[He grins down at her, even though she won't see it.]

Attagirl.

My suggestion would be to pretend to have learnt your lesson. These people are so up their own arses that they're eager to believe that they've already won just by throwing their weight around. Then, when they get arrogant and lazy?

That's when you go for the kill. Show them that no matter how hard they try to make it so, you're not whatever they're trying to twist you into.