My husband told me his secretary had just gotten divorced and couldn't afford to send her son to school.

He wanted to get the boy into my school.

I felt sorry for them, a mother and son on their own.

So I not only admitted the boy for free, I put Bobby Abbott in the same class as my daughter, to make it easier for her to look after him.

But a few days later, my husband came asking for more.

He said Bobby wanted to be a class officer, and that our daughter should give up her position to him.

I told him plainly that officer roles were awarded by grades, and she couldn't just hand hers over.

But my daughter, afraid I'd fight with him over it, quietly gave it up anyway.

And now Joe Delgado has come with something even worse:

"Bobby's scores aren't high enough for Ashford. Give him Carol Fisher's guaranteed placement."

I stared at him, unable to believe it.

"Do you even hear yourself?"

He didn't flinch.

"You're a school board trustee. You have to think about appearances. If your own daughter gets a guaranteed placement, people will talk."

"Besides, a girl gets married off sooner or later. Sending her to college just trains talent for another family. It's a waste of money."

"Pull her out for now and give the Ashford spot to Bobby."

I narrowed my eyes and held his gaze, my voice low.

"Someone should be pulled out, all right. Just not my daughter."

...

I called the three of them to the school.

Then I had someone bring me Bobby's transcript and his school record.

The test papers were a wall of red X's; the sight of it made my head spin.

From the day he enrolled until now.

Every single exam. A zero.

And when I got to his conduct record, my face went darker still.

In six months.

Twenty absences. Seven counts of cursing or hitting a teacher. Five thefts.

"You little bastard!"

I was shaking with rage.

This was the model student Joe Delgado kept praising, the fine boy top of his class in character and grades?

I never imagined the trust I'd given him would come back to me as this piece of trash.

When I walked into the office with my daughter.

Audrey Galloway and Bobby had arrived too.

Joe Delgado had driven them there himself.

Once, my daughter had begged him, sweetly, to drive her to school just once, and he'd snapped at her.

"A grown girl still needing to be dropped off. How pathetic."

"You know those kids out in the Appalachian backcountry your age? They're already married with children of their own."

"You can't even take care of yourself. You may as well drop out now."

But look at him now.

Joe Delgado opening the car door for the two of them himself.

He even lifted the boy out of the car so nothing would interrupt Bobby's game.

Watching how tenderly he did it, for a moment my vision blurred.

Ever since Audrey Galloway appeared, Joe Delgado had gotten up two hours early every day.

He'd drive Bobby to school himself, then go pick up Audrey Galloway for work.

The president of a company, acting like the household help for Audrey Galloway's family.

I'd thought about it seriously, why Joe Delgado had become like this.

So openly favoring outsiders.

So willing to ignore his own daughter entirely.

Was it because he no longer felt anything for this family?

Or was it that in his eyes, I was just a lovesick fool who'd let herself be trampled, who would forgive him everything with no line she wouldn't cross?

"Naomi Pruitt, all this over some little thing, and you need a face-to-face meeting?"

"Do you think everyone's got as much free time on their hands as you?"

He sat down across from me, sprawled and imperious, his tone thick with impatience.

"Carol's my daughter. If you give her a guaranteed placement, how do you think that makes me look?"

"Won't people say the company president is abusing his position for his own family?"

"Cutting corners like this, you'll ruin the kids sooner or later."

And with that, he tossed a placement transfer application across at me.

"Sign it. Now."

"I'm deciding this. Carol can test into college on her own merit."

"Give the guaranteed placement to a student who actually deserves it."

I actually laughed, the kind of laugh that comes when you're too furious for anything else.

My daughter was first in her grade. Olympiad gold medalist.

Her guaranteed placement at Ashford was "gaming the system"?

But hand it to Bobby, who scored zeros across the board, and suddenly he deserved it?

Joe's double standard turned my stomach.

I tore the transfer request in two and tapped the badge pinned to my chest.

【School Board Trustee】

A quiet reminder of who ran things in this room.

Maybe it was that my refusal had made him lose face in front of Audrey.

His brow knotted, and his voice dropped.

"I'm very unhappy with how you handle things."

"But I'll give you a chance to fix it."

"I'm taking Audrey to a meeting now. When we come back, I expect—"

"—that you'll have made the right choice."

I watched the two of them leave arm in arm, and the last thread of illusion in me snapped.

When a man's rotted through, you don't hang on to him.

"You little tramp, go get me a soda."

The second they were gone, Bobby propped a foot up on the table, insolence all over his face.

His eyes swung to my daughter.

She flinched, hurt welling up until the rims of her eyes went red.

"So this is how you were raised?"

I put her behind me and looked at him coldly. "Given your record, you can leave the school now."

"This is just how I am. You don't like it, you swallow it."

He spat toward me, that little troublemaker's grin on his face.

"Uncle Joe said everything your family has is gonna be mine sooner or later."

"You two are gonna be my big maid and my little maid. Wait on me hand and foot."

I called security.

Bobby jumped straight onto the table, jabbing a finger at me.

