Chapter 326

Chapter 326:

Victoria. Alexander. Her parents. Anyone who mattered to her.

The room suddenly felt too small, the air too thin. Camille struggled to breathe, her chest tight with panic.

“Camille.” Victoria’s voice cut through the fog of fear. “Look at me.”

Camille turned, meeting Victoria’s steady gaze.

“She wants you afraid,” Victoria said firmly. “She wants you paralyzed. Reactive. Don’t give her that power.”

“I can’t lose you,” Camille whispered, the words torn from someplace deep and vulnerable. “I can’t lose any of you.”

“You won’t,” Victoria promised. “We’re prepared now. We’re ready for her.”

Alexander finished his call and rejoined them. “Agent Chen is sending a team to trace the message. They’ll be here within the hour.”

“And until then?” Camille asked.

“Until then, we tighten security even further.” Alexander’s voice was calm, matter-of-fact, a counterpoint to the storm of emotion raging inside Camille. “No one enters this floor without biometric verification and direct approval from me. All staff are being vetted again. Guards at every entrance, exit, and elevator.”

“What about my parents?” Camille pressed.

“Agent Chen is sending FBI agents to supplement their security team. They’re being moved to a safe house as we speak.”

Camille nodded, trying to take comfort in these concrete measures. But the knot of fear in her stomach remained, hard and cold.

A knock on the door made them all tense. Alexander moved to answer it, his hand inside his jacket where Camille knew he carried a weapon. He checked the security monitor beside the door before opening it.

Jason, Alexander’s head of security, stepped in. “Sir, we’ve completed the first sweep of the floor. All clear. Additional teams are arriving now to establish the expanded perimeter.”

“Good,” Alexander said. “Any updates on the trace?”

“Nothing yet. The tech team says the message was routed through multiple servers. They’re still working on it.”

Camille listened to this exchange, the professional calm of the two men both reassuring and somehow terrifying. They were preparing for war. A war Rose had brought to their doorstep.

After Jason left, Camille moved to the window, looking out at the city below. Somewhere out there, Rose was watching. Waiting. Planning her next move. The thought made Camille’s skin crawl.

“She’ll make a mistake,” Alexander said, coming to stand beside her. “They always do.”

“You don’t know Rose,” Camille replied, her voice hollow. “She’s patient. Careful. She’s been planning this for years.”

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