Chapter 32
INT OF VIEW
CAMILLE’S POINT OF VIEW
His words hung in the air between us, dangerous and sharp. “Welcome back to the land of the living, Ms. Kane. O should I use your previous name?”
I kept my face still, fighting the storm that raged inside my chest. Years of practice hiding emotions from Rose. Months of Victoria’s merciless training. Everything in me focused on not revealing the bolt of fear that shot through my body.
“I’m afraid you’ve mistaken me for someone else,” I said, withdrawing my hand from his grasp. My voice stayed perfectly steady, cool and distant. “I don’t have a previous name.”
Alexander Pierce studied me with those unnerving gray eyes, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Too knowing. Too certain.
“Is that so?” He tilted his head slightly, examining me as one might examine an interesting puzzle. “My mistake, then ”
But his tone made it clear he believed no such thing. He wasn’t backing down, merely shifting tactics.
“First public appearance?” he asked, smoothly changing subjects while maintaining uncomfortable eye contact. Victoria has kept you well hidden until now.”
“Mother believed I needed time to adjust before facing the social spotlight,” I replied, using the bland explanation we’d crafted for curious questions. “European privacy has its advantages.”
“European privacy,” he repeated, the phrase clearly amusing him. “How… convenient.”
The way he stressed that word, convenient* made my stomach tighten. This man knew something. Or thought he did. Either way, he presented a danger I hadn’t prepared for
“If you’ll excuse me,” I began, seeking escape from this increasingly dangerous conversation. “I should…” “Should continue making the rounds?” he finished for me Of course, Victoria’s careful choreography must be followed” He glanced across the room to where Victoria stood conversing with the mayor, though her attention clearly remained partly on us. “But I suspect we’ll be seeing more of each other, Ms. Kane.”
The way he emphasized my last name carried volumes of unspoken meaning.
“I look forward to it,” I lied smoothly.
He smiled then, a genuine expression that transformed his severe features, making him appear younger, almost boyish despite his imposing presence.
“No, you don’t,” he said quietly. “But you will.”
With that cryptic statement, he stepped back, offering a small bow that somehow managed to be both respectful and mocking simultaneously. “Until next time.”
I watched him move away through the crowd, people unconsciously shifting to make space for him. Despite his youth compared to most titans of industry in the room, Alexander Pierce carried an authority that commanded deference without demanding, It.
My heart raced beneath my carefully composed exterior. One year of transformation. One year of becoming someone new. One year of building Camille Kane from the rains of Camille Lewis.
And it had taken him exactly one minute to threaten everything.
+25 BONUS
Chapter 32
“I see you met Alexander.”
Victoria appeared beside me, materializing from the crowd with her usual perfect timing. Her expression revealed nothing, but I knew her well enough how to recognize the tension in her shoulders, the slightly too–controlled quality of her movements.
“He’s… not what I expected,” I said carefully, aware of listening cars around us.
“He rarely is.” Victoria guided me toward the silent auction displays, creating a bubble of privacy amid the busy ballroom. “What did he say to you?”
I hesitated, unsure how much to reveal in this public setting. “He implied he knew me. From before.”
Victoria’s face remained impassive, but I caught the brief tightening of her fingers on her champagne glass, the only sign of her surprise and concern.
“Impossible,” she said after a measured pause. “The surgical alterations are too good. Your public presence as Camille Lewis was minimal. And Pierce has been in Asia for most of the past year.”
“Nevertheless,” I replied quietly, “he said something about welcoming me back to the land of the living and asked if he should use
my previous name.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed slightly, the only indication of the calculations happening behind her carefully maintained social mask.
“It’s a fishing expedition,” she decided. “A guess based on limited information. Pierce has always enjoyed psychological games, especially with those in my circle.”
Her explanation made logical sense, yet didn’t fully calm the unease growing inside me. Something in Pierce’s certainty had felt too genuine, too knowing.
“Continue as planned,” Victoria instructed. “The governor is waiting to meet you. Then the museum director, the foundation board members, and the Japanese investors at table twelve.”
