The Rise of Dragon Temple By Wu Xia

Chapter 25

“Dad… I knew you’d be back today. Heehee!” Throwing herself into Joseph’s arms, Chloe said happily

while kissing him on the cheek. At this moment, Joseph had mixed emotions. Although he was sad deep

inside, he was also delighted to be able to hold his daughter. Because of his complex emotions, he

remained silent all the while. Joseph planted a kiss on Chloe’s face. Enduring his sorrow, he replied,

“That’s right. You have such good instincts. I’m sorry, Chloe. I came late. I’m really sorry…” Shaking her

head delightfully, Chloe replied, “It’s fine as long as you are back, Dad. Mom and I plan to have dinner

now. Come and join us…” Joseph suppressed his emotions and nodded with a smile, “Sure. Let’s have

dinner together.” Then, he looked up at Paige, who was standing in a daze with teary eyes. Joseph could

not help but feel even more guilty. At this time, Chloe turned back and waved happily at Paige. “Mom,

let’s have dinner together. Heehee! We’re having dinner together as a family…” As Paige covered her

teary eyes, Joseph nodded slightly at her. “Let’s go for dinner now. Don’t let Chloe starve…” Paige

agreed. Thus, she wiped her tears and followed closely behind Joseph, who was holding Chloe in his

arms. Joseph then asked Chloe with a smile, “Since it’s daddy’s treat, what do you want to eat? Shall we

go to a nice restaurant?” Chloe responded with great excitement, “Dad, let’s have some delicious instant

noodles. Is that okay?” Joseph was stunned. Instant noodles? With his current wealth, how could he

treat his daughter to junk food? Before he could say anything, Paige smiled and answered, “Of course.

We can have instant noodles with you…” Overjoyed, Chloe immediately made a peace sign. Then, she

pointed to a restaurant not far from the hotel. With her eyes sparkling, she said, “We should go there…”

Joseph frowned slightly. Initially, he wanted to take Paige and Chloe to a nicer restaurant, but since his

daughter was so excited about this place, he remained silent as he followed them to this relatively small

restaurant. At the dining table, Chloe happily ordered three bowls of instant noodles with eggs. When the

dishes were served, Chloe immediately passed the poached egg in her bowl to Joseph. Displaying a

smile, she said to Joseph, “Dad, you should eat more because you are an adult. I can’t finish all this food

anyway. Otherwise, you will be hungry when you sleep at night…”

Hearing this, Joseph could feel his heart skipping a beat. He vaguely felt something was off, but he was

not sure. He looked at Paige in curiosity. However, she lowered her head and continued eating with teary

eyes. After the meal, the three returned to the hotel. Chloe lay in Joseph’s arms and talked a variety of

things with him. At night, Paige took Chloe to take a bath. Then, Chloe lay on the bed and asked Joseph

to tell her a story. Earlier, she waited for him all day. Since she did not take an afternoon nap, she was

incredibly tired. After less than half an hour, Chloe fell asleep. Carefully covering her daughter with a

quilt, Joseph noticed that Paige was quietly sobbing at the balcony. With a frown on his face, he went to

her. Noticing that Joseph was approaching, Paige asked while crying, “Are you really okay? Why would

the Kennedys let you go so easily? Why don’t you leave quickly? Since Chloe is asleep, you should go

now. Leave Frogua and hide. Don’t return for the time being…” Hearing this, Joseph fell silent. After a

long while, he took a deep breath and looked at Paige. “It’s okay. Everything is settled now. Maybe I’m

lucky. The Kennedys made a huge scene this time and angered the Police Department in Apren City.

This afternoon, the Police Department came over and arrested them.

The Kennedy family’s crimes over the years have caught up to them.” “What? Is the Kennedy family

completely wiped out?” Paige looked at Joseph with incomparable shock. She had never thought that

this would be the outcome. Joseph nodded. “Indeed, the Kennedy family is gone, so I can come back

safely. I don’t have to leave anymore. It’s okay. Don’t worry…” Glancing at Joseph, she heaved a sigh of

relief, “Thank goodness. Why didn’t the Police Department arrest you for what you’ve done to Jaylah?”

