Chapter 106
Chapter 106
Water closed over Camille’s head. Cold. So cold it burned her skin. She kicked toward the surface, arms flailing, lungs screaming for air. But something held her down, hands gripping her ankles, dragging her deeper into the darkness.
She looked down. Rose stared back at her, grinning, her hair floating around her face like seaweed. Beside her, Herod Preston, his eyes flat and lifeless as a shark’s. They pulled harder. The pressure in Camille’s chest built to unbearable levels.
She opened her mouth to scream, but only bubbles escaped as water rushed in..
Camille jolted upright in bed, gasping. Her nightgown stuck to her skin, soaked with sweat. For a moment, she couldn’t remember where she was. Then the familiar outlines of her bedroom at the Kane mansion took shape in the darkness.
Just a dream. The same dream that had haunted her for months after Rose’s betrayal. The one Victoria’s training had eventually banished.
Until now.
Camille switched on the bedside lamp, chasing away the shadows. The digital clock read 3:17 AM. She pushed back the tangled sheets and moved to the window, pressing her forehead against the cool glass. Below, the estate’s gardens stretched out, security lights casting strange patterns across the manicured lawns. Beyond the gates, Manhattan glittered in the distance.
This was the third night in a row the nightmare had returned. Each time more vivid. Each time harder to shake off.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. Alexander’s text: *Awake?*
How did he always know? Camille typed back: *Bad dream again.*
Three dots appeared immediately. *Coming over. Kitchen. Hot chocolate.*
A small smile touched her lips despite the lingering dread from the nightmare. Alexander had developed an almost supernatural sense for when she couldn’t sleep. Since their visit to his childhood home, since that first real kiss their connection had deepened into something that sometimes frightened her with its intensity.
Camille pulled on a silk robe and padded barefoot down the mansion’s grand staircase. The house was silent except for the occasional creak of settling wood and the soft footsteps of security guards patrolling outside.
In the kitchen, she switched on a single light and filled the kettle. Alexander would arrive in exactly twelve minutes. He always did, no matter what time she texted. One of the many mysteries about him she hadn’t solved yet.
As she reached for mugs in the cabinet, a movement in the garden caught her eye.
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Camille froze, staring out the window. Nothing but shifting shadows from the trees.
Yet something felt… wrong. The hairs on her arms stood up.
She moved away from the window, suddenly aware of how exposed she was in the lit kitchen. Victoria’s training kicked in automatically. Assess the threat. Minimize vulnerability. Create advantage.
The kettle began to whistle. Camille switched it off and backed toward the pantry.
as her fingers found the light switch, the kitchen door swung open.
Just
“Security sweep is clear.”
Camille nearly collapsed with relief at the sound of Alexander’s voice. He stood in the doorway, his expression shifting from alert to concerned when he saw her face.
“What happened?” He crossed to her in three quick strides.
“Nothing. I thought I saw something in the garden. Just shadows.” Camille tried to smile. “The nightmares have me jumpy.”
Alexander didn’t look convinced. He moved to the window, scanning the grounds with practiced eyes. “Security has been doubled since yesterday. Victoria’s orders.”
“Why?” Camille asked, resuming her preparation of hot chocolate. “What aren’t you two telling me?”
Alexander hesitated, then joined her at the counter. “Victoria found something. She wanted to wait until the Grid corrections were complete before telling you.”
“Tell me what?” The nightmare’s lingering dread intensified. “Alexander, no more secrets.”
He nodded, taking the mug she offered. “Herod Preston has been buying Kane Industries stock through shell companies. Just over five percent so far.”
Camille stilled. “A takeover attempt?”
“Unlikely to succeed. Victoria owns sixty percent, and I recently purchased ten percent myself.” Alexander held her gaze. “But it suggests Herod’s plans extend beyond sabotaging the Grid.”
The kitchen suddenly felt too small, too exposed. Camille wrapped her hands around her mug, seeking warmth.
“The nightmares started the same day Victoria discovered this,” she said quietly. “I didn’t know about it, but somehow I… sensed it.”
Alexander didn’t dismiss this as superstition, as most would have. “Your subconscious picks up cues your conscious mind misses. Victoria’s been tenser. Security protocols changed. Small signals.”
They moved to the breakfast nook, sitting across from each other in the dimly lit
kitchen. Outside, the night pressed against the windows like a living thing.
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“Tell me about the nightmare,” Alexander said.
Camille stared into her mug. “I’m drowning. Rose is pulling me down. But now Herod is with her.” She looked up. “It’s different from before. There’s this sense of… running out
of time.”
Alexander reached across the table, taking her hand. The contact anchored her, driving back the nightmare’s ghostly tendrils.
“There’s more you should know,” he said. “The shadow engineering team found another layer of sabotage in the Grid. More sophisticated than the first. And installed by someone with higher security clearance than Walsh.”
“Who?”
“Victoria suspects Martin Greene. Her head of special projects.”
The name hit Camille like a physical blow. Martin Greene, the silver–haired executive who had been at Victoria’s side for years. Who had helped train Camille when she first arrived. Who knew every detail of Kane Industries operations.
“That’s not possible,” she whispered. “He’s been with her since…”
“Since Sophia died,” Alexander finished. “Fifteen years of apparent loyalty. Which makes the betrayal all the more devastating.”
