Chapter 175
Chapter 175
Camille stood at the window of her office, Victoria’s office, until yesterday… watching raindrops race down the glass. Each drop chased another, sometimes merging, sometimes veering off on separate paths. Like lives, she thought. Sometimes joined, sometimes divided, all eventually reaching the same destination.
The folder on her desk contained documents that had taken her legal team all night to prepare. Papers that would reshape lives, just as Victoria’s announcement yesterday had reshaped hers.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts. Alexander entered, carrying two coffee cups and wearing the look of a man who hadn’t slept much.
“The press is still camped in the lobby,” he said, handing her a cup. “You’d think Victoria announced she was selling the company
to aliens.”
Camille smiled, grateful for his attempt to lighten the mood. “Are you ready for the meeting?”
“I’m not the one they’ll be watching.” Alexander nodded toward the folder. “Are you sure about this?”
That question again. Since she’d made her decision last night, everyone had asked it, her legal team, the board members she’d called, and now Alexander. Only Victoria hadn’t questioned her, simply nodding when Camille explained her plan.
“Yes,” she answered, more firmly than she felt. “I’m sure:”
Alexander touched her arm. “Then I’m with you.”
“Even though you think it’s a mistake?”
His fingers traced a gentle path from her elbow to her hand. “I think it’s generous. Too generous, maybe. But it’s your decision to make.”
Before she could respond, her assistant opened the door. “They’re ready for you in the conference room.”
Camille took a deep breath and picked up the folder. This would be her first official act as CEO. Not expanding the business or securing a new market, but giving something back.
“Let’s go,” she said.
The conference room hushed as they entered. Eight people sat around the long table, her legal team on one side, the Rodriguez representatives on the other.
At the far end, Stefan sat stiffly in his chair. His arm remained in a sling, his face paler than she remembered. Their eyes met briefly before he looked away.
Camille took her seat at the head of the table, Alexander settling beside her. She placed the folder before her, letting the silence
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stretch a moment longer.
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“Thank you all for coming on such short notice,” she began. “As you know, Victoria Kane stepped down as CEO yesterday, naming me as her successor. This is my first–official meeting in that role.”
She opened the folder, revealing the stack of papers within.
“These documents represent my first executive decision as CEO of Kane Industries. In essence, they reverse the acquisition of Rodriguez Shipping assets that occurred three months ago.”
Murmurs rippled around the table. Stefan’s head snapped up, his eyes widening.
“To be clear,” Camille continued, “Kane Industries will return controlling interest in Rodriguez Shipping to the Rodriguez family, specifically to Stefan Rodriguez, effective immediately upon signing.”
The Rodriguez attorneys exchanged startled glances. One began hurriedly flipping through his notes, as if searching for the trap.
Stefan simply stared at her, his face a battlefield of emotions, disbelief, confusion, suspicion.
“Ms. Kane,” he spoke finally, his voice rougher than she remembered. “May I ask why?”
A fair question. Everyone in the room knew how Kane Industries had systematically dismantled Rodriguez Shipping during her revenge campaign. Even those who didn’t know the personal history could see this reversal made little business sense.
“Because building is harder than destroying,” she answered. “And I’m more interested in what can be built.”
She gestured to her lead attorney, who distributed copies of the agreement to everyone present. “However, there are conditions.”
Now the trap, Stefan’s face seemed to say. His body tensed visibly.
“First, Rodriguez Shipping will adopt and maintain ethical labor practices across all operations, subject to independent audit.”
Stefan frowned slightly, but nodded.
“Second, twenty percent of annual profits will be dedicated to environmental remediation in areas where your ships operate.”
Another nod, more hesitant.
“Third, the company will create a scholarship foundation for children of maritime workers, with particular emphasis on education for girls in developing regions.”
Stefan’s frown deepened, not in disagreement but in confusion. He clearly couldn’t understand why these conditions mattered to
her.
“And finally,” Camille said, meeting his gaze directly, “your family estate, the property that has been in Rodriguez hands for four generations, will be returned to you, with the provision that the groundskeeper and household staff who lost their positions be offered their jobs back at increased wages.”
Stefan’s mask finally cracked. Something that might have been tears brightened his eyes before he blinked them away.
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“Why?” he asked again, softer this time. A question not for the CEO of Kane Industries, but for the woman he had once betrayed.
