Camille''s penthouse glowed with warm light against the evening sky. Floor-to-


    ceiling windows disyed the city below, where thousands of lights


    now powered by the Phoenix Grid sparkled like earthbound stars. The dining table, set for twelve, gleamed with crystal and silver.


    Hannah arrived first, bringing a bottle of champagne and a shy smile. She looked different outside the control room-


    softer somehow in a simple blue dress, her usual ponytail reced by loose waves.


    "It''s strange to celebrate," she said as Camille weed her. "Part of me is still waiting for another crisis."


    Camille squeezed her hand. "Tonight, we just enjoy our sess."


    The others arrived in quick session, Mike from Hannah''s team, board members


    who had supported the Grid from the beginning, Alexander''s chief engineer who had helped design the power rys. Each brought congrattions, small gifts, happy exhaustion from the work finallypleted


    Camille moved among them easily, the perfect hostess, but her eyes kept drifting to the door. When the bell rang again, she hurried to answer it herself.


    Her parents stood in the hallway, looking uncertain. Her mother clutched a small gift bag. Her father shifted from foot to foot like a schoolboy called to the principal''s office.


    "You came," Camille said, surprising herself with the relief in her voice.


    "We wouldn''t miss it," her mother replied. "Your moment of triumph.”


    Camille stepped back to let them enter. Their rtionship remained fragile, a delicate bridge being rebuilt one careful board at a time. But they hade. That mattered. The door opened once more, and Victoria swept in


    with her usual regal presence. She wore deep blue tonight instead of her usual silver gray, perhaps her own small acknowledgment that this evening marked something new.


    "The Grid is performing above all projections," she announced as her greeting. "The mayor called personally to congratte


    us."


    Camille smiled. Even in celebration, Victoria remained focused on the work.


    Alexander was thest to arrive, apologizing for histeness, bringing a case of rare wine. His eyes found Camille immediately across the room, a private message passing between them. Tonight was the night Dinner began with light conversation about the Grid''s sessfulunch, newspaper headlines, congrattory calls from around the world. The food, prepared by Camille herself, drew appreciativements. "I didn''t know you could cook," her father said, surprise in his voice.


    "There''s a lot you don''t know about me," Camille replied, not unkindly. Just a statement of fact.


    Her mother looked down at her te. "We''re trying to learn."


    Hannah, sensing tension, quickly changed the subject to the Grid''s performance metrics, drawing the table into technical discussion that carried them through the main course.


    As dessert was served, Alexander stood, tapping his ss gently. The room quieted, all eyes turning to him.


    "I want to propose a toast," he began. "To the Phoenix Grid and its brilliant creator, Camille Kane."


    sses raised around the table. Camille felt warmth rise to her cheeks.


    "But," Alexander continued, "I also have an announcement to make." He looked at Camille, a question in his eyes. She nodded, her heart suddenly racing.


    He reached for her hand, drawing her to stand beside him. "A few days ago, I asked Camille a question. A very important question." His voice filled with emotion. "And she said yes."


    For a moment, confusion showed on some faces. Then understanding dawned as Camille raised her left hand, the phoenix ring catching the light..


    "We''re engaged," she said simply.


    The table erupted in surprised delight. Hannah squealed and jumped up to hug Camille. Victoria showed no surprise-


    she had known, of course-but satisfaction yed at the corners of her mouth.


    Camille looked


    toward her parents. Her mother''s eyes shone with tears. Her father seemed frozen, processing this unexpected news.


    "When?" Mike asked. "How long have you been keeping this secret?"


    Alexander smiled. "I proposed the day before the Gridunch. We


    wanted to wait until after the activation to share our news."


    "So all those rumors about you two were true, Hannah''s assistant said. "The tabloids had it right for once"


    "Not quite," Camille corrected. "They knew we were together. They didn''t know about this. She wiggled her fingers, making the diamond sparkle.


    Her mother approached cautiously. "May 1?" she asked, reaching for Camille''s hand.


    Camille extended it, allowing her mother to examine the ring.


    "It''s beautiful," her mother said softly. "The phoenix, it suits you."


    "That''s what I thought," Alexander replied. "A symbol of who she''s be."


    "And when is the wedding?" someone asked.


    Camille and Alexander exchanged nces. "We haven''t set a date," she said. "We wanted to get through the Gridunch first."


    "Well, now you can focus on something joyful," Hannah said, raising her ss. "To Camille and Alexander!"


    Everyone drank to their health, offering congrattions, questions about their ns, teasing about keeping such


    a big


    secret.


