Chapter 159
The phone buzzed on the hospital nightstand. Just once. A single text message.
Camille glanced at it, expecting another update from Alexander, who had stepped out to take a call from the security team Victoria was asleep, her breathing finally even after a difficult morning of treatments. The room was quiet except for the steady beep of monitors and the soft hiss of the oxygen machine.
Camille reached for the phone, grateful for the distraction from her worried thoughts. The screen lit up.
Unknown number.
She opened the message and froze.
*You took everything from me twice. Now I’ll take everyone from you.*
The words burned into her eyes. No signature. None needed. Camille knew exactly who had sent it.
Rose.
Her hand shook as she stared at the message. The phone suddenly felt hot, dangerous, as if it might explode in her palm. She wanted to throw it across the room, to smash it against the wall, to destroy the link between her and the sister who would not stop hunting her.
Instead, she took a deep breath and pressed the screenshot button. Evidence. The FBI would need it.
Victoria stirred in the hospital bed, her eyes opening slowly. “Camille? What’s wrong?”
Camille tried to smooth her expression, to hide the fear that must be written across her face. But Victoria had always seen through her masks.
“Show me,” Victoria said, her voice stronger than her frail body suggested.
Camille hesitated, then turned the phone screen toward Victoria. No point hiding it. Not from the woman who had taught her to face threats head–on.
Victoria read the message, her face hardening. “She’s desperate,” she said finally. “Cornered. The FBI is closing in, and she knows it.”
“That makes her more dangerous, not less,” Camille replied, her voice tight with fear she couldn’t quite hide. “She’s threatening everyone I love.”
“Which is why we have security,” Victoria reminded her. “And why the FBI is hunting her day and night.”
Camille stood, suddenly unable to sit still. She paced the small hospital room, the phone clutched in her hand like a grenade with the pin half–pulled. “She found a way to contact me despite everything. Who knows what else she can do?” The door opened, and Alexander stepped in. One look at Camille’s face told him something was wrong.
“What happened?” he asked, closing the door firmly behind him.
Wordlessly, Camille handed him the phone. His expression darkened as he read the message.
“When did this come in?”
“Just now,” Camille said. “Can you trace it?”
“I’ll have my team try, but if Rose is being careful, she’ll have used a burner phone.” Alexander was already typing on his
own phone, alerting his security personnel. “We need to move you both to a more secure location.”
“I’m not leaving the hospital,” Victoria said firmly from her bed. “My treatment protocol requires specific equipment that can‘ t be moved.”
“Then we lock down this floor,” Alexander decided. “No one in or out without triple verification.”
Camille nodded, but inside, a cold dread was spreading through her chest, creeping into her limbs, making her feel heavy and slow. Rose had found a way to reach her despite all their precautions. What else could she do?
“My parents,” Camille said suddenly. “She’ll target them too.”
“Already handled,” Alexander assured her. “I doubled their security team this morning, before this message came in. Standard precaution with the manhunt ongoing.”
Camille should have felt relieved, but the fear c Successfully unlocked! rt like a poisonous weed. “What about you?”
she asked Alexander, her voice barely audible. Sherbime for you do)
Alexander’s expression softened. He crossed the room and took her hands in his. “I can take care of myself, Camille. I’ve been doing it for a long time.”
“Not against Rose,” Camille insisted. “You don’t understand how she thinks. What she’s capable of.”
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Chapter 159
“I think I have a pretty good idea after the bombing,” Alexander said gently. “But I’m not going anywhere. We face this together.”
Victoria watched them, her eyes sharp despite her weakened state. “Call Agent Chen,” she instructed. “She needs to know about this message immediately.”
Alexander nodded and stepped away to make the call. Camille resumed her pacing, unable to stand still with the energy of fear coursing through her veins.
“Sit down, Camille,” Victoria said, her tone leaving no room for argument. “You’re making me dizzy.”
Camille stopped moving but remained standing, her body tense as a drawn bowstring. “She won’t stop, will she?”
“Not until she’s caught,” Victoria agreed. “Or until she believes she’s won.”
The simple truth of those words hit Camille like a physical blow. Rose wouldn’t stop. Not ever. Not while she breathed. Not while she believed Camille had taken what was rightfully hers.
“This is never going to end,” Camille whispered, the realization settling over her like a shroud.
“Everything ends,” Victoria countered. “Even Rose’s obsession. Even her freedom to hurt you.”
But Camille barely heard her. She was staring at the phone still in Alexander’s hand, at the message glowing on the screen. *You took everything from me twice. Now I’ll take everyone from you.*
What had she taken from Rose? A family that Rose had manipulated? A husband Rose had seduced? A life Rose had tried repeatedly to destroy? In Rose’s twisted mind, these were thefts, not consequences of her own actions.
And now Rose would take “everyone” from her. Not something. Everyone. The people she loved. The people who gave her strength.
Victoria. Alexander. Her parents. Anyone who mattered to her.
The room suddenly felt too small, the air too thin. Camille struggled to breathe, her chest tight with panic.
“Camille.” Victoria’s voice cut through the fog of fear. “Look at me.”