The room fell silent. Everyone sensed the undercurrents flowing beneath the business discussion. Camille felt Alexander’s hand find hers beneath the table, a small gesture of support.
“Because I choose to,” she answered simply.
Stefan held her gaze for a long moment, then nodded once. “I accept the conditions.”
“All of them?” she pressed.
“Yes. All of them.”
The lawyers took over then, reviewing details, explaining terms, pointing out places requiring signatures. The formality of it created a welcome buffer, allowing Camille to retreat behind professionalism again.
When Stefan signed the final page an hour later, his hand trembled slightly. Was it weakness from his injury, Camille wondered, or emotion? Perhaps both.
“The board will announce the arrangement tomorrow morning,” she said, closing the meeting. “I suggest your PR team prepares a statement.”
The Rodriguez team gathered their papers, still looking stunned at their unexpected victory. Stefan lingered as others filed out, clearly wanting to speak privately, but Alexander stayed firmly at Camille’s side.
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Stefan said finally.
“Don’t thank me,” Camille replied. “Just honor the agreement.”
Stefan nodded, his eyes moving between her and Alexander. “I will. You have my word.”
An odd heaviness hung in the air as he left, not the bitterness of their past, but something different. The weight of a chapter truly ending, perhaps,
When the door closed behind him, Alexander finally spoke. “That was quite a performance.”
“It wasn’t a performance.”
“No,” he agreed, surprising her. “It was mercy. Something far more powerful.”
She gathered her papers, avoiding his gaze. “It was good business. His family knows shipping. We don’t. This way, Kane Industries gets a percentage of profits without the operational headaches.”
Alexander smiled faintly. “If you say so.”
They walked together back to her office, where Victoria waited, elegant as always in a white suit that emphasized her thinness, but also the determined set of her shoulders.
“Well?” Victoria asked. “Is it done?”
Chapter 175
Camille nodded, setting the signed papers on her desk. “Yes. Rodriguez Shipping returns to Stefan, with conditions.”
Victoria’s expression gave nothing away. “And the conditions?”
“Ethical practices. Environmental remediation. Educational funding. All the things we discussed.”
Victoria nodded slowly. “Not what I would have done.”
“I know,” Camille said quietly.
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“But then,” Victoria continued, a hint of something like pride in her voice, “that’s rather the point, isn’t it? You’re not me.”
Alexander poured three glasses of water from the carafe on Camille’s desk. “To new beginnings,” he offered, raising his glass in a
small toast.
They drank in silence, each lost in private thoughts. Outside, the rain had stopped. Sunlight broke through the clouds, casting
golden light across the city.
“He asked why,” Camille said suddenly.
“And what did you tell him?” Victoria asked.
“That I choose to.”
Victoria smiled, a real smile, rare and transformative. “The most powerful words in any language. ‘I choose.“”
“He might betray that choice,” Alexander said, the caution in his voice unmistakable. “The Rodriguez family has generations of
business habits that won’t change overnight.”
“He might,” Camille agreed. “But I’m betting he won’t.”
Victoria stood and walked to the window, gazing out at the city as she had done countless times from this very spot. “When I
found you in that parking garage, you had lost everything. Your husband. Your sister. Your family name. Your sense of self.”
Camille and Alexander exchanged a glance, surprised at this unexpected reminiscence.
“I taught you how to use that loss,” Victoria continued. “How to transform it into power. How to take revenge on those who hurt
you.” She turned back to face them. “But I never taught you mercy, because I never had any to give.”
The admission hung in the air, startling in its vulnerability from a woman who had always seemed invulnerable.
“Perhaps,” Victoria said, “that’s what you’ll teach me, in the time I have left.”
The moment stretched between them, tender and raw. Then Victoria straightened, the brief softness replaced by her usual steely
determination.
“Now,” she said briskly, “I believe we have a press conference to prepare for. The announcement of my successor has already
created quite a stir. This latest decision will send them into a frenzy.”
As they began reviewing the press statements, Camille felt something settle inside her, a certainty she’d been searching for since
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Victoria’s announcement yesterday. She had spent years learning to be Camille Kane, Victoria’s creation and heir. Now she would discover who Camille Kane could become when making her own choices.
She glanced at the signed documents on her desk. Not revenge, but restoration. Not destruction, but possibility.
A path uniquely her own, at last.
