He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. I need to know, are you sure you can pull this off? I've seen what Philip does to people. He's cruel, Amara. He'll try to break you in front of everyone.
"I know." "And you're really not scared?" She thought about that. Thought about 3 years of sleeping on subway benches. Of cops kicking her awake.
Of strangers filming her for TikTok jokes. of being invisible, pitiable, or entertainment, but never human. "I'm terrified," she said honestly. "But I'm more angry than scared, and anger is useful." Daniel's expression softened. You sound exactly like her.
You know, your grandmother. She used to say something similar. Turn the pain into power, the fear into fuel. She said that to me, too. Of course she did.
He stood up. "All right. Your segment is in ninety minutes. Use that time however you need. And Amara..." "Yeah." "Whatever happens out there, you're not alone anymore.
Not after tonight. Win or lose, succeed or fail, you're not going back to the streets. That's a promise. Amara's throat tightened. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
Daniel walked to the door, then paused and looked back. One more thing. After this is over, however it ends, I want you to come work with me. Not as a charity case, as a partner. Help me fix this broken system.
Help me make sure no other kid gets used the way they tried to use you. "I don't know anything about running a TV network," Amara said. "You know what matters? That's more than most executives can say. He smiled a real smile this time, warm and genuine.
Think about it. Then he was gone. Amara sat alone in the empty lounge for a long time, thinking about her grandmother, about Daniel, about the plan they just made. She thought about the fact that 90 minutes from now she'd be standing on a stage in front of millions of people and Philip Grayson would do everything in his power to make her fail. She should have been terrified.
Instead, she felt something else, something sharp and bright and almost electric. She felt ready. She picked up her guitar, ran her thumb over the duct tape patch near the sound hole, and started tuning the strings by ear. Time to show them what a weapon looked like.