldn't help but overhear the commotion.
"Excuse me," Roxanne said, her legal training kicking in despite her personal feelings about Ethan. "You can't refuse to accept an application based on appearance. That's discrimination."
She bent down and picked up the torn pieces of paper, her sense of justice overriding her suspicions.
Wang Meili's smile turned predatory. "Oh, but I can. School board policy clearly states we maintain admission standards to preserve the quality of our educational environment. We simply cannot allow low-net-worth families to dilute the caliber of our student body."
She turned back to Ethan with renewed viciousness. "You see, poverty isn't just about money—it's a mindset, a stench that clings to people like you. Your daughter would never fit in here because she lacks the breeding, the class, the fundamental quality that separates the worthy from the... unworthy."
---
Ethan felt rage building in his chest like molten steel, but before he could respond, something miraculous happened.
Lily stood on her tiptoes and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek, her small hand patting his arm with infinite tenderness.
"Don't be sad, Daddy," she whispered. "The mean lady doesn't understand that we have something better than money. We have each other. Let's go home."
That kiss—that pure, protective love from a child trying to comfort her father—detonated something nuclear in the Supreme Dad System.
**[DING!]**
**[S-RANK PURE LOVE DETECTED: DAUGHTER'S PROTECTION PROTOCOL]**
**[LOVE POINTS EARNED: +50,000 LP (RECORD BREAKING)]**
**[FINANCIAL LOCKS: COMPLETELY DISSOLVED]**
**[OFFSHORE TRUST FUND: $10 BILLION USD UNLOCKED]**
**[MANDATORY EXPENDITURE MISSION ACTIVATED]**
**[OBJECTIVE: GIVE DAUGHTER THE CHILDHOOD SHE DESERVES]**
The change in Ethan was instantaneous and terrifying. His posture straightened, his eyes sharpened, and suddenly the air around him seemed to crackle with barely contained power.
"You know what?" he said, his voice carrying a new edge that made several parents step back unconsciously. "You're absolutely right about one thing. This place isn't good enough for my daughter."
He pulled out his phone with movements so calm they were menacing. "But since we're here, I might as well fix that problem."
Wang Meili's eyebrows rose in mock concern. "Oh, and how exactly do you plan to do that, Mr...?"
"Blackwell. Ethan Blackwell." His fingers moved across the phone screen with surgical precision. "I'm going to buy this school. Right now. Thirty percent above market value, three-minute settlement, cash transfer."
The silence that followed was broken only by the sound of Wang Meili's laughter—high, hysterical, and completely unhinged.
"Buy the school?" she gasped between fits of giggles. "You can't even afford the application fee! This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever—"
The school's PA system crackled to life, cutting her off mid-sentence.
"ATTENTION ALL STAFF AND STUDENTS," came the trembling voice of the school's owner, Chairman Liu, his words echoing through every hallway and classroom. "Royal Galaxy Educational Group has just been acquired by Mr. Ethan Blackwell in a full cash transaction. All faculty and staff are to report to the main entrance immediately to welcome our new owner!"
---
The silence that followed was so complete it seemed to have physical weight.
Wang Meili's face went through several colors—red, white, then a sickly green that matched her suddenly queasy expression. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the marble floor like a puppet with cut strings.
Around them, parents who had been smirking moments before now stared in shock, their phones already out to record what would become the most viral video in the city's history.
**[DING!]**
**[MISSION ACCOMPLISHED]**
**[EXPOSURE METER: REDUCED TO 12% (SAFE ZONE)]**
**[COVER STORY ESTABLISHED: ECCENTRIC BILLIONAIRE REVEALS IDENTITY]**
Ethan knelt down beside the fallen director, his voice gentle but carrying undertones that could freeze hell itself.
"Ms. Wang, I have a new position for you. You're now in charge of waste management. Specifically, you'll be sorting through every piece of garbage this school produces. And if I hear that you've been anything less than enthusiastic about your new role..."
He leaned closer, his smile sharp enough to cut glass. "Well, let's just say you might find yourself eating what you're supposed to be sorting."
The main doors burst open, and a parade of teachers, administrators, and security guards rushed out, forming perfect lines on either side of the entrance. In unison, they bowed ninety degrees and shouted with voices that could be heard three blocks away:
"WELCOME HOME, YOUNG MISS LILY!"
Ethan lifted his daughter into his arms, and together they walked through the golden doors while an entire school bowed in their wake.
"Daddy," Lily whispered in wonder, "is this really happening? Am I really going to school here?"
"This is your school now, princess. Every single part of it belongs to you."
---
That evening, as Ethan tucked Lily into her new bed in their upgraded apartment (another "necessary expense" according to the system), he found something that made his blood turn to ice.
Hidden in her new school bag was a crayon drawing that definitely hadn't been there when they'd left the school. The image showed a small girl lying on a dinner plate, her eyes replaced by two dots of what looked suspiciously like dried blood. Beside the plate was a fork, and carved into its handle was a single closed eye—the symbol of The Abyss Watcher.
Ethan burned the drawing in the kitchen sink, watching the flames consume the threat with cold satisfaction.
"Money can buy schools," he murmured to himself as the last of the paper turned to ash. "But some stains require bleach of a different kind."
The Supreme Dad System hummed quietly in agreement:
**[NEW THREAT DETECTED]**
**[ENEMY INFILTRATION: CONFIRMED]**
**[RECOMMENDATION: PREPARE FOR ESCALATION]**
The war for his daughter's safety had just entered a new phase.
And Ethan Blackwell was ready to burn down anyone who dared threaten his little girl's happiness.