Chapter 4

The flashback was vivid, a sharp ache in Ellie' s memory.

Maria Sanchez, vibrant and brilliant, her mind a steel trap, her loyalty to Charles Sr. absolute, in the early days.

She wasn' t just a PR strategist; she was a force of nature, navigating the treacherous currents of the Harrison empire.

But her brilliance made enemies, especially within the family.

Brenda, even then, saw Maria as a rival for Charles Sr.' s ear, an obstacle to her ambitions for her own son.

Ellie remembered Maria finding her, a scared, skinny kid in a rundown foster facility.

Maria' s warmth, her fierce protectiveness.

"You're safe now, Ellie-bean," Maria had said, her voice gentle. "No one will hurt you again."

Maria had taught her to observe, to listen, to plan. Not the flashy Harrison "deal-making," but the subtle art of understanding people, their weaknesses, their secrets.

"The most dangerous threats, Ellie," Maria used to say, "are the ones no one sees coming. You have to look beneath the surface."

Then came Brenda' s systematic campaign.

Isolating Maria, spreading rumors, undermining her influence with Charles Sr.

Ellie, a teenager then, had watched helplessly as Maria grew more stressed, more wary.

The "accidental" car crash.

No witnesses. A slick road. Case closed.

But Ellie knew. Maria' s driver had been new, hired on Brenda' s recommendation after Maria' s long-time driver suddenly retired due to an "illness" that also seemed to appear from nowhere.

Brenda' s triumph had been quiet but complete.

Maria was gone, her influence erased.

Or so Brenda thought.

Maria had also helped countless ordinary people, the "little people" the Harrisons barely noticed.

Ranch hands, former staffers, local officials, journalists.

People who owed Maria. People who now formed Ellie' s hidden network.

Mr. Henderson was the most prominent, but there were others, all loyal to Maria' s memory, all willing to help her daughter.

Ellie' s vow had been silent, made at Maria' s too-small funeral, a promise to a woman who had given her everything.

She would dismantle the Harrison empire from within. She would make Brenda pay.

Not just for Maria, but for the casual cruelty, the arrogance, the belief that they were untouchable.

Her quiet determination was a cold fire, burning steadily.