“Elaine Prescott.”

The moment Ethan Forrest saw the stunning woman standing outside his door, he froze for a second.

Memories from three years ago slammed into his mind without warning.

Back then, he was a senior renting a place off campus. Elaine Prescott was a sophomore, his junior at the same university, and the kind of campus beauty everyone knew about—the cold, untouchable type.

One night, he had run into her outside. She looked pale and panicked, clearly not right. He had asked what was wrong, and with red-rimmed eyes and a trembling voice, she had begged him to take her home.

So he did.

After they got back, Ethan was ready to call the police.

But Elaine, her face flushed an unnatural red, suddenly started taking off her clothes.

She’d been drugged.

And when Ethan tried to call for help, she stopped him.

That night... felt unreal, like a fever dream.

Even now, Ethan still found it hard to believe that he had been her first.

Then the next morning, she was gone.

Not long after that, she dropped out of school too and went abroad to continue her studies.

“Chloe, come here.”

“Call him Daddy.”

Elaine turned her head and spoke softly to someone beside her.

A tiny little girl stepped out from behind the doorframe, moving with the shy caution of a fawn. She walked up to Ethan, clutching the hem of her clothes, then lifted her face.

Her big, bright eyes were absurdly pretty.

She looked at him and asked in a small voice, “Are you my daddy?”

Ethan’s whole body went rigid.

He stared at Elaine in disbelief, his mind basically crashing on the spot.

Elaine’s expression stayed calm as she said, “That time... I got pregnant with Chloe. The doctor told me my health wasn’t great. He said there was a good chance this might be the only child I’d ever be able to have, so I kept her and gave birth.”

She paused, her voice still steady, but there was something buried deep underneath it.

“At first, I planned to raise her by myself and stay out of your life. I didn’t want to bother you. But other kids have a dad... and Chloe wants one too.”

“And I’ve been really busy lately.”

“Can you look after Chloe for a while?”

Right then, a strange voice suddenly rang out in Ethan Forrest’s head.

“Super Dad System activated. Host, no need to doubt it. The little girl in front of you is your daughter.”

“This system will help you become a super invincible dad.”

Ethan’s heart gave a hard thump, then started racing.

A ridiculously adorable daughter had just dropped into his life out of nowhere, and on top of that, he’d actually awakened a Super Dad System.

This was basically the script for hitting the peak of life, wasn’t it?

“Elaine Prescott, come in first. Both of you.”

Ethan opened the door wider and spoke quickly.

Elaine shook her head, her expression calm but distant. “No. I’m not going in. Chloe is your daughter, and you don’t need to question that. If you want, you can do a paternity test. But between you and me, there’s nothing.”

As she said that, she crouched down and gently kissed Chloe on the cheek.

“Chloe, this is Daddy.”

“Haven’t you always been talking about wanting to find your dad? Other kids have dads. Chloe has one too.”

The little girl blinked her big eyes, then looked at Ethan with a soft, cautious curiosity.

“Daddy.”

Her voice was sweet and tender, like a little spoonful of melted sugar.

That one word hit Ethan straight in the chest. His heart practically melted on the spot.

“Y-yeah!”

“Chloe, you’re such a good girl.”

For the first time in a long while, Ethan looked completely at a loss. His hands didn’t know where to go, and even his voice came out awkward and stiff.

Elaine stood up, reached into her bag, and took out a business card.

“This is my contact information,” she said, handing it over. “If something important happens, call me. If it’s not important, don’t.”

“The clothes in this suitcase are all Chloe’s. She’s a little picky with food, so you’ll need to put some extra thought into her meals. Just make sure you get her to kindergarten on time.”

Elaine Prescott crouched a little, smoothing Chloe Forrest’s hair as she spoke, her voice gentle but tight.

“Chloe, you have to listen to Daddy, okay?”

“Mommy has some things to handle. I’ll come see you again after a while.”

Chloe nodded right away. She looked way too mature for a little kid, then said in her soft, earnest voice, “Mommy, don’t be scared being alone, okay? I’ll stay with Daddy first. Daddy must be really lonely all by himself.”

“…Mm.”

Elaine’s eyes flickered, full of reluctance she couldn’t hide. In the end, she still turned and left.

Ethan Forrest stood there for a second, then bent down and picked Chloe up into his arms.

The little girl looked so much like him it was almost unreal. And with what the system had already confirmed, there was basically no room left for doubt.

This adorable little girl really was his daughter.

“Daddy, I’m so happy.”

