Chapter 493
Chapter 493:
The room fell silent as everyone processed Victoria’s revelation.
“So when Richard Pierce’s company collapsed and he took his own life,” Hannah said slowly, “you felt like you’d caused his destruction?”
“I caused his destruction by exposing his crimes. But I could have prevented his crimes by speaking up earlier.” Victoria looked directly at Camille. “I’ve carried that weight for fifteen years. The knowledge that I chose business considerations over human lives, even if I didn’t realize people would die.”
“Alexander doesn’t know any of this,” Camille said.
“Alexander has been told a story where I’m a calculating killer who destroyed an innocent man. The truth is more complicated. I’m someone who made a moral choice that haunts me every day, but I’m not the monster Richard Pierce’s journal makes me out to be.”
“Someone edited the story to make you look worse,” Stefan said.
“Someone wants Alexander to believe I’m evil enough to deserve complete destruction. They’ve taken real events, real guilt, real consequences, and twisted them into a narrative that justifies revenge.”
Victoria’s monitor began beeping urgently. Dr. Martinez rushed in with a nurse.
“That’s enough for today,” he said firmly. “Mrs. Kane needs rest.”
“Wait,” Victoria called out as they prepared to leave. “The safe in my office. Get those documents tonight. Study everything. Understand exactly what happened so…”
“You can defend Kane Industries when the next attack comes.”
“What next attack?” Camille asked.
“Whoever gave Alexander the false evidence about me won’t stop just because he’s been exposed. They’ll find another way to destroy us. And next time, they might target all of you personally.”
As they left Victoria’s room, Camille felt overwhelmed by the complexity of what she’d learned. Victoria wasn’t innocent—she had chosen business considerations over potentially saving lives. But she wasn’t the cold-blooded killer Alexander believed her to be either.
𝘽𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝖌ⲁ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀．𝖼𝗈𝗺
She was a woman who’d made an impossible choice under pressure, who’d lived with the consequences for fifteen years, and who was now paying the price for someone else’s manipulation of the truth.
“What do you think?” Camille asked Stefan and Hannah as they walked toward the elevators.
“I think Victoria is telling us the truth,” Stefan said. “But I also think the truth is complicated enough that someone could easily manipulate parts of it to support false accusations.”
“I think we need to see those documents tonight,” Hannah added. “Because if someone has been editing the real story to create fake evidence, we need to understand exactly how they did it.”
Camille nodded, but her heart felt heavy. Alexander had destroyed their marriage based on lies, but those lies contained enough truth to feel believable. Victoria had failed to prevent seventeen deaths, even if she wasn’t responsible for causing them.
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