Chapter 72

Camille's point of view

I stood in Victoria's office, staring at the meticulously crafted guest list on the desk between us. Names neatly typed in three columns, people whose lives would forever change in exactly two weeks' time. Rose.

"Are you certain about this?" Victoria asked, her voice carrying none of its usual commanding certainty. "Once we take this step, there's no going back."

I traced my finger down the list, stopping

at Richard and Margaret Lewis. The parents who had raised me, then forgotten me when Rose's manipulation had proven more compelling than their love.

"I'm certain," I said, surprised by the steadiness in my voice. "It's time for everyone to know the truth."

After two years of careful planning, of strategic destruction of watching from the shadows as Rose's empire crumbled piece by methodical piece, the moment had arrived for the final revelation. Camille Lewis wa Victoria studied me, her sharp eyes missing nothing. "And your motivation? Is this

about justice, or is it personal satisfaction?"

The question hung between us, more significant than it might seem. For

two years, Victoria had guided my transformation from broken victim to powerful avenger with one consistent warning: emotion clouds judgment. Strategic revenge required cold calculation, not heated passion. "Both," I admitted, honesty winning over performance for perhaps the first time since my rebirth. "I want justice. But I also want to see their faces when they realize what's happened. Who's been behind their des Something like approval flickered in Victoria's eyes. "At least you're honest about it. That's progress."

I moved to the windows overlooking Manhattan's skyline. Somewhere in that sprawling city, Rose was hiding in her penthouse, her fashion empire destroyed, her reputation in tatters, her fiancé gone, her godfat "Alexander thinks I should reconsider," I said, still facing the window.

Victoria's reflection appeared

in the glass. "Does he now? And what

her downfall." I turned to face Victoria. "He thinks it's

manipulative, ruthless. Giving her information was giving

be complete"

11

Chapter 72

to review the event plans. “Then we'll proceed. The Phoenix Gala, two weeks from tonight at the Kane mansion. Ostensibly to announce your appointment as president of

that Camille Lewis has returned from the dead," I finished, a shiver running through

paused over

be questions. Investigations. Legal complications. The narrative we

course. The police would want statements. Lawyers would raise questions about identity fraud, about insurance claims processed after my “death," about the legality of assuming

about Rose hiring someone to run me off the road will redirect most of the attention. And you

managed, if

fixing me with her penetrating gaze. "After

decision had been filtered through the lens of revenge. I had become Camille Kane for the sole purpose of destroying F "I don't know," I admitted, the vulnerable truth

in that parking garage. Beaten. Bleeding. Those men Rose had

Victoria appearing like some avenging angel, her driver scattering my attacke "I offered you a choice," Victoria continued. "Disappear into anonymity and lick your

transformation," I said

over victimhood. Strategy

to explain your disappearance while giving us time for your recovery, for the surgeries, for your training.

No desperate appeals from my parents. No reward offered for information. Just a tasteful memorial service and life

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