Chapter 401

Chapter 401:

“We’ll be at Victoria’s by ten on Saturday to discuss final arrangements for the engagement party,” Margaret continued. “Should we meet you at the venue after that?”

“That would be perfect,” Camille replied, jotting down the details. “I’ll text you the address.”

After she hung up, Camille sat quietly, absorbing the weight of that exchange. Alexander watched her, giving her the space to process.

“It sounds like they’re all working together better than I realized,” she said finally.

“Your parents and Victoria have found their balance,” he pointed out. “They each bring something valuable to the table, and they all care about you.”

Camille nodded, turning back to the wedding binder. As she flipped through options for flowers and music, she felt a lightness she hadn’t expected. Rose was in prison. Victoria’s cancer was responding to treatment. Her parents and Victoria maintained their cordial relationship without strain or pretense. And here sat Alexander, steady and sure beside her.

For the first time in years, perhaps ever, Camille allowed herself to imagine a future built not around survival or revenge, but around joy. A future where the past informed but did not dictate her choices. Where damaged relationships could heal, though the scars would always remain.

“What are you thinking about?” Alexander asked, noting her pause.

“That it might actually be possible to be happy,” Camille said. “Really happy, not just safe or successful.”

Alexander’s smile warmed his entire face. “That’s the whole point of all this, isn’t it?”

The wedding binder, the engagement party plans, the news articles celebrating their union—all of it suddenly felt like more than mere details or publicity. They were pieces of a life being built deliberately, thoughtfully, with love as its foundation rather than fear or obligation.

The true test would come at Victoria’s party, where the various spheres of Camille’s life would intersect more visibly than before. Victoria’s corporate power, Alexander’s innovative brilliance, her parents’ old-money pedigree— all circling around the woman who had been broken and reborn through fire. Camille looked down at her phoenix ring, sunlight catching its facets and sending tiny rainbows across her desk.

“You know what? I think it is.”

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The future remained unwritten, with challenges ahead they couldn’t predict. Victoria’s health. The continued attention of the press. The evolving dynamic between Victoria and her parents. But for now, in this moment, planning a celebration of love felt like exactly the right thing to do.

A phoenix didn’t rise from the ashes to live in fear of the next fire. It rose to soar.

Rain tapped against the windows of Camille’s office as she reviewed quarterly reports. The sky had darkened early, turning afternoon into evening without her noticing. She rubbed her tired eyes, realizing she’d been staring at the same page for ten minutes.

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