Chapter 99

Morning sunlight bathed the construction site in golden light as hundreds gathered for the Phoenix Grid groundbreaking ceremony. Camera crews swvarmed like bees, jostling for position around the stage erected at the center of what would soon become the most advanced power distribution hub in the country. Massive red banners bearing the Kane Industries logo and the Phoenix Grid emblem fluttered in the spring breeze.

Behind the stage, in a temporary structure serving as a preparation area, Camille stared at her reflection in a full-length mirror. Her cream-colored suit was impeccable, her makeup flawless, the perfect corporate image Victoria had taught her to project. Yet beneath this polished exterior, unease churned in her stomach.

Hannah Zhao, the chief engineer, poked her head through the doorway. "Five minutes, Ms. Kane."

Camille nodded, adjusting the phoenix pin on her lapel. Even after discovering the blueprint discrepancies,Victoria had insisted the ceremony proceed as planned. "We don't show weakness," she had declared."We adapt.We strengthen what was vulnerable. And we never, ever let our enemies know we've spotted them."

The door opened again. Alexander entered, handsome in a navy suit, his presence immediately filling the small space.

"Nervous?" he asked, coming to stand behind her.

Their eyes met in the mirror. "Not about the speech," Camille admitted. "But knowing Rose is out there somewhere,watching,planning..."

Alexander rested his hands lightly on her shoulders. Through the fabric of her suit jacket, his touch sent warmth spreading across her skin.

"We've triple-checked the modifications to Hannah's designs," he reminded her. "The sabotage attempt failed. The Grid is safe."

"For now." Camille turned to face him. "But Rose won't stop. Neither will her mystery partner. And we still don't know who he is."

Alexander's jaw tightened. "My team is close to identifying him. Very close."

"You'll tell me as soon as you know?"

"Immediately," he promised, though something flickered in his eye, a hesitation so brief Camille almost missed it.

A production assistant tapped on the door. "Ms. Kane? We're ready for you."

Camille took a deep breath, centering herself. Alexander caught her hand.

"Remember," he said softly, "this is about more than beating Rose. This is your vision. Your creation."

She squeezed his fingers, drawing strength from his steadiness. "Our creation," she corrected.

Together they walked out into the sunlight, where hundreds of faces turned toward them. Camera flashes popped like lightning strikes. Reporters called out questions that blended into unintelligible noise. On the stage, Victoria stood at the podium, commanding attention with her mere presence despite her recent haggard appearance.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Victoria's voice rang out over the crowd. "Today marks not just the beginning of a revolutionary power grid that will transform New York's energy future. It also represents the culmination of a vision, a vision carried forward by my daughter and heir, Camille Kane."

Victoria gestured toward Camille, who ascended the steps to wild applause. For a heartbeat, standing beside Victoria, Camille flashed back to twenty three months ago, broken, bleeding in a parking garage, her life shattered by betrayal. The journey from that moment to this stage seemed impossible, yet here she stood.

As Victoria stepped aside, Camille approached the microphone. The crowd hushed. Hundreds of eyes fixed on her face. Somewhere in that sea of humanity, Camille knew, Rose might be watching. Waiting for her to fail.

"Thank you all for coming today," Camille began, her voice steady despite the storm of emotions inside her.

"The Phoenix Grid represents more than sustainable energy. It embodies something | believe in deeply,ttransformation."

In the front row, Alexander watched her, his presence a silent anchor. Beside him sat the mayor, the governor, and tech industry titans who had invested in the project.

"We named this project after the phoenix for a reason," Camille continued. "In mythology, the phoenix burns completely, reduced to ashes, yet rises again, not just restored, but made stronger by the very firethat consumed it."

Her eyes swept across the crowd, making brief contact with individuals, connecting with them just as Victoria had taught her.

"Many of you know that Kane Industries faced challenges bringing this project to fruition. There were those who said it couldn't be done. Those who actively worked against us."

A murmur ran through the crowd. Everyone remembered the stock manipulation, the media attacks, the sabotage attempts that had made headlines.

"But like the phoenix, we didn't just survive those challenges, we transformed them into opportunities.Each obstacle forced us to innovate, to strengthen our designs, to build something better than we had originally conceived."

Camille paused, letting her words sink in. In the distance, beyond the crowd, she caught sight of a flash of movement, a woman with dark glasses slipping behind a construction vehicle. Her heart jumped.Rose?

She forced herself to continue, refusing to show any reaction. "The Phoenix Grid will revolutionize how this city powers itself. Clean energy, inelligently distributed, with backup systems that ensure no neighborhood experiences blackouts while others have excess capacity." 0

The technical portion of her speech continued for several minutes, detailing the Grid's innovations.Throughout, Camille maintained her poise, though her senses remained hyperalertfor any sign of Rose in the crowd.

Then she shifted tone, her voice becoming more personal. "But today, I want to speak not just about energy transformation, but about personal transformation."

The crowd stilled, sensing the change.

"Many of you have experienced moments when everything you counted on vanished. When the life you built seemed to crumble beneath your feet."

In the front row, Alexander leaned forward slightly, his eyes never leaving her face.

