Chapter 3

"I need your help," Ellie said.

She sat opposite Mrs. Albright in the older woman' s sunlit study. Mrs. Albright, her mother' s closest friend, a woman of quiet influence on university boards and charitable foundations.

"Anything, my dear. I was so sorry about your mother. And so... dismayed by what happened with Ethan and Veronica."

"Vicky didn't just steal my research, Mrs. Albright. She tormented my mother. I overheard her boasting about it."

Mrs. Albright' s kind face hardened. "I suspected. Your mother was not herself in those last months. She was... frightened."

"I need to expose them. At the Gala."

"It will be difficult, Ellie. They have momentum. People believe their story."

"The truth is on my side. I have my original drafts, time-stamped. Correspondence with Professor Armitage about my core theories, long before Vicky claims she started her 'work'."

Mrs. Albright nodded slowly. "That is a strong start. What else?"

"Maria knows," Ellie said. Maria Rodriguez, their housekeeper for over twenty years. Loyal, observant, and silenced after Ellie' s mother' s death, dismissed by Vicky with a paltry severance.

Ellie found Maria in a small apartment across town. The older woman' s eyes filled with tears when she saw Ellie.

"Miss Ellie. I prayed you would come."

"Maria, I need to know what happened with my mother. What Vicky did."

Maria' s story tumbled out, a litany of small cruelties, manipulative comments, and actions designed to distress an already ill woman. Vicky telling her mother Ellie was a disappointment, that Ethan found Ellie lacking, that Vicky would be the one to truly make the Vance name shine. Vicky "accidentally" misplacing her mother' s medication, "forgetting" to relay messages from doctors.

"She told Mrs. Vance that you blamed her for your own failures, Miss Ellie. That you wished she would... go quickly, so you could be free. It broke her heart."

Ellie' s hands clenched. "Why didn't you tell my father?"

"I tried, Miss Ellie. After your mother... after she passed. Mr. Vance was grieving. Miss Vicky said I was overwrought, making things up because I was upset about losing my job. Mr. Ethan supported her. They said I was just a disgruntled servant."

"They will not silence you again, Maria. Will you testify? Will you tell everyone what you saw?"

Maria straightened, her chin firm. "For your mother, Miss Ellie. Yes."

Ellie had her evidence. She had her allies. The plan began to form. The Foundation Gala was not just a celebration for Vicky; it was a selection event for a prestigious leadership program. Reputations would be solidified, or shattered.