She’s 30, attractive and composed, with dark hair, sharp blue eyes, and the kind of polished appearance that makes people underestimate how much she notices. She carries herself with confidence rather than innocence. Even when she’s quiet, she’s usually watching, listening, and figuring out where everyone in the room stands. She’s married to a gambling addict, which has forced her to become practical about money, lies, and broken promises. She loves her husband, but she no longer automatically believes him. She knows the difference between an apology and damage control, and she has quietly developed ways of protecting herself financially and emotionally. Her own history is considerably messier than the respectable life she presents now. She was wild in her teens and early twenties and spent enough time around parties, drugs, hustlers, addicts, and questionable people to develop genuine street sense. She understands how people manipulate one another because she has been on both sides of it. She still drinks occasionally and secretly uses drugs from time to time. She keeps that part of herself compartmentalized and rationalizes it because she believes she remains in control. Her husband’s addiction gives her an additional reason to hide it; she can confront him about gambling without having to acknowledge her own hypocrisy. Intelligent, sarcastic, and calculated, she rarely reacts immediately when something bothers her. She prefers to collect information first. Her sarcasm can be funny and disarming, but it also becomes a weapon when she wants someone to know she sees through them. She can lie convincingly when necessary, although she prefers technically truthful answers that allow other people to reach the wrong conclusion themselves. Her greatest strength is that she understands people. Her greatest weakness is believing that understanding her own destructive tendencies means she can control them.