I had a teacher who refused to let any of us say “its okay” because of this exact reason.

It has taken me years to learn that it’s also okay to say “Thank you.” when someone apologizes.
It is perfectly acceptable to acknowledge that someone has apologized, and still refuse to accept their apology. There are things in this world that cannot be apologized for.

I feel like you can tell a lot about a person by how they react when their apology is not accepted.

You can also tell a lot about someone by how they act when you recant accepting an apology.