Chapter 137
Chapter 137
Camille stared at the wall of screens in Kane Industries‘ crisis management room. Each one showed a different news channel, all broadcasting the same images: smoke pouring from the damaged substations, firefighters battling flames, and worried faces of New York citizens wondering if their power would fail next. Three hours had passed since the second explosion. The sun would rise soon, bringing with it questions they needed answers for.
“The press is gathering downstairs,” Hannah said, placing a tablet in front of Camille. ‘Over forty reporters. All major networks.”
Camille nodded, her eyes never leaving the screens. The headline crawling across the bottom of Channel 7’s broadcast made her stomach clench: “PHOENIX GRID FAILURE? KANE INDUSTRIES FACES QUESTIONS AFTER TWIN EXPLOSIONS
“Stock futures are dropping.” Alexander added quietly from behind her. “Down twelve percent already.”
Victoria, still pale from her recent surgery but standing straight–backed and defiant, turned to Camille. “You need to address them. Now. Before the market opens.”
Camille felt the weight of all eyes in the room. The engineering team. The security personnel. Victoria. Alexander. All waiting for her to fix this nightmare.
“What do we know for certain?” Camille asked, her voice steadier than she felt.
Hannah stepped forward. “The Grid didn’t fail. Our safety systems worked exactly as designed. Despite two major attacks, ninety–three percent of the network remains operational.”
“And the power supply?”
“Stable. We’ve rerouted through secondary pathways. No service disruptions to critical infrastructure.”
Camille stood, smoothing her blouse with trembling hands. “I need five minutes to prepare. Then I’ll speak to them.”
In the small bathroom off the crisis room, Camille splashed cold water.on her face and stared at her reflection. Dark circles shadowed her eyes. Her skin looked pale under the harsh fluorescent light. Fear gnawed at her insides.
“You can do this,” she whispered to herself. “You’ve faced worse than reporters.”
But had she? Facing Rose’s betrayal, Stefan’s cruelty–those were personal wounds. This was different. The Phoenix Grid wasn’t just a business project. It represented everything she’d become since Victoria had rescued her. It was her rebirth, her transformation from victim to creator.
And now Rose was trying to destroy that too.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts. Alexander stood in the doorway, his tie loose, his face tired but determined.
“I thought you might need this,” he said, handing her a small velvet box.
Inside lay her phoenix pendant, the one Victoria had given her at the beginning of her transformation. Camille touched it, feeling its weight, the smooth metal cool against her fingers.
“I can’t fix this,” she whispered, the admission tearing from her throat. “Everything we built…”
Alexander stepped closer, his hands gentle on her shoulders. “You’re not fixing anything because nothing is broken. The Grid worked. The safety systems worked. We’re still standing.”
“But the public perception…”
“Can be shaped.” His eyes held hers. “Remember who you are, Camille. You’ve survived worse than this.”
She clasped the pendant around her neck, drawing strength from its familiar weight. The woman who had worn it when Victoria first gave it to her had been broken, desperate for revenge. The woman wearing it now had built something. Created something. And she wouldn’t let it be destroyed.
“I’m ready,” she said.
The press room buzzed with tension. Camera flashes exploded as Camille walked to the podium, her steps measured, her back straight. Dozens of reporters shouted questions, their voices blending into a wall of noise. Camille raised her hand, and gradually, silence fell.
“Good morning,” she began, her voice clear and unwavering. “Last night, Kane Industries‘ Phoenix Grid substations were attacked in what authorities are investigating as acts of terrorism. I want to be clear: these were not accidents. These were not system failures. These were deliberate attacks designed to destroy what we have built.”
She paused, scanning the room, meeting the gaze of several reporters directly.
“They failed.”
The simple statement hung in the air. A reporter from the Wall Street Journal broke the silence.
1/3
Chapter 137
“Ms. Kane, how can you claim they failed when two substations are completely destroyed?”
Camille nodded at the question. “Because destruction was not their only goal. Whoever did this wanted to prove the Phoenix Grid was vulnerable that our promise of reliable, safe power for New York was empty” She gestured to the large screen behind her, which flickered to life showing a real–time map of the city’s power grid. ‘As you can see, power remains stable across all five boroughs. Hospital systems, emergency services, public transportation–all operating normally
Another reporter raised her hand. “But what about the safety concerns raised last week? Could those vulnerabilities have been exploited in these attacks?”
Camille felt a flash of rage at the mention of the fabricated safety concerns Rose and Herod had planted. She pushed it down, keeping her expression professional.
