Camille''s point of view


    For the next three hours, I performed wlessly. Smiled at the right people. Made appropriate small talk. Donated a generous sum when the fundraising total was announced. No one looking at Camille Kane woposed exterior.


    No one except Alexander Pierce, who appeared at my elbow as I waited for my car afterward.


    "You''re not as good at hiding your feelings as you think," he said quietly, falling into step beside me.


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about."


    "The Rodriguez Lewis announcement." He studied my profile as we walked. "It wasn''t part of your n."


    I stopped, turning to face him fully. "How do you always know? What''s happening in my life, what I''m feeling, how do you always seem to be one step ahead?"


    Instead of answering, he offered his arm. "Walk with me. The gardens are beautiful this time of year."


    Against my better judgment, I epted, allowing him to guide me along a stone path that wound through flowering shrubs and carefully tended beds.


    "I had a sister once, she is not my biological sister but my nanny''s daughter who i took like a kid sister," Alexander said after several minutes of silence. "Younger. Brilliant. Full of life and promise."


    The unexpected personal revtion caught me off guard. Alexander Pierce rarely spoke


    about himself, his past a carefully guarded mystery despite his public business sess.


    "What happened to her?" I asked, curiosity momentarily discing my own troubles.


    "She married a man who seemed perfect. Handsome. Wealthy. Well-


    connected." His voice remained casual, but I felt tension in the arm linked with mine. "He was also controlling. Maniptive. Eventually abusive, though she hid it well,"


    We reached a secluded bench overlooking a pond. Alexander guided me to sit, then took the space beside me, close but not touching


    "When she finally tried to leave him, his family closed ranks. Used their connections to freeze her assets. Threatened to destroy her professionally if she went public with abuse allegations. Offered a settlementpared to what she was entitled to


    The story resonated ufortably with my


    own experience, not the abuse, but the sense of powerful families protecting their own, of money and influence used as weapons.


    What did she do?" I asked softly.


    Alexander''s s eyes fixed on the distant water. "She took the settlement. Started over. Built her own sess, piece by careful piece." His mouth curved in what might have been ride. "She''s running a techpa "You helped her."


    "Every way I could." He turned to look at me directly, his gaze more intense than usual. "I understand the need for justice, Camille. The hunger to make those who hurt you pay for what they''ve done."


    The simple acknowledgment of my feelings unlocked something inside me. With Victoria, emotional reactions. always had to be channeled into strategic advantage. Alexander simply epted the raw hurt drivi "They''re getting everything they wanted," I said, the words spilling out before I could contain them. "The business alliance. The society wedding. My parents'' blessing. It''s like I never existed at all." "You exist." Alexander''s hand covered mine on the bench between us. "More powerfully than they could possibly imagine."


    "But they don''t know that!" The frustration that had been building all day finally broke through. "They think they''ve won. Think they''ve ovee every obstacle I put in their path. Rose gets to wear white and pro husband while my parents watch proudly from the front row."


    "And what would change if they knew?" Alexander asked gently. "If Victoria revealed Rose''s secrets tomorrow, what would truly change?"


    The question stopped me short. I''d been so focused on the idea of revtion, of seeing their faces when they realized who had been orchestrating their destruction, that I hadn''t thought beyond that moment "Stefan might still choose Rose," Alexander continued when I didn''t answer. "Your parents might find ways to justify their support. The question isn''t just what secrets Victoria has discovered, but how to use ther "So I just watch them celebrate? Let them build this future together while I hide in the shadows?"


    "No." Alexander''s voice hardened slightly. "You use every advantage Victoria Kane''s daughter possesses to ensure that future never materializes. Not through obvious attacks they can defend against, but throu His understanding of my situation, of theplex emotions driving me, was uncanny.


    "Why do you care?" I asked suddenly. "About me. About my revenge. Why involve yourself in this at all?"


    Alexander was silent for a long moment, his expression unreadable. "Let''s just say I recognize someone fighting their way back from destruction. Someone refusing to let others define their story,"


    It wasn''t aplete answer, but something in his tone warned against pressing further. Besides, my phone was vibrating with a message from Victoria:


    *Seattle property records pulled. New venture filing discovered. Wedding details beingpiled. Return tomorrow 0800. Prepare forplete strategic overhaul."


    I slipped the phone back into my pocket, a calm certainty recing the earlier chaos of my emotions. Victoria had never failed me, not since the day she''d found me clinging to life and offered me a path to rebirt


    "I should go,” I said, rising from the bench. "Victoria returns tomorrow. We have ns to make." Alexander stood, studying my face with an intensity that should have been ufortable but somehow wasn''t." V "I''ve already lost everything once," I replied, meeting his gaze steadily. "There''s nothing left they can take from


    His expression suggested he disagreed, but he merely offered his arm again to escort me back to the main path. As we walked, I found myself wondering what Alexander Pierce really wanted, why this sessf For now, though, I had more pressing concerns. Rose and Stefan had celebrated prematurely. Whatever


    happiness they''d found would be short-lived.