Chapter 3

Ellie looked down, a picture of humility.

"No, sir," she admitted softly. "The numbers, the deals... that was never my strength."

The sisters smirked. Brenda looked triumphant.

"But," Ellie continued, lifting her head, her eyes meeting Charles Sr.' s directly, "my intuition isn't about deals already on the table. It's about the threats that aren't yet seen."

She paused. "For example, there's a disgruntled former employee from the refinery, a Mr. Abernathy. He' s about to leak information about safety violations to the press. Today."

Charles Sr. stiffened. "Abernathy? How could you possibly know that?"

Brenda narrowed her eyes. "She' s making it up."

"Am I?" Ellie asked quietly. "He plans to meet a journalist from the State Chronicle at 3 PM at the old diner on Highway 12."

The patriarch barked at his nearby assistant. "Get Henderson on the line! Now!"

Mr. Henderson, the discreet investigator who owed Maria his career, was already on it, of course. Ellie had briefed him days ago.

Within minutes, the assistant was back, pale.

"Sir, Henderson confirms. He' s... intercepted Mr. Abernathy. The documents are secured. The journalist is being... misdirected."

Charles Sr. stared at Ellie, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and dawning respect.

"Incredible," he breathed. "Just like Maria."

He waved a dismissive hand at Brenda and the sisters. "She stays. She will be my special advisor. Give her an office, access, whatever she needs."

Brenda' s face was tight with rage, Victoria and Ashley looked dumbfounded and furious.

Later, alone in the small, hastily assigned office, Ellie allowed herself a small, grim smile.

Her "intuition" was her mother' s network, her own meticulous planning, and a deep, cold anger.

Maria hadn't been her biological mother.

Maria had rescued her from a hellish foster home, a place of neglect and quiet horrors.

Maria had been her savior, her only family.

And the Harrisons, especially Brenda, had taken Maria from her.

This "intuition" was the beginning of her revenge.