After pondering for a while, Joseph answered, “I’m from the military, so the Police Department can’t

touch me. In any case, it should be the military who would punish me…” Paige asked worriedly, “How will

they punish you? Will it be very harsh?” Joseph paused and said, “It’s fine. At most, they will expel me.

It’s no big deal. The moment I found out that I have a daughter, I do not wish to stay in the military

anymore. I just want to stay with Chloe…” Paige became even more emotional. Indeed, perhaps this was

the best outcome. Although he was expelled by the military, Joseph was able to return safely. At the

moment, both Paige and Joseph were silent. After a while, Joseph said to Paige with great guilt, “Paige,

I’m sorry, I… I really don’t know how I’ve hurt you back then. You’ve led a tough life in the past few years

with Chloe all by yourself. It’s all my fault. I’m sorry…” Shaking her head, Paige then turned to look at

Joseph. “Let’s not talk about that. It’s

all in the past. Chloe is a gift from the heavens. She is a good kid. You can’t even imagine how sensible

she is…” After a pause, Paige continued, “Joseph, do you know why Chloe took you to eat instant

noodles tonight?” . Joseph shook his head subconsciously. Paige continued, “In her heart, instant

noodles and eggs are the best food in the world. She never asks me for snacks. Even if she often

secretly looks at other children when they have snacks, she would never ask for them.” The tears started

to well up even more in Paige’s eyes. She looked at Chloe, who was asleep with a smile. Paige added,

“Chloe also likes eggs in instant noodles very much, but do you know what she thinks? Before you came

back, she told me that she would give you her favorite poached eggs, so you would not leave when you

were full…”

Taking a deep breath, she looked at Joseph emotionally. “Joseph, Chloe has never met you before, but

she doesn’t hate you at all. On the contrary, she likes you very much. To prevent you from leaving, she is

willing to give you all her favorites.” “Joseph, Chloe is very young, but she tried her best to give you the

best things she can think of…” At this point, Joseph started tearing up. Earlier, he felt that something was

off during dinner. It turned out that his instincts were accurate. Upon hearing how Chloe thought, he felt

both guilty and touched at the same time. “I’m sorry…” Joseph said to Paige while sobbing. Paige took a

deep breath and replied, “Phew… Joseph… We’ve never had feelings for each other from the start. What

happened that night was because of your lack of consciousness. When I found out that I was pregnant

two months later, I initially thought of abortion. However, I could feel the baby moving one day, so I

decided to give birth to Chloe. No matter how hard life would be, I’ve decided to raise her. I did not

expect that she would like you so much. Despite starvation and exhaustion, she still waited for you at the

hotel entrance all day…” “Joseph, we’ve never loved each other. You have your own career, and I don’t

want to use Chloe to threaten you and drag you down. Joseph… I won’t ask you to marry me. I only beg

you to treat Chloe well. She is your daughter and a person who needs to rely on you most in this life,

so… Please… I beg you… I beg you not to leave her. Please be with her until she’s all grown up, okay?

Even if in the future you meet someone you like, you can marry that person. I wouldn’t mind, okay?”

Paige looked at Joseph with teary eyes. At this moment, Joseph was completely stunned. Hearing such

earnest words from Paige, he even wanted to slap himself to death. He had been fighting in foreign

territories for all these years. He was even the leader of Dragon Temple, which was one of the most

powerful organizations globally. However, he had never imagined that his wife and daughter were

leading such miserable lives in Frogua… Indeed, he had regarded Paige as his wife. Even if she had

never given birth to Chloe, Joseph still intended to marry her once he returned. After all, she was the one

who gave him hope at the most desperate period of his life. Despite having many things on his mind, he

could not utter a single word to Paige as she seemed depressed at the time. “You should get some early

rest as you must be tired as well. Don’t think too much and put too much pressure on yourself. Your

relationship with Chloe is totally a separate issue from our relationship…” Paige said before going back

to sleep. Standing alone on the balcony, Joseph closed the door and lit a cigarette. He stayed alone on

the balcony for a long time. In the room, Paige, who was equally exhausted, soon fell asleep. When

Joseph noticed that Paige fell asleep, he took out his mobile phone and dialed Alpha l’s number. “Alpha

1, how are the arrangements for Oplen?” At the same time, in a top private club in the center of Oplen.