"What do you think you're doing!"

"Uncle Joe said anybody who makes me unhappy, he'll deal with them!"

"You think I won't call him right now?"

"Go ahead."

My tone stayed flat and businesslike. "You're expelled. Leave the premises."

"Fine! You just wait!"

He kicked a chair over and stormed out to make his call.

My daughter threw herself into my arms, her voice shaking but steady.

"Mom, whatever you decide, I'm behind you."

She was headed off to college soon. Of course she'd seen what was happening.

Something in me trembled, and I held her close.

"Okay."

"If your father can't be a father, then we don't need him."

Joe came back, exactly as I'd known he would.

He didn't bother signing in at the gate. He rammed straight through the barrier arm and burst inside.

For Audrey's son.

Not even the dignity he prized above everything could hold him back now.

I laughed at myself.

I should have known it would end like this. What had I even been waiting for?

I pushed the bitterness down and called my lawyer.

"Draw up divorce papers for me."

His foot slammed the office door open.

Audrey came in and dropped to her knees, sobbing, tears streaming down her face.

"Miss Pruitt, you have money, you have power. I can't fight you."

"If you have a problem, take it out on me. I'm begging you, don't bully my son. Just because he has no father, does that make it fair for people like you to trample him?"

Quite the accusation to pin on me.

"With your son's conduct, he could be expelled ten times over."

I let my gaze drift, cold, to Joe, who had the grace to look uneasy. "If someone hadn't given false testimony to vouch for Bobby, he'd never have gotten through the front gate."

"Enough, Naomi!"

Joe brought his palm down flat on my desk. "Look at you, all bared teeth. Where's the teacher in that?"

"Apologize to Audrey and Bobby, right now!"

My face didn't change. "Get out, or I'll have officers handle this by the book."

"Naomi, don't push your luck."

Joe swept the files off my desk.

The cup shattered on the floor, and a flying shard sliced open my ankle.

Blood welled up at once.

"Don't hurt Mom!"

My daughter rushed forward in tears and pressed down on the wound to stop the bleeding.

I'd given up on this man completely, and still my heart ached against my will.

Years ago, when a rival came after me, it was Joe who took three knife wounds and pulled me out of that mob's hands.

He couldn't even stand from the injuries, and still he smiled and tried to reassure me.

"Don't be scared. As long as I'm here, no one can touch you."

And now the one hurting me was him.

"That's enough. Don't make me slap you."

Joe advanced on me, his face livid.

"Dad, aren't we a family? Why are you helping outsiders go after Mom?"

Carol's eyes reddened, and she finally broke down sobbing.

"What does a child know! I stand with what's right, not with my own blood."

Joe glared and shouted.

"I'm your Aunt Audrey's boss. It's only right that I look out for someone who works under me."

"A widow raising a son on her own—she's pitiful enough, and now she's being bullied by people with power. Of course I'll stand up for her."

"But Mom didn't lie to you. Bobby really was out of line. He forced his way into the girls' dorm more than once, and he took secret photos—"

"How dare you! Who taught you to talk back to your father?"

Joe cut her off, harsh: "Is that how you speak to your elders? Did you throw your whole upbringing to the dogs?"

Bobby's eyes darted around, and he sniffled, playing the pitiful one.

"Uncle Joe, since the trustee has no room for me, I'll just go."

Audrey covered her face and whimpered too.

"Joe, don't you two fight over the both of us. You're husband and wife."

"I'll resign tomorrow, so your wife can cool off."

"You're not the one who should resign."

Joe ground his teeth, his eyes bearing down on me.

"Naomi, you've disappointed me. Throwing your little bit of authority around to bully the weak."

"I'm ordering you—step down as trustee, right now."

Then he turned to Audrey.

"Audrey is my assistant. Her ability and her character are both first-rate."

"You'll submit your resignation to the board yourself, then recommend her for the next term as trustee."

He'd made me laugh with fury again.

A wave of exhaustion hit me, and I lost even the will to argue.

I signaled for security to throw the three of them out.

"I'm warning you, Naomi. Don't take this too far."

Joe was shoved along, shouting in humiliation.

"If I walk out that door today, you can beg me all you want and I still won't come back."

Security, faces full of disgust, dumped the three of them out into the corridor.

"I never realized you were this cold-blooded kind of animal!"

Joe's face went black with rage.

"I will not let you run wild just because I've spoiled you."

He helped Audrey up and soothed her gently.

"I'll move Bobby to a better school. We don't need this dump."

Then he left, taking the two of them with him.

But barely ten minutes later, a message from him landed on my phone.

【I'm giving you one more chance to win me back.】

【Whatever it takes, make Audrey and Bobby happy again, and get Bobby's enrollment restored.】

【You have one week, or you lose me forever.】

It wasn't a request. It was an order.

He was certain I loved him to distraction.

Certain that no matter how outrageous the demand, I'd cave for his sake.

But Joe, this time I'm not playing along.

Divorce papers take time to prepare. One week was just right.

【Fine.】

I replied with a single word.