Just like that, we moved on. Back to the carefully orchestrated evening, back to my debut as Victoria Kane’s heir, back to pretending Alexander Pierce hadn’t just threatened to unravel everything with a few well–chosen words. For the next two hours, I performed flawlessly. Charmed the governor. Discussed art acquisitions with the museum director, Impressed the foundation board with my knowledge of their programs, Spoke passable Japanese to the investors.
All while hyperaware of Pierce’s presence in the room, feeling his gaze on me at unexpected moments, catching glimpses of that knowing smile whenever our eyes accidentally met across the crowded ballroom.
By the time the event concluded and we were in Victoria’s private car heading home, exhaustion pressed down on me like a physical weight. Not the tiredness of working muscles, which Jason’s training had long accustomed me to, but the bone–deep weariness that comes from maintaining perfect control under threat.
“We need to address the Pierce situation,” Victoria said once the privacy screen was securely in place between us and the driver. “He’s more dangerous than I anticipated.”
“How could he possibly know?” I asked, finally giving voice to the question that had haunted me all evening. “The changes to my appearance are significant. Even Rose wouldn’t recognize me if we passed on the street.”
Victoria gazed out the window at the city lights, her profile sharp against the darkness. “Pierce has resources I can’t always track. Intelligence networks beyond the usual corporate espionage. And an almost supernatural intuition for patterns others miss.”
+25 BONUS
Chapter 32
“That’s not an answer,” I pressed, needing something more concrete than vague descriptions of Pierce’s capabilities.
“No,” she agreed, turning back to me. “It’s not. The truth is, I don’t know how he identified you. But I intend to find out.”
The car moved through the late–night traffic, the silence between us growing heavier with unspoken concerns. Finally, as we approached the gate to Victoria’s estate, she spoke again.
“Whatever Pierce thinks he knows, he can’t prove anything Your transformation is legally airtight. Camille Lewis is officially dead. Camille Kane has documentation going back decades.”
Her words should have reassured me, but something in her tone suggested she was trying to convince herself as much as me.
Inside the mansion, Victoria retreated to her study with instructions not to be disturbed. I made my way to my suite, dismissing the staff who waited to assist with my evening routine. I needed solitude. Needed space to process what had happened.
In my dressing room, I stared at my reflection in the full–length mirror. The woman who looked back at me was undeniably elegant, poised, beautiful in a striking rather than conventional way. My emerald gown caught the light as I turned, the custom fabric moving like water against my skin. The phoenix pendant at my throat gleamed gold against pale skin.
Not a trace remained of Camille Lewis. Not the softer face, not the hesitant posture, not the apologetic smile. Dr. Torres had seen to the physical transformation, Jason to the changes in how I carried myself, Victoria to the rest. Yet Alexander Pierce had looked at me and somehow seen through it all.
“Welcome back to the land of the living, Ms. Kane. Or should I use your previous name?“*
I removed my jewelry, carefully placing each piece in its designated spot in my safe. The routine task did nothing to quiet my racing thoughts.
Who was Alexander Pierce, really? The business publications described him as a wunderkind, a technological genius who had built a trillion–dollar empire before his thirtieth birthday. His companies spanned artificial intelligence, biotechnology, space exploration, and media His personal life remained largely private, with occasional appearances at high–profile events but few personal details shared with the press.
A rival to Victoria in business, certainly. But something in their interaction tonight had suggested a history beyond mere corporate competition.
As I removed my makeup, another layer of Camille Kane washing away with each gentle stroke of the cleansing cloth, I found myself returning to the moment of our introduction. The Intensity in his gray eyes. The certainty in his voice. The briefest touch of his lips against my knuckles
My hand tingled at the memory, an unexpected physical reaction that annoyed me with its adolescent quality Attraction had no place in the life I’d built with Victoria. Emotional entanglements of any kind were distractions from our purpose, justice for what Rose and Stefan had done to me.
Yet I couldn’t dismiss Alexander Pierce so easily. Couldn’t fe him away as merely another obstacle to overcome or strategic variable to account for. Something about him had gotten under my skin in a way nothing had since transformation began.
my
Perhaps it was the threat he represented. Perhaps it was the mystery of how he’d identified me. Or perhaps it was something more primal, the shock of being truly seen for the first time in a year.