There were hundreds of bodyguards outside the club. In the hall, there were only three people. One was

Alpha 1, and the other two were the two most powerful figures in the city. One of them was Dennis Drake

of Gempoint Group, the largest conglomerate in Oplen. The other was Ernie Green, the leader of the

largest underground forces. However, at this moment, both Dennis and Ernie were extremely frightened.

The mysterious Alpha 1 had the strength of an elite soldier and massive funds. In just one afternoon, he

had acquired all of Gempoint Group. What made them more fearful was that the leaders of Oplen did not

intervene at all. After some background research, Dennis and Ernie finally learned that members of

Dragon Temple, the strongest international organization, had all gathered in Apren City, which was not

far from them. They also discovered that the Kennedy family had been wiped out by the Police

Department. How could that be? This was only a lie to the commoners. Both Dennis and Ernie refused to

believe such a blatant lie. Moreover, they also heard that the military commander, who was in charge of

central Frogua, was previously ranked 34th in Dragon Temple. At this moment, Alpha 1 said to Dennis

and Ernie with a smile, “Haha. I’m sorry, you two. I don’t have much time left. My boss is still waiting for

my reply. I’m not in the mood for any delays. I think you have arranged hundreds of men outside. They

can either come in to fight or submit to us. Please tell me the answer now. Have you made your

decisions?” Dennis and Ernie traded glances at each other. They forcibly suppressed the idea of

ordering their subordinates to fight Alpha 1 head-on. Ernie cautiously asked, “It’s

fine to make a choice, but could you at least tell us who will we be submitting to? Otherwise, we will be

anxious…” Looking at Ernie with a smile, Alpha 1 replied, “Mr. Green, stop your petty tricks. Haven’t you

already find out? Actually, there’s no need to hide this matter. I don’t think the two of you would have the

guts to tell anyone. My name is Alpha 1!” As soon as Alpha 1 finished speaking, his imposing aura

instantly filled the whole place. . Dennis and Ernie’s faces instantly turned pale. They subconsciously

stood up in fear. In front of Alpha 1, they were incredibly intimidated. After all, he was a member of

Dragon Temple, an organization full of military experts. In fact, the commander in central Frogua was

ranked 34th in Dragon Temple. Meanwhile, the man in front of them was Alpha 1. At this moment, both

Ernie and Dennis were drenched in a cold sweat. Dennis suddenly thought of something. Did Alpha 1

ask them to submit to his leader? Did that mean… Thinking of this, Dennis cautiously asked, “Mr. Alpha

1, are you saying that your boss is here in Oplen?” As Dennis asked the question, Ernie hurriedly looked

at Alpha 1. Taking a sip of his tea, Alpha 1 responded, “Haha… Ask only what you should. Or else, you

may die after finding out more…” Ernie and Dennis were so frightened that they both fell to the ground.

Although Alpha 1 did not say it directly, it was a tacit admission. The legendary leader of Dragon Temple

was, in fact, in Oplen! “We surrender. We’re willing to die for you!” Dennis and Ernie quickly knelt and

shouted. On the one hand, they were afraid, but on the other, they also knew that this was a great

opportunity. This was a path to success. At this time, Alpha l’s phone rang. When he saw the caller ID,

he quickly stood up. Upon hearing Joseph’s instructions, he responded respectfully, “Sir, everything is

settled. Dennis and Ernie have submitted…” As such, Dennis and Ernie became even more certain that

the legendary big shot had truly arrived at Oplen. Both of them were extremely shocked. “Very well

then..” On the hotel balcony, Joseph nodded and hung up the phone. Glancing at Paige and Chloe, he

took a deep breath and muttered, “Don’t worry, I am back. In this life, no one can bully you anymore!”