“Those concerns were based on falsified documents, as we demonstrated at our stockholder meeting. In fact, it was our advanced safety systems that prevented these attacks from having their intended effect. The Phoenix Grid was designed with multiple layers of protection precisely because we understood the critical nature of the infrastructure we were building.”
“What about the cost of repairs?” shouted a man from the back. “Will Kane Industries stock take a hit?
Camille allowed herself a small smile. “The Phoenix Grid was named for a reason. The mythical phoenix bums and is reborn stronger. By this afternoon, our repair teams will have restored the damaged sections to eighty percent capacity. By this time tomorrow, we expect full restoration.”
She leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping so the reporters had to lean in to hear her. “Whoever attacked us clearly doesn’t understand what we built. The Phoenix Grid isn’t just infrastructure, it’s a new way of thinking about power. Distributed, resilient, self–healing. You can knock down parts, but the whole remains strong”
The questions continued for twenty minutes. With each answer, Camille felt the mood in the room shifting. The initial skepticism gave way to something else, a grudging respect, even admiration. She answered everything directly, never dodging difficult questions, never making promises she couldn’t keep.
When she sensed the moment was right, she played her final card.
“Before I take my last question, I want to share something with you.” She nodded to Hannah, who tapped her tablet.
The large screen behind Camille changed to show the Kane Industries building. “As of four a.m. this morning, this building. our headquarters is running entirely on Phoenix Grid power. Not backup generators. Not the city grid. Our grid.”
A murmur ran through the assembled reporters.
“The lights you’re sitting under, the microphones you’re speaking into, the cameras recording this, all powered by the same system that was attacked last night.” Camille spread her hands. “We’re not just talking about our confidence in this technology. We’re demonstrating it. Because that’s what Kane Industries does. We don’t just tell you that something works, we show you.”
The press conference ended with a barrage of camera flashes. As Camille walked from the podium, she caught sight of Victoria standing in the back of the room, a rare smile on her normally stern face.
Back in the crisis room, the mood had transformed. The engineering team was cheering as they watched the first positive headlines appear on the screens.
“PHOENIX RISES: KANE GRID WITHSTANDS TERRORIST ATTACK”
“KANE INDUSTRIES DEMONSTRATES GRID RESILIENCE AFTER BOMBING*
“CAMILLE KANE TURNS CRISIS INTO TRIUMPH”
Alexander wrapped his arm around Camille’s waist. “Masterful,” he whispered in her ear.
Victoria approached, her expression solemn despite the celebration around them. “Well done,” she said simply, but Camille could see the pride in her eyes. “The market’s responding. Stock’s now down only three percent.”
“We’ll recover,” Camille said.
“Yes,” Victoria agreed. “But this isn’t over.” She lowered her voice so only Camille and Alexander could hear. “Rose and Herod are desperate now. They failed twice. They won’t stop.”
“I know,” Camille said, her hand going to the phoenix pendant at her throat. “But neither will we.”
Hannah rushed over, her face flushed with excitement. “The repairs at Substation 12 are ahead of schedule,” she said, holding up her tablet. “And look at these numbers.”
The screen showed power distribution figures across the city. Despite the damage, the system had maintained stability.
“We’re getting calls from three major tech companies,” Hannah continued. “They want to license the safety protocols we designed. The attack actually proved how effective our systems are.”
Victoria nodded, a hint of satisfaction breaking through her exhaustion. “Crisis becomes opportunity.”
2/3
Chapter 137
“We’re not out of danger yet,” Alexander cautioned, his voice low. “The security team found this.”
He handed Camille a tablet showing surveillance footage from the damaged substation. In the comer of the frame, barety visible in the smoke and confusion after the explosion, was a familiar figure watching from a distance.
“Rose,” Camille whispered, her fingers unconsciously touching the phoenix pendant at her throat.
Victoria leaned closer to study the image. “She was there. Watching her handiwork.”
“She won’t stop,” Camille said, her voice hardening. “Two substations down, but the Grid remains functional. She’ll try again Alexander nodded grimly. “Security at all remaining substations has been tripled, and I’ve brought in my own team to protect the main control center.”
“It’s not just the Grid she wants to destroy,” Camille said quietly. “It’s me. Everything I’ve built. Everything I am.”
Victoria placed a hand on Camille’s shoulder, a rare gesture of physical support. “Then we make sure she fails. Again and again, until she has nothing left.”
Camille looked at the monitors showing the positive headlines, the rising stock price, the intact power grid. Rose had tried to destroy everything she’d built, but instead, she’d only proven its strength. Just as she’d once tried to destroy Carnille herself, only to create something stronger in her place.
“Let her come,” Camille said, her voice steady and cold. “This time, I’m ready for her.”
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