Camille pushed her mug away, no longer interested in its comfort. “If Greene is working with Herod, we have a serious security breach. He knows everything, security protocols, the Grid designs, even details about…” She paused, a new thought freezing her blood. “Even details about me. About who I was before.”
Alexander’s expression darkened. “Victoria has him under surveillance. If he’s communicating with Herod or Rose, we’ll know.”
“That might be too late.” Camille stood, suddenly unable to sit still. “We need to move more aggressively. Find Herod directly.”
“Victoria wants to wait. Use Greene to lead us to him.”
“While we wait, they’re planning something we haven’t anticipated.” Camille paced the kitchen, her nightmare’s urgency transferring to her waking thoughts. “The Grid sabotage. The stock purchases. Greene’s betrayal. It’s all connected, but we’re missing the pattern.”
She stopped abruptly at the window, staring out into the darkness. The garden lights cast long shadows across the lawn, creating shapes that seemed to shift and move with a life of their own.
“What if there’s another layerwe haven’t uncovered yet?” she asked softly. “What if everything we’ve discovered so far is just the surface?”
Alexander joined her at the window. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking about Rose,” Camille said. “She’s always been careful. Methodical. Her
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manipulation of my family took years of patient planning. And Herod…” She shook her head. “Victoria says he’s been building his revenge for a decade. People like that don’t put all their hopes on one plan.”
“Victoria’s releasing false information tomorrow,” Alexander said. “A press release about a major partnership between Kane Industries and Pierce Enterprises. Designed
to make Herod react.”
“And expose himself,” Camille nodded. “Smart. But I’m not sure it’s enough.”
She moved to the refrigerator, pulling out milk to reheat their cooling hot chocolate. As she stirred the milk in a pan, her mind raced through possibilities.
“The stock purchases,” she said suddenly. “When did they begin?”
Alexander leaned against the counter beside her. “Six months ago, according to Victoria’s investigators.”
“Before Rose connected with Herod,” Camille noted. “Before the Grid sabotage plans.”
“Yes. Which suggests….”
“That Rose didn’t find Herod,” Camille finished. “Herod found Rose. He sought her out specifically because of her connection to me.”
Alexander’s eyes narrowed as he followed her logic. “So Rose isn’t the mastermind
here. She’s a tool.”
“A weapon aimed at me.” Camille poured the warmed milk into their mugs. “But I’m not the true target. I never was.”
“Victoria,” Alexander said softly.
Camille nodded, the pieces falling into place. “Herod wanted revenge against Victoria for destroying his family. He researched her, found her connection to me, and then found the perfect person to help him strike at Victoria through me.”
“Rose.”
“Exactly.” Camille felt a chill despite the warmth of the kitchen. “Which means we’ve been looking at this all wrong. We’ve been treating Rose as the primary threat, with Herod as her powerful ally. But it’s the reverse.”
They returned to the table with their refreshed drinks. Outside, the sky had begun to lighten imperceptibly, the deep black softening toward dark blue.
“If you’re right,” Alexander said, “then Rose might not even understand the full scope of Herod’s plans.”
“No. She thinks this is about destroying me. About taking back what she believes I stole from her.” Camille wrapped her hands around her mug. “But for Herod, it’s about Victoria. About making her suffer the way he suffered when she destroyed his family.”
Alexander’s expression grew grave. “And the most effective way to hurt Victoria now…”
Chapter 106
“Is through me,” Camille finished. “Her heir. Her adoptive daughter. The one thing she truly cares about.”
The realization hung between them in the quiet kitchen. Dawn was approaching, but the shadows seemed deeper than before.
“My nightmare makes sense now,” Camille said softly. “Rose pulling me down isn’t the real danger. It’s Herod, patient, hidden, with a plan we still don’t fully understand.”
Alexander reached across the table, taking her hand again. “We’ll figure it out. Together.”
Camille nodded, drawing strength from his touch. But the nightmare’s dread still clung to her like a second skin.
“Four days until the Grid launch,” she said. “Whatever they’re planning, it’s coming.
soon.”
“Victoria has the shadow engineering team working around the clock to undo the sabotage. The Grid will be secure.”
“But what if the Grid isn’t the endgame? What if it’s just another distraction?” Camille met his gaze directly. “The stock purchases. The sabotage. Martin Greene’s betrayal. What if they’re all just pieces of something larger?”
Alexander didn’t dismiss her concerns. “Then we need to find the pattern.”
He pulled out his phone, sending a quick text. A moment later, his phone buzzed with
a response.
“Victoria wants to meet at seven. Full strategic briefing.” He looked up at Camille. “She‘ s been up all night too, apparently.”
“She feels it too,” Camille said. “The danger closing in.”
They sat in silence as the first rays of sunrise began to filter through the kitchen. windows. The night’s shadows retreated, but the sense of lurking threat remained.
Camille thought of her nightmare, of being pulled under dark water, of fighting for breath, of Rose and Herod dragging her down. Now the dream’s meaning seemed clearer, more ominous.
It wasn’t just about drowning. It was about time running out.
Four days until the Grid launch. Four days for them to uncover whatever Herod was truly planning.
Four days for Camille to ensure that her nightmare remained just that, a dream, not a prophecy.
But as she looked into Alexander’s worried eyes, she couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever was coming would be worse than anything she had imagined. And unlike her nightmare, there would be no waking up from it.
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