Chapter 35

Alexander’s POV

The soft hum of my car’s engine fills the silence as I watch the gallery entrance. Rain taps against the windows, turning the city lights into blurred stars. My thoughts keep returning to her, to the moment she collided with me outside that powder room, to the brief flash of raw emotion in her eyes before her careful mask slipped back into place.

Camille. Even her name feels different on my tongue now.

My security team thinks I’m obsessed. Maybe they’re right. I’ve spent a year tracking her transformation, gathering every scrap of information about who she was before Victoria Kane molded her into this new creation. The photos tell a story Victoria doesn’t understand, a story of survival, not victimhood.

I pull up an old photo on my phone. Camille Lewis at her engagement party, standing slightly behind Rose while Stefan’s attention clearly drifted toward her sister. Even then, something in her eyes spoke of quiet strength. They never saw