Camille felt sick imagining it. "Your family..."


    "Closed ranks around Thomas. Made sure no one knew he''d been drinking. Paid off witnesses." Alexander''s voice hardened. "My father made it clear that the family reputation was more important than anything "That''s horrible," Camille whispered.


    "It


    was rifying," Alexander corrected. "I saw my family for what they really were. The moment I could walk well enough, I


    left. Took the trust fund money they couldn''t legally keep from me and disappeared."


    He pulled the car to a stop in front of a small brick apartment building. Nothing special, just one of thousands of such buildings in Boston.


    "I came to Boston. Rented an apartment in this building. Started over." He nodded toward the building. "I was determined to make it on my own, to build something my own way. Got a job on the loading docks a Camille tried to picture


    Alexander, now one of the world''s wealthiest men, living in that ordinary building, working on a loading dock.


    "And then came the second ident," Alexander continued his expression changing. "The one where our paths first crossed."


    He reached into his pocket and removed something small and silver. When


    he opened his palm, Camille saw the delicate rose pendant on a thin chain, the one she had given him years ago, the one he


    had returned to her that night he first mentioned their connection.


    "You kept it all this time?" she asked, though she already knew the answer.


    "It was my talisman," Alexander said quietly. "When things got hard... and they did, many times, I''d hold it and remember that someone had once seen value in me when I couldn''t see it in myself." He started the car again, driving a


    few blocks to a sleek office building with "Pierce Technologies" emzoned on the side.


    "I built my firstpany here. Developed shipping logistics software that revolutionized the industry. By twenty-


    three, I was a Billionaire. By twenty six, a Trillionaire." His voice remained matter-


    of-


    fact, without boasting. And when I crossed into trillionaire territory three years ago, guess who suddenly wanted to reconnect?" wanted to reconnect?"


    "Your family," Camille said.


    "My parents, yes. Thomas had died by then, ironically in another car ident, this time with no one to me but himself." A shadow crossed Alexander''s face. "They reached out throughwyers first. heal the family rift,'' they said."


    "What did you do?" Camille asked.


    When directly. Wanted to ''


    "I cut them off


    how people treat you when you have nothing to offer them


    ''t just blood, Camille. It''s


    The words resonated deeply with her, thinking of how easily her parents had sided with Rose, how quickly Stefan had betrayed her.


    "I''ve wanted to tell you all this for so long," Alexander said turning to face her fully. "From


    the moment I recognized you at that charity g, I''ve wanted to exin everything. But I was afraid."


    "Afraid of what?" Camille asked softly.


    "That you''d think I was using our past connection to manipte you. To get close to you." His eyes held hers, vulnerability visible for perhaps the first time since she''d known him. "I wanted to earn your trust on


    The tenderness of this gesture, protecting her from feeling manipted when maniption had defined her rtionship with Rose, with Stefan, even at times


    with Victoria, undid something tight and guarde in Camille''s chest.


    She reached forward, taking the pendant from his palm. Their fingers brushed, sending warmth up her arm. "It protected you," she said softly. "Just like I hoped it would."


    "It did more than that." Alexander''s voice dropped lower. It led me back to you."


    Camille looked up, meeting his gaze. All the carefully


    constructed walls Victoria had helped her build, the strategic thinking, the emotional distance, the calcted moves, crumbled in that moment. Not because they were weak, but because she chose to lower ther Her hand rose to touch his face, fingertips tracing the line of his jaw. "Alexander..."


    He covered her hand with his, turning his face to press a kiss against her palm. The gesture was so tender, so genuine, that Camille felt tears threatening.


    "I thought I would never feel this again," she whispered. "After Rose and Stefan... I thought that part of me


    was dead."


    "Nothing dies


    thatpletely," Alexander murmured. "Not when the roots are strong."


    He leaned forward slowly, giving her time to pull away. But Camille didn''t want distance anymore. She closed the final


    space between them, her lips meeting his.


    The kiss was nothing like the tentative, careful moments they had


    shared before. This was likeing home to a ce she hadn''t known she missed. His arms encircled her pulling her closer despite the awkward confines of the car. Her hands slid up to his shoulders, feeling as affected as she was.


    When they finally broke apart, Camille kept her eyes closed, savoring the moment. Alexander''s forehead rested against hers, their breath mingling.


    "I''ve wanted to do that since I saw you walk into that charity


    g," he admitted, his voice rough. walk into that charity g," he admitted, his voice rough.


    Camille smiled, her eyes opening to meet his. "Just since then?"


    His answering smile held a hint


    of boyishness she''d never seen before. "Well, maybe longer. But I''m trying not to sound obsessive."


    Sheughed, a realugh that surprised her with its freedom. How long had it been since she''dughed without calction or strategy?


    Alexander''s eyes darkened as he watched her, something almost reverent in his expression. "You''re extraordinary, Camille. Not because of Victoria''s training or your revenge or even your sess. Because of


    The words touched something deep within her, a recognition of her truest self, the part that even Victoria''s careful molding hadn''t erased.


    "I want to be her again," Camille said softly. "Not just Victoria''s creation. Not just the woman seeking revenge. I want to be... whole."


    Alexander tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You alreally are. All those parts make you who you are now. Thepassion and the strength. The vulnerability and the power."


    He took her hand, cing the silver rose pendant in her palm and folding her fingers over it. "Keep this. It''spleted its journey."


    Camille looked down at their joined hands. "What happens now? With Rose and Herod still out there..."


    "We fight them together," Alexander said simply. "But we don''t let them define us. We don''t let revenge be our only purpose."


    He gazed out at the Pierce Technologies building, then back to the woman beside him. "I built thispany to prove something, to my family, to the world, to myself. But the most meaningful thing I''ve done was Something shifted in Camille''s heart, not the sharp, vengeful determination Victoria had cultivated, but a softer, truer resolve. She thought of the blueprint sabotage, of Rose and Herod plotting to destroy everyth The strongest response to those who tried to destroy you wasn''t just survival. It was to thrive. To build. To love. "Yes," she said, closing her hand around the pendant. "Something new."


    As Alexander''s lips found hers again, Camille felt the final piece of her transformation click into ce. Not Camille Lewis, the naive wife betrayed by her husband and sister. Not Camille Kane, Victoria''s carefully carried the strength of both while bing something greater.


    Someone who could face Rose and Herod not just with vengeance, but with purpose beyond destruction. Someone who could love without fear.