Chapter 3

At 9:00 AM on Monday, all thirty-seven interns gathered in the main conference room.

I stood before them. "Welcome to the company. Starting today, you will begin a three-month paid internship. During this time, each of you will be paired with a dedicated mentor for one-on-one guidance. Your wages will be set at 120% of the industry average. We will also provide housing stipends, health insurance, and fully reimbursed Uber rides if you ever have to work late."

A sudden wave of whispers washed over the room.

Some stared at me with wide eyes.

Others turned to exchange skeptical glances.

A few were quietly muttering that it sounded too good to be true.

I waited a few seconds, then smiled. "I only have one requirement: learn fast, and work hard."

The thirty-seven interns were split across seven departments.

I had handpicked every single mentor myself.

At first, the mentors struggled to adapt.

Marcus Gallagher, our Tech Director, complained privately to Sandra. "It takes me three years to properly train a junior developer. Now she wants them ready in three months? Elena is living in a fantasy world."

But it didn't take long for Marcus to change his tune.

By the second week, the intern assigned to him had independently coded an entire software module for their weekly review.

The code was so clean that Marcus thought he was looking at a senior developer's work.

At the next weekly management meeting, Marcus couldn't hide the pride in his voice.

"The kid is a natural. I've only been coaching him for two weeks, and his coding habits are already cleaner than some of my mid-level developers."

The other departments soon reported similar successes.

The marketing intern pitched a campaign strategy that the client approved on the spot.

The design intern created a poster series that won first place in our internal design competition.

The product intern compiled a user research report with data analysis so sharp it looked professional.

I kept track of all these small victories in a little leather notebook.

Every night before bed, I would flip through the pages.

The program was succeeding beyond my wildest dreams.

I decided it was time to scale up the initiative.

But that was exactly when the trap snapped shut.