"Those moments, the ones that burn us down to our foundations, they're terrifying. They're painful."Camille's voice softened. "But they also offer us rare gifts. The chance to rebuild. To rise from our own ashes as something stronger, wiser, more resilient than before."

Her hand reached up to touch the phoenix pin at her lapel.

"Second chances don't erase our scars. They don't undo the past. But they allow us to use that past,all of it,the painful parts especially, as fuel for something new. Something better."

In that moment, Camille wasn't speaking as Camille Kane, Victoria's carefully crafted heir. She was speaking as herself, the woman who had lost everything and still found a way forward.

"The Phoenix Grid represents Kane Industries' commitment to sustainable energy. But it also symbolizes something I believe in my soul, that transformation isn't just possible. It's inevitable, if we have the courage to embrace it."

Applause erupted, scattered at first, then building to a thunderous wave. Victoria, standing to the side,nodded once, a gesture of approval that meant more to Camille than the crowd's reaction.

"And now," Camille said when the applause subsided, "I'd like to invite Alexander Pierce, whose company has been instrumental in developing the revolutionary solar technology that powers the Grid, to join me for the official groundbreaking."

Alexander mounted the stage in a few graceful strides. Standing beside Camille, he seemed to belong there,his quiet strength complementing her fire.

"The Phoenix Grid represents the future,"Alexander said into the microphone, his deep voice carrying across the crowd. "But it also represents what happens when visionaries come together. Kane Industries brought unparalleled engineering expertise. Pierce Enterprises contributed next-generation solar technology. Together, we've created something neither could have achieved alone."

His eyes shifted to Camille, and something in his gaze sent heat rushing to her cheeks.

"Some partnerships are simply meant to be," he added, the double meaning clear to anyone watching. A ripple of whispers spread through the crowd as cameras clicked frantically, capturing the moment.

Victoria stepped forward, breaking the tension. "And now, for the official groundbreaking."

Three golden shovels waited at the edge of the stage. Victoria, Camille, and Alexander descended the steps together, moving to the prepared patch of earth marked with the Phoenix Grid logo.

Together, they plunged the shovels into the ground, turning over the first symbolic scoop of dirt as cameras flashed and the crowd applauded. Alexander's shoulder pressed briefly against Camille's, a touch that felt oddly intimate despite the hundreds of witnesses.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Phoenix Grid!" Victoria announced.

The celebration continued for another hour, interviews, photos, congratulations from politicians and business leaders. Through it all, Camille maintained her professional demeanor, though her eyes occasionally scanned the crowd for any sign of Rose.

Finally, as the event wound down, Camille found herself alone with Alexander near the edge of the construction site.

"You were magnificent," he said quietly. "Your speech about transformation, it wasn't just words for you,was it?"

Camille shook her head. "No. Every syllable was real."

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He reached for her hand, not caring who might see. "I meant what I said too. About partnerships meant to be."

Before she could respond, Victoria approached, her face tight with controlled tension.

"Security spotted Rose," she said without preamble. "At the back of the crowd during your speech. She was with someone, a man but they disappeared before we could intercept them."

Camille's momentary peace shattered."Did you identify him?"

"No." Victoria's mouth formed a grim line. "But Martin is reviewing the footage now. She wouldn't have come unless she had some purpose, some plan."

Alexander's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, his expression darkening."|need to take this," he said to Camille. "It's about that matter we discussed."

He stepped away, speaking in low tones into his phone. Victoria watched him go, something unreadable in her eyes.

"He's hiding something," Camille said softly.

Victoria nodded. "Yes. But the question is whether he's hiding it from us, or for us."

Camille turned to scan the construction site where workers were already beginning preliminary work,unaware of the drama unfolding around them. Somewhere in that massive project, Rose had tried to plant the seeds of destruction. Had they truly found all the sabotage attempts? Or was something still waiting,hidden deep in the systems,ready to trigger catastrophe?

The day had been perfect, the ceremony flawless, her speech powerful, Alexander publicly by her side. Yet as the sun began its descent, casting long shadows across the construction site, Camille couldn't shake the feeling that this was merely the calm before a storm whose scope she had yet to fully grasp.

Alexander returned, his face carefully composed but tension evident in the set of his shoulders.

"What is it?" Camille asked.

He glanced at Victoria before answering."We've identified Rose's partner."

Victoria stepped closer."Who?"

Alexander took a deep breath. "Herod Preston."

The name meant nothing to Camille, but Victoria's face went so pale Camille feared she might faint.

"Preston?" Victoria whispered. "That's impossible. The Prestons are gone. I made sure of it."

"Not all of them," Alexander said grimly. "Not Herod."

Victoria gripped Camille's arm with fingers that suddenly seemed bony, fragile. "If Herod Preston is helping Rose, this isn't about you anymore, Camille. It's about me. About Sophia."

"Who is he?" Camille demanded. "What does he want?"

Victoria's eyes, usually so calculating and cool, now burned with something Camille had never seen there before,raw fear.

the brother of the man who killed my daughter,"\Victoria said."And if he's working with Rose, then this isn't sabotage. It's annihilation."