The Interview

012

The knock came at 6:03am.

Mira was already awake, she hadn't slept more than two hours, her mind spinning through debate briefs and Cassidy's cold smile and the way Sebastian's hand had felt in hers. She had finally drifted off around 4am, only to be yanked back by the sharp rapping on her door.

She opened it in her sweats, hair unwashed, eyes hollow.

Her mother stood in the hallway.

Eleanor Chen was immaculate at 6am, tailored navy dress, low heels, hair in a perfect twist. She carried a leather overnight bag and an expression that said I am not here to comfort you.

"Mama." Mira's voice came out rough. "What are you..."

"The integrity interview." Eleanor stepped inside without waiting for an invitation. She set her bag down, surveyed the room, the unmade bed, the cold coffee, the laptop open to the half-written essay. "I flew in last night. Your father wanted to come, but I told him I would handle this."

Mira closed the door. Her hands were shaking. She shoved them into her sweatshirt pockets.

"Handle what? There's nothing to handle. It's a standard interview."

Eleanor turned to face her. Her eyes were the same dark brown as Mira's, but harder and sharper. They had spent twenty years perfecting the art of disapproval.

"You've been on the campus gossip page seventeen times in the last week," Eleanor said. "You're allegedly dating a boy with a cheating scandal. Your ex-boyfriend is telling anyone who will listen that you're unstable. And now the scholarship committee has called a special integrity interview because someone named Cassidy Kaer accused you of..." She paused, pulling out her phone, scrolling. "...'colluding with a known academic saboteur to gain unfair advantage.'"

Mira's stomach dropped. "That's not true."

"I know it's not true. But the committee doesn't know you. They know optics. And the optics are terrible." Eleanor set down her phone. "You've worked your entire life for this scholarship, Mira. And you're throwing it away for a boy."

"He's not just..." Mira stopped. Took a breath. "We're not even really together. It's complicated."

"Complicated is for people who can afford to lose. You cannot."

The words landed like stones. Mira felt them sink into her chest, heavy and cold.

***

Eleanor made tea while Mira showered and dressed.

By 7am, they were sitting across from each other in the dorm's tiny common area, neither touching their cups. The silence was thick with everything they never said.

"Tell me about Sebastian's father," Mira said finally.

Eleanor's expression flickered. "Richard Kessler."

"You know him."

"I knew him. Twenty-five years ago. We were both young academics, he was in law, I was in political science. We collaborated on a paper about ethics in competitive scholarship." Her voice tightened. "He took my research, published it under his name, and destroyed my career before it began."

Mira stared. "You never told me that."

"There was no point. I rebuilt. I succeeded. But I never forgot what he was capable of." Eleanor met her eyes. "And now his son is dating my daughter. The universe has a cruel sense of symmetry."

"Sebastian isn't his father."

"Everyone is their father eventually." Eleanor stood up. "We need to go. The interview is at 8am, and you look like you haven't slept in days."

Mira touched her cheek. She hadn't realized how pale she was, how deep the shadows under her eyes had become.

"I'm fine," she said.

"No, you're not. Your hands are shaking."

Mira looked down. Her fingers were trembling, fine tremors she couldn't control. She curled them into fists.

"It's just caffeine withdrawal."

"You don't drink caffeine this late."

"I'm fine, Mama."

Eleanor watched her for a long moment. Then she picked up her bag and walked to the door.

"Let's go."

***

The walk to the Covington Conference Room was silent.

Mira's mind raced. She kept seeing Cassidy's smile, Sebastian's pale face, the email that had upended everything. Her mother's revelation about Richard Kessler echoed in her skull: He took my research. Published it under his name.

The Kessler family had been destroying Chen women for decades.

And now Mira was dating one.

Not actually dating, performing.

But the line was so thin now she couldn't see it anymore.

As they approached the building, Eleanor stopped.

"I need you to focus," she said. "Not on Sebastian. Not on his father. Not even on Cassidy, but on the scholarship and on your future. Focus on everything you've sacrificed to get here."

"I know."

"Do you? Because I saw the way you defended him just now. Sebastian isn't his father. You've never defended anyone like that." Eleanor's voice softened, just a fraction. "You're attached to him. And attachment makes you vulnerable."

Mira's throat tightened. "I'm not vulnerable."

"Everyone is vulnerable. The question is whether you show it." Eleanor touched her chin, a rare, almost tender gesture. "Don't show them anything. Not fear or doubt. Not even love."

Love.

The word echoed.

Mira hadn't said it. Hadn't even thought it. But hearing it from her mother's mouth made it real in a way she wasn't ready for.

"I won't," she whispered.

Eleanor nodded and walked into the building.

Mira's phone buzzed.

She looked down. Sebastian.

Whatever happens in there, don't let them make you feel small.

She read it once. Twice. Three times.

Her hands stopped shaking.

She typed back: I won't.

Then she followed her mother inside.

***

The conference room was designed to intimidate.

Long mahogany table. High windows. Five committee members in dark suits, arranged like a firing squad. Dr. Vance sat at the head, her expression unreadable.

But Mira barely saw them.

She saw Cassidy.

Blond, perfect, polished. Seated at the far end of the table, a leather portfolio in front of her, a smile that didn't reach her eyes. She was wearing a cream dress and pearl earrings, the uniform of someone who wanted to look innocent.

She saw Richard Kessler.

Standing near the window, arms crossed, gray eyes identical to his son's but completely devoid of warmth. He didn't look at Mira. He was watching the door.

Waiting.

And then she saw Sebastian.

He was already seated at the table, two chairs away from Cassidy. He was wearing his gray button-down again, the one from the family dinner, but it was wrinkled, like he had slept in it. His hair was messier than usual. His jaw was tight.

He looked at Mira when she walked in.

His gray eyes were exhausted. Tense. But underneath the exhaustion, something else.

Relief.

She was here. He wasn't alone.

Mira wanted to go to him. Wanted to sit beside him. Wanted to take his hand under the table the way he had taken hers in his apartment.

Instead, she walked to the chair across from him—the witness chair, separated by the width of the table.

Dr. Vance cleared her throat.

"Ms. Chen. Thank you for joining us. Please sit."

Mira sat.

She didn't look at her mother, who had taken a seat in the back. She didn't look at Richard Kessler, who was still watching the door like a predator.

She looked at Sebastian.

He gave her the smallest nod.

Don't let them make you feel small.

She straightened her spine.

"Thank you for having me," she said. "I'm ready."

The door closed behind her.

There was no escape now.