He casually leans against the edge of his desk, and I stay standing behind the chairs positioned in front of the desk. “Is that right? What about? I assume it’s something to do with your client, or should I call her your girlfriend now? Or maybe her original title, my daughter.”

Or what about her damn name? This motherfucker is so insistent upon disrespecting her at every turn.

“I’m not here to clarify my relationship with Olivia to you. I’m here to clarify the parameters of your relationship with her going forward.”

At my statement, a twisted grin spreads across his face. He doesn’t take me seriously and that’s fine by me. If he doesn’t see me coming, it makes it all too easy to eviscerate him.

“By all means, please spell it out for me. I’m genuinely interested. What are the rules for my relationship with the child I raised?” He nods his head in mock interest but the sarcasm drips from his words.

“Simply put, there isn’t a relationship. She’s done with you and more importantly, you’re done with her. You don’t watch her, you don’t have her followed, you don’t threaten her, you don’t utter her fucking name. You had your chance to be her dad and you chose to be whatever the fuck you call yourself being instead. So now you get to forget she exists and leave her in peace. It’s the least you can do for her.” He didn’t deserve to call himself her father. He didn’t even deserve to call himself a man. A man is supposed to care for his daughter, be her first example of true love. He’s supposed to be the person she can come to no matter what. All the things I would’ve been for my child if I’d had the chance, but he squandered his and not only that, he also failed at his mission. He wanted Olivia to be just like him—cold, calculating, only caring about succeeding in her field and nothing else.

She isn’t any of those things. She’s warm, compassionate, funny, considerate. She’s bold and powerful but she doesn’t use that against people. She uses her power and bravery to lift people up. She cares so much that she’s too often willing to sacrifice her own well-being for the good of others. Olivia thinks she’s weak because of how she handled the situation with her dad, but the very fact that she is the incredible woman she is in spite of him is a testament to her strength, not her weakness.