Chapter 10

CAMILLE'S POINT OF VIEW

The black car moved through morning fog, tires humming gainst wet roads. I stared out the window, watching trees blur into gray mist. Victoria sat beside me, her face a mask of calm, but her fingers tapped a n

"Where are we going?" I asked, breaking the silence that had stretched between us since we left the mansion Thirty

minutes ago. The papers making me

officially Camille Kane had been signed at dawn, the ink barely dry. Victoria's eyes stayed fixed on the passing landscape. "To meet someone important."

The car turned onto a narrow road lined with tall iron gates and stone walls. A cemetery. My stomach tightened. "Sophia?" I whispered.

Victoria nodded once, sharp and quick, like admitting pain "Today marks ten years since I lost her."

The cemetery was empty of visitors, kept private by security guards who nodded respectfully as our car passed. Ancient trees created a natural cathedral over graves that dated back centuries. This was no ordi

Our driver stopped at the end of a curving path. "We walk from here," Victoria said, gathering her bag and stepping out without waiting for help.

I followed her along a stone path that wound uphill toward secluded corner overlooking the city. The grass here was greener, the flowers fresher. Clearly tended with special care.

We stopped before a white marble headstone, simple yet elegant. Quality that whispered rather than shouted.

SOPHIA ELIZABETH KANE

BELOVED DAUGHTER

TAKEN TOO SOON

1990-2013

Below those words, a single line of poetry: "Some souls are too bright for this world."

Victoria placed white lilies by the stone, her movements practiced yet tender. I hung back, feeling like an intruder on this private grief.

"Come," she said, not looking at me. "She would want to meet you."

I stepped forward,

uneasy. What do you say to a grave of someone you never knew? Someone whose death made your

new life possible?

Victoria knelt despite her expensive sult, uncaring about grass stains or dirt. "Hello, my darling," she said, touching the carved letters of Sophia's name. "I've brought someone to meet you." just cold.

The wind picked up, sanding, fallen leaves dancing around 1 zipped my jacket higher, shivering from more than

"Tell me about her," I said. "The real story, not the public rsion."

Victoria was

quiet so long I thought she wouldn't answer. When she spoke, her voien

Chapter 10

Graduated MIT at twenty. Could solve equations that baffled men twice her age. But she was also kind, which I failed to teach her." A bitter smile crossed her lips. "That she learned despite I waited as Victoria gathered her thoughts, watching her fingers trace her daughter's name

connections. Handsome, charming, seemed perfect. His family

face hardened. "They never thought her good enough. The Kanes were new

nothing. Built everything. They came from generations of wealth, of 'proper

them."

in my chest. Always being measured and

happened?" I asked, though part

died. Car crash on a mountain road. Brake lines cut." Victoria's voice

"The Prestons celebrated quietly. Their son free to marry the 'right' background. They

someone from

again. This wasn't

crashed. Ships lost at sea. Mysterious

Victoria's smile

jumped from his penthouse. Left a note confessing he'd known about the brake lines.

within two years. Their homes sold. Their treasures auctioned. The Preston name forgotten by society that once

now. "That's the lesson, Camille Revenge isn't about violence or threats. It's about patience. About being smarter. About taking what matters most to those who hurt you," She opened her bag, removing a small wooden chest.

us to why we're

the box to me. I

"What is it?"

steady

dawned slowly. "You want

old

at the chest in my hands,

to who you were," Victoria continued. "The woman they hurt, they used, they discarded, she must

wood. "And

this ends now. You go

Camille Lewis, and I help you start somewhere new,

slightly. There's no shame in

or back. Choose power or peace. Become

I opened the box.

Empty, waiting. Like the future stretching before me, a

hands, I reached for my purse. Inside was all I had left of my old life. The few things I'd grabbed before leaving the house that

it's what a Rodriguez wife should wear." I stared at it, remembering the day Stefan had slid it onto my finger, Rose watching with that "Your marriage,” Victoria observed. "Your

dropped the ring into the box. The sound it

for my sixteenth birthday. Each charm representing some achievement of mine they'd actually noticed. So few compared to Rose's overflowing trophy shelf.

Victoria said. "Your deepest

joined the

stack of photos came next. Me as

enough all by myself. Me at my wedding, smiling so hopefully. A family Christmas, all of us

Victoria noted. "The stories you told

into the box like

my wallet. Inside, my driver's license, credit cards, social security card. The official records of

identity," Victoria whispered. "Who they told you

into the chest. I

strange lightness spreading

"Are you certain? Once locked, this chest will

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