Chapter 206

Chapter 206:

“But,” she continued, “I want to wait until after the Grid launch. Until we’ve dealt with Rose and Herod once and for all.”

Alexander nodded, understanding. “The Grid launches next week. We can announce our engagement afterward.”

“Victoria should know first,” Camille said. “Before anyone else.”

“Of course.” He leaned forward, cupping her face in his hands. “She gave me my fiancée, after all.”

The thought hung between them, how different both their lives might have been if Victoria Kane hadn’t discovered Camille that night.

“I think she’ll approve,” Camille asked aloud, uncertain. Victoria had never criticized her relationship with Alexander, had even encouraged it when Rose tried to use it against them. But marriage was different—permanent, binding, a potential distraction from the empire Victoria was preparing her to lead.

“She will,” Alexander said with conviction. “Not because I’m worthy of you—no one could be that—but because Victoria Kane values strength above all else. And we are stronger together than apart.”

He kissed her then, sealing their promise. Camille felt the cool metal of the ring against her skin, the physical manifestation of this new beginning.

When they separated, Camille looked down at the phoenix ring, its diamond catching the fading sunlight.

“I never expected this,” she admitted. “After Stefan and Rose… part of me believed I would never trust again. Never love again.”

“And now?” Alexander asked, his voice soft.

“Now I understand that what happened with them wasn’t love. It was performance, manipulation. This…” she gestured between them, “is real. Built on truth, on seeing each other completely.”

As they pulled away from the hospital, Camille thought about the strange twists of fate that had brought them together and reunited them in circumstances neither could have imagined.

“Where to now?” Alexander asked. “Dinner to celebrate?”

Camille twisted the ring on her finger, still getting used to its weight, its significance. “Actually, I’d like to tell Victoria tonight, if she’s available. This feels too important to wait.”

Alexander nodded, changing lanes to head toward Victoria’s penthouse. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No,” Camille decided. “This is something I should do alone. She found me when I had nothing, rebuilt me when I was broken. She deserves to hear this news from me, personally.”

As they drove through the darkening city, Camille watched lights begin to appear in buildings and streetlamps. The Phoenix Grid would power those lights soon, her vision made real through years of work. Now, she had a new vision to look forward to—a life with Alexander, a future built on her own terms.

“One week,” she said softly. “One week until the Grid launches, until we deal with whatever Rose and Herod have planned. And then…”

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