Chapter 159
Chapter 159:
Tears threatened again. Camille blinked them back, determined to continue.
“I have never been demonstrative. Emotion was a luxury I couldn’t afford when building Kane Industries. Perhaps I forgot how to express it along the way. But know this, Camille: In you, I found the daughter of my heart. Not a replacement for…”
“Sophia, no one could ever be that, but a second chance I never expected.” Camille’s voice broke on the last words. Alexander squeezed her hand, grounding her.
“If I survive this surgery,” she read on, “I may never speak of these things again. Pride is a difficult habit to break, especially at my age. But I needed you to know, once and for all, that you are more than my heir. You are my legacy in the truest sense—not the buildings that bear my name or the company I built, but the remarkable woman you have become.”
The letter continued with practical advice about the company, but Camille couldn’t read further. She closed the folder, pressing it to her heart, Victoria’s words echoing in her mind.
“She never said any of this to me,” she whispered. “Not once.”
“Some people can only say certain things on paper,” Alexander said gently. “Or when they fear they’re running out of time.”
Camille nodded, understanding flooding through her. Victoria had given her so much—a new identity, a purpose, a future. And now, in these pages, she had given Camille something even more precious: the knowledge that she was truly loved.
“She has to survive,” Camille said, a new determination threading through her voice. “She has to. Because I need to tell her…”
“Tell her what?” Alexander prompted when she fell silent.
Camille looked toward the windows, where dawn was beginning to break, pale light seeping through the rain clouds. “That she saved me. Not just from Rose and Stefan, not just from being destroyed. She saved me from becoming like them, someone who only takes, who only destroys.”
L∆Ŧ€$† ¢♄₳þŧ€яŞ ¡η Ġ@lиøνεlş.cøm
She turned to Alexander, her eyes bright with unshed tears and newfound clarity. “Victoria Kane gave me back myself, and then she gave me a mother. A real one. I need her to know that before…”
The door opened, and a doctor in surgical scrubs stood in the doorway. Camille froze, her heart hammering against her ribs. It was too soon. Far too soon for the surgery to be complete.
“Ms. Kane?” the doctor said. “There’s been a development. You need to come with me right away.”
Camille stood, Victoria’s folder clutched against her chest like armor. Alexander rose beside her, his hand at the small of her back, a silent promise of support.
Whatever waited beyond that door—hope or heartbreak—Camille would face it standing tall, just as Victoria had taught her. Because that’s what daughters did for their mothers. They made them proud, even in the darkest moments. Especially then.
.
.
.