Chloe wrapped her little arms around his neck, her eyes shining bright.

“All the other kids have a daddy. Now I have one too.”

Her voice was full of excitement, sweet enough to make a person’s heart go soft on the spot.

Ethan held Chloe with one arm and pulled the suitcase inside with the other. The suitcase looked expensive at a glance—definitely not something cheap off the rack.

“Daddy, your place is so small.”

Chloe blinked and looked around curiously, taking in every corner.

Ethan’s apartment was rented, a one-bedroom with a living room. The place wasn’t big, but for one person, it had been more than enough.

Now that there was Chloe too, though, it instantly felt cramped.

Especially the living room. It was pretty small. A kid like Chloe wouldn’t even have much space to run around in.

“Chloe, was the place you lived before really big?” Ethan asked.

Chloe nodded hard. “Yep.”

“Mommy’s house is super big, like a castle. But sometimes Mommy wasn’t home, and when it was just me with the two aunties, I didn’t feel happy.”

“I like Daddy and Mommy.”

Ethan Forrest kissed Chloe Forrest on the cheek and said softly, “Daddy likes Chloe too. In the next couple of days, Daddy will go find a bigger place.”

The company had been doing terribly, and he’d been laid off last month.

Luckily, he had always been pretty careful with money. The company had also paid some compensation after letting him go, so there was still sixty to seventy thousand in his bank account.

“Daddy, why don’t you live with Mommy?”

Chloe Forrest looked up at him, confused.

She acted like a little grown-up most of the time, but stuff like this was still way beyond her.

Ethan rubbed her little head and asked gently, “Chloe, Daddy wants to ask you something. Has Mommy ever brought another man home?”

After what had happened between him and Elaine Prescott, and now with Chloe being their daughter, it was impossible for him not to start thinking about Elaine in a different way.

But if Elaine had already been with someone else, then that was that.

“Nope.”

Chloe Forrest shook her head right away.

Ethan’s eyes lit up.

That meant... there was still a chance.

Three years ago, Elaine Prescott had been the campus beauty, the kind of girl everyone noticed the second she walked by. And now, three years later, Ethan felt she was even more stunning than before.

If he could actually win her back, that would be seriously perfect.

“Chloe, go play by yourself for a bit.”

“Daddy’s going to put your things away first.”

Ethan smiled, then pulled the suitcase into the bedroom.

The moment he opened it, he froze.

There was a bag inside the suitcase.

And inside that bag were several thick bundles of cash.

Ethan Forrest counted it out. Sixty thousand in total.

There was also a note tucked inside the bag.

“Ethan, this is your living expense for the next three months. I know you don’t have a job for now, so please take good care of Chloe. Once she starts kindergarten, you won’t need to watch her anymore.”

Ethan lowered his eyes and read it twice.

Elaine Prescott really had thought this through. She’d even left money behind, probably worried he might end up short on cash and let Chloe suffer for it.

Still, he had no intention of spending it.

Chloe Forrest was his daughter. Raising her, taking care of her, that was only natural. He didn’t need Elaine to cover his share.

He let out a slow breath and continued sorting Chloe’s clothes, folding each little shirt and pair of pants properly before putting them away.

Not long after, a mechanical voice rang out in his mind.

“Host has organized the suitcase. System Space unlocked. Current space capacity: 1,000 cubic meters. Items touched by the host may be stored inside.”

Ethan froze for a second, then his eyes widened.

Just from organizing a suitcase, the System Space got unlocked?

A thousand cubic meters wasn’t exactly insane, but it was more than enough. Honestly, the usable interior of an ordinary villa might not even be that big.

“Store.”

With a thought, Ethan activated it.

The bag of money in his hand vanished instantly and was placed into the System Space.

The very next second, with another thought, it reappeared in his palm.

Smooth. Effortless. Like opening and closing an invisible pocket.

“Damn, this is awesome.”

Ethan’s mood shot up on the spot.

Even if the system gave him nothing else, just this one-thousand-cubic-meter storage space alone was already cracked enough. If he used it well, making serious money wouldn’t even be hard.

“Life really is wild...”

He murmured to himself, his voice low.

“Single for twenty-four years, and now I suddenly have an adorable daughter.”

As he said it, the corners of his lips lifted, but the emotion in his eyes was complicated.

He was happy. Genuinely happy.

But there was also a trace of confusion, of being unsteady inside.

Becoming a dad out of nowhere wasn’t something he could just switch into overnight.