For the first time, I wondered whether the person we feared and the woman standing in the sunlight might not be exactly the same person. Twenty minutes later, I learned why. An older man approached me while I was getting coffee. His name was Warren Vale, Seraphina's uncle. He thanked me for the presentation and mentioned that Seraphina had personally fought the board to keep funding our transportation project when several directors wanted it canceled. I stared at him. My team had been told the project survived because of revised quarterly projections. Warren smiled sadly and said Seraphina preferred letting people dislike her rather than letting them feel indebted to her. Before I could ask what he meant, he looked toward his niece standing alone beside the railing and said something I never forgot.   People think she became hard because she wanted power. She became hard because everyone she trusted eventually wanted something from her.   The sentence stayed with me. I began noticing things I had never noticed before. Seraphina circulated through the event making sure junior employees were introduced to senior leaders. She knew the names of several spouses. She quietly instructed a waiter to prepare something different for an employee with an allergy. When an intern dropped a glass, Seraphina was the first person to kneel and help collect the larger pieces before staff arrived. None of these things matched the woman we complained about in elevators. Then the orchestra announced a traditional anniversary dance. Couples and friends began moving onto the floor. I was standing near a table when Warren appeared again and, with a mischievous grin, told me his niece had refused every invitation. Before I could respond, he raised his voice and asked Seraphina whether the CEO intended to let everyone else celebrate while she supervised them.