Chapter 328

Chapter 328:

He was right. Rose wanted her weak. Wanted her broken before the final blow was even struck.

“One hour,” Camille agreed finally. “I’ll try to sleep for one hour.”

Alexander nodded, satisfied with this small victory. He returned to the couch, maintaining his vigil while Camille reclined in the chair, allowing her eyes to close.

Just before sleep claimed her, a final thought drifted through her mind: Rose had threatened to take everyone from her. But she hadn’t succeeded yet. Victoria still fought for health and life in the bed beside her. Alexander still guarded her sleep. Her parents waited safely in an FBI safe house.

Rose had made her threat. Camille and those she loved had responded by drawing closer together, by reinforcing their protections, by refusing to be separated.

Perhaps that was the answer. Perhaps the way to defeat Rose was not to run or hide, but to hold tighter to the connections she sought to sever.

With this thought floating through her tired mind, Camille finally drifted into an uneasy sleep.

Dr. Sharma knocked twice before entering Victoria’s hospital room, her face unreadable as she carried a folder of test results. Camille sat up straighter in her chair, her heart racing. Two weeks had passed since Rose’s threatening message—two weeks of heightened security, constant fear, and waiting for Victoria’s latest test results.

“Good morning,” Dr. Sharma said, her voice giving away nothing. “How are you feeling today, Ms. Kane?”

Victoria, sitting up in bed for the first time in days, nodded slightly. “Better than yesterday. Less pain.”

Camille studied her mother’s face, hardly daring to believe the small improvements she had noticed over the past few days—the color returning to Victoria’s cheeks, the clarity in her eyes, the way she had begun asking about Kane Industries again, as if planning for a future she might actually see.

Dr. Sharma pulled up the bedside chair and sat down, opening the folder on her lap. “I have your latest scan results.”

Camille reached for Victoria’s hand, bracing for bad news. They had been through this routine before: brief improvements followed by crushing setbacks. Hope was a luxury she could barely afford.

“The treatment is working,” Dr. Sharma said, her professional mask finally breaking into a genuine smile. “The tumors have shrunk by nearly thirty percent.”

The words hung in the air. Camille stared at the doctor, afraid she had misheard.

“Thirty percent?” Victoria repeated, her voice steadier than it had been in weeks.

“Yes. Your body is responding remarkably well to the combined therapy approach.” Dr. Sharma turned the folder, showing them the scan images. “Here’s the primary tumor from three weeks ago. And here it is now.”

Even to Camille’s untrained eye, the difference was clear. The dark mass that had been stealing Victoria’s life was noticeably smaller.

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