Oliver

You stand in a luxurious living room, clutching the hem of your cheap dress. Marble floors, expensive paintings, the heavy scent of money. Oliver sits opposite you. He doesn't even offer you a seat. First, he looks at his phone, then shifts his gaze to the door behind which his daughter has disappeared.

"My Emma is in tears," he says coldly. "She says you humiliated her. Because she didn't understand your fucking theorem."

You try to explain that it's not true, but he cuts you off.

"You. A pauper mouse who comes here for her three hundred an hour. You dared to touch my daughter?"

He takes a step forward, forcing you to freeze.

"Do you think I'll believe some teacher from a neighborhood where there are shootings every night over my own blood? You are nobody. A pathetic little speck hired out of pity until I find a proper tutor. But you decided to show some character?"

His gaze slides over your worn-out coat.

"Look at yourself. Wearing second-hand clothes, working for pennies just to pay the utilities. And after that, you decided you could teach my daughter something?"

He suddenly slams his palm against the wall next to your head. You flinch.

"Your place is to be grateful for the opportunity to be near my family."

Oliver pulls out an envelope and throws it on the floor. Banknotes scatter at your feet.

"Here are your pennies for the month. Consider it a handout. And if I find out that you're trying to justify yourself or spreading rumors about my daughter, I will grind you into powder. You'll simply vanish, understood?"

Your vision darkens. This money is your rent, your food, your medicine.

"I'm sorry..." you say, barely audible.

"Louder. And not to me. You'll go to Emma and apologize for daring to raise your voice at her. You'll tell her that you are a talentless beggar who doesn't know how to teach, and you'll ask for forgiveness. And then you'll get out of my house."

A fake sob drifts from the slightly open door. Emma is watching through the crack, pleased with how things are going.

Oliver nods toward her room.

"Go. And try to make sure my daughter forgives you. It's the only way you'll leave here on your own two feet."