Chapter 471
Chapter 471:
He was quiet for a long moment, staring at his hands. “I loved you before I knew who Victoria really was. Those first months, everything you felt—I felt it too. When I realized you were connected to the woman who destroyed my family…”
“You decided to destroy me instead.”
“I decided to access information that would prove Victoria’s guilt. I married you to get close to her operations, to gather evidence of her crimes.” Alexander looked up at her, and she saw genuine anguish in his eyes. “But somewhere along the way, my feelings became real again. The love I felt for you before I learned the truth—it came back.”
Camille laughed, but it sounded more like a scream. “Real? You call surveillance photos and security plans real love?”
“I call staying awake at night worried about you real love. I call choosing to protect you from Rose real love. I call planning a future with you that goes beyond revenge real love.”
“But you never stopped the revenge,” Camille said, her voice breaking. “You never told me the truth. You let me believe our marriage was built on something honest while you were photographing my mother and planning to destroy her.”
“She’s not your mother,” Alexander said sharply. “She’s the woman who adopted you for her own purposes, just like I married you for mine. The difference is that my purposes changed. My love for you became real.”
The comparison felt like a slap. “Don’t you dare compare yourself to Victoria. She saved me. She gave me a family, a future, a reason to live when I had nothing left.”
“She gave you a life built on the deaths of seventeen innocent people.” Alexander’s voice rose for the first time. “Everything Victoria Kane has, every dollar in her account, every floor of Kane Industries—it’s all paid for with blood.”
Camille stood up so fast her chair fell backward. “Stop. Just stop talking.”
“You need to hear this. You need to understand what kind of person you looked up to.”
“What kind of person did I look up to?” Camille’s voice was getting louder, more desperate. “The kind who found me bleeding in a parking garage and gave me a reason to live? The kind who taught me to be strong, to fight back, to never let anyone destroy me again?”
𝕷𝖆𝖙𝖊𝓼𝓉 с𝗁αρ𝗍𝓮𝗋𝓈 g⍺𝗅𝗇𝖔ⲃ𝖊𝗅𝘀﹒ⅽ𝗈𝗆
“The kind who destroys families for profit. The kind who covers up mass murder to protect her bottom line.”
“You destroyed our family!” Camille screamed. “You took everything real between us and poisoned it with your need for revenge. You made our wedding day a lie. You made every ‘I love you’ a calculation. You made our entire marriage part of your plan to hurt the one person who ever truly protected me.”
Alexander stood too, reaching for her. “Camille, please. Let me explain…”
“Don’t touch me!” She backed away from him, her whole body shaking. “Don’t ever touch me again.”
“My love for you is real now. Everything I feel, everything I want for our future—it’s genuine.”
“Based on a foundation of lies.” Tears streamed down her face. “You photographed Victoria at our wedding, Alexander. Our wedding day. While I was dancing with you, while I was promising to love you forever, you were already planning to betray everyone I care about.”
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