Chapter 477

Chapter 477:

“I’m here now,” Camille whispered. “I’m not going anywhere. We’ll get through this together, just like we always do.”

But as she watched Victoria’s still face, Camille wondered if some damage could never be undone. If some betrayals cut too deep to heal. If some fights were too big to win.

Outside the hospital room, the corporate war continued. The attacks on Kane Industries hadn’t stopped just because Victoria was unconscious. If anything, whoever was behind them would probably see her hospitalization as an opportunity to strike harder.

Camille squeezed Victoria’s hand tighter. She had failed Victoria once by running away when the crisis started. She wouldn’t fail her again.

Whatever came next, whoever was really behind the attacks on their company, Camille would face it head-on. For Victoria. For their family. For everything they’d built together.

But first, Victoria had to survive the night.

Camille sat in the hospital cafeteria, staring at a cup of coffee that had gone cold hours ago. She hadn’t left the hospital since Victoria’s collapse two days earlier. The doctors said Victoria’s condition was stable but critical. The sedation would continue for at least another day while her body fought to recover from the stress-induced complications.

The cafeteria smelled like disinfectant and overcooked food. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting everything in harsh white light that made everyone look sick. Camille felt sick too, but not from the lighting. She felt sick from the weight of everything falling apart around her.

Kane Industries was bleeding money. Stock prices had dropped another fifteen percent since Victoria’s hospitalization. Major investors were pulling out, citing concerns about leadership stability. The board was demanding emergency meetings that Camille wasn’t prepared to handle alone.

And Alexander kept calling.

She’d blocked his number after the fifth call, but he found ways around it. Messages through his assistant. Emails to her work account. Even a handwritten letter delivered to the hospital. All saying the same thing: he was sorry, he wanted to explain, he needed her to understand.

𝙍𝖊𝗅𝗂𝖆𝖇𝖑𝖊 𝗌𝗈𝗎𝗋𝖼𝖾: g𝓪𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀․ⅽ𝘰𝘮

Camille didn’t want to understand. Understanding would mean acknowledging that part of her still loved him. That part of her wanted to believe his feelings had been real, even if everything else was a lie.

“Camille?”

She looked up to see Stefan Rodriguez standing beside her table. He looked tired, older than his years, wearing a simple black sweater instead of his usual expensive suits. His left shoulder was still stiff from the bullet he’d taken saving her from Rose.

“Stefan? What are you doing here?”

“I came to see how Victoria is doing. And to see how you’re holding up.”

Camille laughed, but it sounded more like a sob. “I’m not holding up. I’m drowning.”

Stefan sat down across from her without being invited. “I know the feeling.”

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