    Through it all, Camille noticed her father hanging back, watching her with an expression she couldn''t quite read. When there was a moment between well- wishes, she approached him.


    "You''re quiet," she said.


    He nodded, looking down at his ss. "I missed so much of your life. Your career sess. Meeting Alexander. Now your engagement." Pain shed across his face. "I have only myself to me." Camille felt the old hurt rise within her, but also something else, a tiny wish to heal. "You''re here now," she said. "That''s a start."


    He looked up, hope in his eyes. "Is it enough?"


    "I don''t know yet," she answered honestly. "But it''s not nothing."


    He seemed to understand that this was the most she could offer right now. He nodded and raised his ss slightly. "He seems like a good man. Better than-" He stopped himself.


    "Better than Stefan? Yes. Very much so." Camille''s voice held no bitterness, only certainty.


    Across the room, Victoria tapped her ss, bringing the


    happy chatter to a halt. All heads turned to her, respect automatic in their attentiveness.


    "I would like to say something," she announced. Her voice, usually so controlled and measured, held an unusual note of emotion.


    She moved to stand beside Camille, tall and


    straight as always, but with a softness in her eyes few ever witnessed.


    "Twenty two months ago," Victoria began, "I found a young woman who had lost everything. Her marriage. Her family. Her sense of self."


    The room grew utterly still. Victoria rarely spoke of that


    night, of how she and Camille hade together.


    "What struck me then was not her pain, though it was considerable. Not her loss, though it was great." Victoria''s gaze swept the room before returning to Camille''s face. "What struck me was her fire. Her refusa Camille felt her throat tighten with emotion.


    "I have builtpanies. I have created wealth. I have won battles in boardrooms across the world," Victoria continued. "But nothing.... nothing.... has given me more pride than watching this woman transform h Victoria raised her ss. "The Phoenix Grid is a remarkable achievement. But it pales beside the achievement of its creator''s transformation. I could not be prouder of the woman Camille has be if she were my own daughter by blood." Tears filled


    Camille''s eyes. Around the table, others dabbed at their eyes as well. Even Victoria''s voice wavered slightly as she concluded:


    "To Camille. May your future with Alexander bring you the happiness you have earned through your strength, your courage, and your unwavering spirit."


    "To Camille," everyone echoed, raising their sses.


    Alexander''s arm slipped around her waist, steadying her as emotion threatened to overwhelm her. Victoria''s


    words.... so unexpected, so heartfelt, had reached ces inside her she had thought permanently closed.


    As conversations resumed around them, Victoria leaned close to Camille''s ear. "I meant every word," she said quietly."


    Never doubt that."


    Before Camille could respond, Victoria straightened, her usualposed demeanor returning "Now, I believe someone mentioned dessert?"


    The moment passed, but its impact remained. Camille moved through the rest of the evening in a glow of happiness she had never expected to feel again after the night Rose and Stefan shattered her world. Later, as guests began to leave, her mother approached with her father behind her. "We want you to have this," her mother said, pressing the small gift bag into Camid Camille opened it to find a small silver fran hands. "It''s not much, but..."


    "Before everything gotplicated," her father exined. "When you were just our little girl with a big talent."


    Camille stared at the photo, at the child she had been before Rose, before disappointments, before pain. Something turned over in her heart.


    "Thank you," she said softly. "Really."


    It wasn''t forgiveness exactly. Not yet. But it was acknowledgment of the possibility.


    As thest guests departed, Camille found herself on the balcony, watching the city glow with the power her Grid provided. Alexander joined her, wrapping his arms around her from behind.


    "Happy?" he asked, his breath warm against her ear.


    “Yes,” she answered truthfully. "For perhaps the first time in years."


    She turned in his arms to face him. "Victoria''s


    words... my parents trying... Hannah''s excitement about our engagement... it felt like..."


    "Like family," Alexander finished for her. "The family you''ve built for yourself."


    Camille nodded, resting her head against his chest. The steady beat of his heart grounded her in this moment of perfect contentment.


    Inside the penthouse, Victoria was speaking with Hannah about tomorrow''s


    Grid maintenance schedule. Some things never changed. The thought made Camille smile.


    "We did it," she whispered. "We really did it."


    "The Grid?" Alexander asked.


    "Everything. The Grid. Surviving Rose''s attacks. Finding our way to each other." She looked up at him. "Living instead of just existing."


    He kissed her then, gentle and promising at once. Above them, stars glittered in the clear night sky. Below them, the city hummed with power, their power, created together.