The way I had addressed Kai without his title had been effective; he knew that I was being serious, and that I had no reason to show him respect after everything he had done.
He was pacing around the room, rubbing the back of his neck with one of his hands as he tried to think of how to respond to me.
"I don't know how I can help you, Sisi."
I cringed at his use of a nickname I had not heard for many years; he had been a friend when we were children, and he was trying to remind me of that. I suspected he was also trying to soften the blow of me abandoning his title, and I narrowed my eyes and glared at him. I was not going to let him trivialize my extremely deliberate choice of words.
"Then you need to stop pretending that you care."
"That isn't fair," Kai stopped, and shook his head
