Chapter 27: He Is Her Conscience

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KEONI'S HOUSE

Keoni sat rigidly in the chair, his eyes red and almost burning as he waited for Abby to arrive. Kianna was at her weekly therapy session and Giulianna was having a sleepover at Annalise's house, so he figured it was the perfect time to talk to Abby about what had happened the day before.

He was still angry, still wanting to rip the woman a new one for making his daughter cry. She had been unnecessarily tough on Kianna, even though she didn't say much.

He should have stepped in sooner; should have taken the time to explain what was going on to Abby. Maybe then she would've understood what Kianna was dealing with.

He should've done this way before yesterday, months before any of this had ever happened. Abby had always been a bit strict, but ever since the show started taping she had been much more cruel.

He was a psychologist, he should've spoken up earlier and prevented Abby's behavior from getting this far.

Keoni was trying his hardest to be there for both of his girls, to comfort them and help them work through their feelings. But Kianna was so good at pretending, and sometimes it was too easy to let himself be fooled by her acting.

If he was better, if he was as good of a father as he thought he was, maybe Keoni could've noticed how much Kianna needed him. He was blinded by hope that everything would be okay, and it took his daughter crumbling to bring back his sight.

It was his fault. He should have known that Kianna would've found those papers. Yes, he was in a rush to get to work, but he should've remembered that Kianna read his textbooks from time to time. Of course she would find the papers hidden in there.

If only he could turn back time, maybe things would've been better.

The doorbell rang, Keoni standing quickly to answer it. Abby was there, and he couldn't help but feel nervous. She was wearing the same black outfit she wore everyday, with the same blank face she defaulted to.

"Good afternoon," she greeted, her face pulling upwards into a small smile. Pleasant but not natural. "Afternoon," he greeted just as cordially, letting the woman into his home.

"Please take your shoes off," he requested. Chelsea would've killed him if he let someone wear their dirty shoes inside the house. Abby slipped off her shoes, trying to have this go as positively as possible.

Kianna was easily one of the best dancers at her studio, and all the classes she takes brings in a lot of money to the studio. Plus, she needed someone with Kianna's talent on the team.

Abby didn't doubt for a second that Keoni would try and remove Kianna from the studio if this meeting didn't go well. Maybe if Chelsea still worked for her she could have used the mom to keep Keoni from that, but she had fired the woman.

If Kianna went, it was a very probable outcome that Cameron would go too. The two were very valuable assets to the studio; they constantly brought trophy after trophy to the studio and even had started to bring more publicity to the television show. After their interview on the Ellen show, the viewership of the show had gone up 5 percent.

She needed them to stay with her.

"My office is this way," Keoni said, leading her up the stairs and down the hallway. He opened the door to his office and stepped inside, taking a seat in his usual chair and leaving the patient chair for Abby.

Abby sat in the seat, feeling like she was a kid being called into a meeting with the principal.

The two sat in silence for a few moments, Keoni glossing over the notes he had made for this meeting while Abby watched his movements awkwardly.

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