But they had decided I was nothing, a footstool, a fall guy, a woman whose only function was to endure and to pay, and so they operated in front of me with total freedom, showing me everything, because in their minds there was no one there to see.

The most dangerous person in any room full of arrogant people is the one they have decided to ignore.

I had spent seven years being that person.

And when the time came, the very contempt that had made my life so small was the thing that let me see everything, gather everything, and bring the whole edifice down, because they never once thought to hide from a woman they were certain did not matter.

Chapter 7 — The Anomaly