"I prefer to frame it as delusional." I uncrossed my arms, letting them fall to my sides. My hands were trembling slightly. From anger. Only anger. "You don't get to snap your fingers and watch me fall in line, Sebastian. I'm not one of your employees. I'm not one of your board members. I'm not impressed by your money or your name."
I gestured toward Warren, who had pressed himself back against his chair like he was trying to disappear into the leather.
"You want someone to intimidate? Try someone who actually has something to lose."
Sebastian's eyes narrowed. "If you refuse, I'll pursue legal action against the school and you.” He lifted his fingers and counted. “Negligence. Failure to provide adequate supervision. Hostile learning environment. My lawyers will find additional charges. They always do."
"So you'll destroy this school's reputation to punish me?"
"I'll protect my daughter by any means necessary."
“Dad! Stop,” Evie said. The room went very still. “Stop yelling at her. It’s not going to change anything. It wasn’t her fault. I fell. That’s all that happened.” Evie tugged on her father's sleeve. "Dad, did you really mean what you said? About tutoring?"
Sebastian's jaw worked. "Yes. It’s the least she can do. This environment isn’t safe for you anymore until the culprit is…"
Evie's whole face lit up. "Really? Like, one-on-one? With just me and Miss Kealoha?"
"Yes, but…"
"Dad, that would be amazing!" She turned to me, practically bouncing. "Would you really do that? You're so much better than my regular teacher. She just reads from the textbook and…"
"Evie," Sebastian said firmly. "Let me finish."
The light in her face dimmed. Just like that. One word from him and she folded back into herself. I watched it happen and felt my blood pressure spike.
"I would love to work with you, Evie. But your father and I have very different ideas about how that should happen."
"Because Miss Kealoha apparently believes she knows better than everyone else," Sebastian cut in.
"No, because your father tried to give me an ultimatum." I smiled sweetly at him. "I don't respond well to those."
"Clearly, you don't respond well to reason either."
"It's hard to respond to something that wasn't present in the conversation."
Dr. Warren stood up. "Perhaps we could all just…"
"Stay out of this," Sebastian and I said in unison.
Warren sat back down.
Evie looked between us, her excitement curdling into embarrassment. Her cheeks had gone red. "Can you two just... stop? Everyone can hear you."
She was right. The door was still open. Warren's assistant was probably getting an earful. Fantastic.
I took a breath. Recentered. This wasn't about Sebastian. It was about Evie.Don’t forget that, Aria."Evie, have you ever thought about volunteer work?"
Sebastian went rigid. Warren blinked like I'd started speaking another language.
Evie tilted her head. "Volunteer work?"
"I run a nonprofit. The Kealoha Foundation. We do community health education, programs for women and girls, and mentorship." I watched her face, looking for interest. Found it. "School's almost out for summer break. If you want to come see what we do, maybe help with some projects, you'd be welcome."
"That sounds..." Evie's eyes went wide. "That sounds really cool, actually."
"Absolutely not." Sebastian's voice could have frozen water. "She's twelve."
"So?"
