The slap landed like fire. My head spun. A salty, metallic taste flooded my mouth. I wiped my lip—blood.
Dad's chest heaved, his anger undiminished.
I wiped the blood from my mouth and met his furious gaze.
"Dad, I just called you by your name. I'm sorry—but I need you to answer me.
I worked my way here on my own. I scored forty-eight points higher than Chloe, yet you admitted her instead.
Fine. You want her—I can go elsewhere. But why did you force them to rescind my offer?
And the acceptance letters from nearly a hundred other hospitals—you called every single one and had them revoked, didn't you? I don't understand. Why?! You want me to call you 'Dad,' but have you ever once treated me like your daughter?!"
"It's precisely because you're my daughter that I had to do this!
This is training—for a child who's had everything handed to her since birth!
It's punishment—for not understanding how to avoid conflicts of interest!
And it's fairness—for a child like Chloe who came from nothing!
Look at your attitude today. What I just did wasn't punishment enough!
Since I can't teach you, I'll let someone else do it!"
The moment Dad finished, uniformed officers rushed out from behind and seized me.