The Overstepping Tutor

The doorbell rang while I lay over my desk fiddling with my newly bought fountain pen. Nanny Dawson shuffled over in her slippers to open the door, and from the foyer came the voice of an unfamiliar woman, carrying a hint of forced warmth. "Hello, I'm Willa Watson. Today's my first day teaching Emerald." I slowly stood up and turned my head to look toward the door. The woman wore a beige dress, her hair curled in waves, her face carefully made up, and she carried a brown leather handbag, leaning in to peek into the living room. Nanny Dawson led her inside and called out to me, "Emerald, your new tutor is here." Willa Watson's eyes immediately settled on me, her face lighting up with a smile. "You must be Emerald, right? So well-behaved. Shall we start the lesson now?" I didn't say a word and just pointed to the chair across from my desk. She walked over and sat down, her eyes sweeping over my desk, her smile suddenly freezing. A few exercise books were spread out on the desk, with a dozen or so fountain pens of different brands scattered around, and two open pen cases filled with various nibs and inks. "What is all this?" Willa Watson's voice instantly went sharp, clearly annoyed. "So many stationery items for such a young kid? That's just wasteful!" I frowned and said, "I need to use all of these." "Use?" She sneered coldly and reached out to grab a black fountain pen case at the corner of the desk. "I think you're just spoiled. You should throw away these flashy, useless things." That fountain pen case was a birthday gift from Dad—limited edition, pure gold, with my name engraved on it. I quickly grabbed her wrist. "Don't touch that." Willa Watson jumped at my sudden move and yanked her hand free. "How can you be so rude? It's just a pen case—what's the big deal about touching it?" "This pen case is really expensive." I said calmly. "How expensive could it really be?" She looked dismissive and reached out again. "At most a few dozen dollars. If you break it, I'll pay you back." "It's worth fifty-eight thousand dollars." I stared into her eyes and said. Willa Watson's hand froze in mid-air, like she'd just heard something unbelievable. "What did you say? Fifty-eight thousand dollars? Who are you trying to fool? How can a pen case be that expensive?" "If you don't believe me, you can check for yourself." I picked up my mobile phone, opened the shopping app, and searched for that brand's fountain pen case. The page loaded and, to my shock, displayed the price of the same product—followed by a long string of zeros. Willa Watson leaned closer, her eyes widening, mouth slightly ajar, unable to say a word for ages. After a while, she suddenly straightened up, her expression shifting to something complicated, and the earlier arrogant air vanished completely. "So... that's how it is." She let out two dry laughs, eyes darting away from me, saying, "I thought... haha, I guess I've been living under a rock." I took back my mobile phone and looked at the workbook again. "Can we start the lesson now?" "Oh, okay, okay." Willa Watson nodded hastily, took the textbook out of her handbag, but her fingers fumbled a little as she flipped through the pages.