Chapter 435

Chapter 435:

The memory hit him with physical force, as vivid now as it had been then.

Rain had pounded the windows of his Manhattan penthouse. Alexander had been reviewing contracts when his doorman called up.

“Package for you, Mr. Pierce. No delivery service, just left at the desk.”

The plain manila envelope sat on his kitchen counter for an hour before he opened it. No markings, no return address. Just his name typed on a white label.

When he finally slit it open, several documents slid out onto the marble surface. The top sheet, a typed note, said only: The truth about your uncle’s death and the woman who caused it.

His first instinct had been to trash it. Crackpot conspiracy theories about his family weren’t uncommon when you had Pierce’s money and profile. But something made him look at the second page.

An internal Kane Industries memo with Victoria’s signature. Subject line: Meridian Technologies – Pierce Vulnerability Assessment.

Alexander’s coffee had gone cold beside him as he read through each page. Internal psychological profiles of his uncle. Strategy documents outlining how to exploit Richard Pierce’s financial weaknesses and “known emotional instability.” A systematic plan to isolate him from business allies and financial lifelines.

Meeting minutes with Victoria’s handwritten notes in the margins: “Push harder”—showing signs of extreme stress.

The final document had been a photocopy of his uncle’s suicide note, with a section highlighted: Victoria Kane has taken everything. There’s nothing left.

Alexander remembered dropping into a chair, the room spinning around him. Each breath felt like drowning. The coffee cup slipped from his hand, shattering on the floor, the sound barely registering.

Victoria Kane. The woman who had saved Camille from death. The woman who had rebuilt her. The woman whose company he was supposed to celebrate with in two days at his engagement party.

Alexander had gathered the papers with shaking hands, placing them back in the envelope. He’d walked to his office safe and locked them away. Then he’d called the only person who might know if they were real: James Whitfield, his uncle’s former business partner.

“Where did you get these?” James had asked, his voice tight with emotion when Alexander described the contents.

𝕃𝖆𝙩𝓮𝑠𝖙 с𝗁𝓪𝗉𝓉𝗲𝗋𝗌 g𝙖𝗅𝖓𝗈𝑣𝓮𝖑𝘀․ⅽ𝓸𝙢

“Anonymous delivery. Are they legitimate?”

The long pause had told him everything before James even spoke. “Yes. I’ve been trying to prove what she did for years. After Richard’s death, she buried everything. Paid people off. Threatened others. I had pieces, but never the complete picture.”

Alexander had gripped the phone so hard his fingers ached. “Why send them to me? Why now?”

“Someone wants you to know who you’re really dealing with before you marry into her family.”

The engagement party was in forty-eight hours. Months of planning. Hundreds of guests. And Camille—beautiful, trusting Camille, who loved Victoria like a mother.

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