Camille turned, meeting Victoria’s steady gaze.
“She wants you afraid,” Victoria said firmly. “She wants you paralyzed. Reactive. Don’t give her that power.”
“can’t lose you,” Camille whispered, the words torn from someplace deep and vulnerable. “I can’t lose any of you.”
“You won’t,” Victoria promised. “We’re prepared now. We’re ready for her.”
Alexander finished his call and rejoined them. “Agent Chen is sending a team to trace the message. They’ll be here within
the hour.”
“And until then?” Camille asked.
“Until then, we tighten security even further.” Alexander’s voice was calm, matter–of–fact, a counterpoint to the storm of emotion raging inside Camille. “No one enters this floor without biometric verification and direct approval from me. All staff are being vetted again. Guards at every entrance, exit, and elevator.”
“What about my parents?” Camille pressed.
“Agent Chen is sending FBI agents to supplement their security team. They’re being moved to a safe house as we speak.” Camille nodded, trying to take comfort in these concrete measures. But the knot of fear in her stomach remained, hard and
cold.
A knock on the door made them all tense. Alexander moved to answer it, his hand inside his jacket where Camille knew he carried a weapon. He checked the security monitor beside the door before opening it.
Jason, Alexander’s head of security, stepped in. “Sir, we’ve completed the first sweep of the floor. All clear. Additional teams are arriving now to establish the expanded perimeter.”
“Good,” Alexander said. “Any updates on the trace?”
“Nothing yet. The tech team says the message was routed through multiple servers. They’re still working on it.”
Camille listened to this exchange, the professional calm of the two men both reassuring and somehow terrifying. They were preparing for war. A war Rose had brought to their doorstep.
After Jason left, Camille moved to the window, looking out at the city below. Somewhere out there, Rose was watching. Waiting. Planning her next move. The thought made Camille’s skin crawl.
“She’ll make a mistake,” Alexander said, coming to stand beside her. “They always do.”
“You don’t know Rose,” Camille replied, her voice hollow. “She’s patient. Careful. She’s been planning this for years.”
“No plan survives contact with reality,” Alexander countered. “And the reality is that the entire country is looking for her. Every law enforcement agency. Every airport. Every border crossing.” *
Chapter 168
‘That won’t stop her Camille insisted Hot when she’s thes close to what the wants
“And what dose she want? Alexander neked
Camille turned to him, her eyes haunted “To see me suffer. To take
everyone (triva and watch me break
Then we don’t let her, Alexander said simply “We protect each other Vie stay together to deny her the victory she wants Victoria’s voice joined the conversation from her bed “Alexander is night Rose’s weakness has always been her obsession with you it blinds her Makes her take risks she shouldn’t.”
Camille wanted to believe them. Wanted to trust in security teams and FBI agents and locked doors But she had underestimated Rose before. They all had
Her phone buzzed again Another message
Her heart seemed to stop as she opened it, expecting more threats from Rose. Instead, it was from her father *We’re at the safe house. Your mother is upset but safe. We love you, Camille. Stay strong *
A small relief in the midst of fear. Her parents were secure, at least for now
She showed the message to Alexander, who nodded in approval. “One less thing to worry about.”
But a hundred worries remained. A thousand ways Rose could strike at the people Carnille loved
The day crawled by with agonizing slowness, FBI agents arrived to take Camille’s statement about the threatening message. Security personnel established checkpoints at every entrance to the hospital floor. Doctors and nurses were escorted by guards whenever they entered Victoria’s room.
Through it all, Camille felt a growing sense of unreality, as if she were watching events unfold from behind glass. This was her life now, armed guards, security checkpoints, fear at every turn. All because her sister would not stop hunting her
Night fell. Victoria, exhausted from the day’s tension and her ongoing treatments, fell into a restless sleep. Alexander insisted on staying, setting up a makeshift bed on the small couch in the corner of the room.
Camille sat in the chair beside Victoria’s bed, unable to sleep despite her own exhaustion. The threatening message played on repeat in her mind. *You took everything from me twice. Now I’ll take everyone from you.*
“You should rest,” Alexander said softly from the couch. “I’ll keep watch.”
Camille shook her head. “I can’t sleep. Not with her message in my head.”
Alexander rose and moved to her side, crouching beside her chair. “Rose wants you exhausted. Afraid. Unable to think clearly. Don’t give her that advantage.”
Camille looked at him, at the steady concern in his eyes, and felt a wave of love so powerful it nearly overwhelmed her. This man, who had chosen to stand beside her despite the danger, who refused to leave her even when a murderer was targeting everyone she cared about.
He was right. Rose wanted her weak. Wanted her broken before the final blow was even struck.
“One hour,” Camille agreed finally. “I’ll try to sleep for one hour.”
Alexander nodded, satisfied with this small victory. He returned to the couch, maintaining his vigil while Camille reclined in the chair, allowing her eyes to close.
Just before sleep claimed her, a final thought drifted through her mind: Rose had threatened to take everyone from her. But she hadn’t succeeded yet. Victoria still fought for health and life in the bed beside her. Alexander still guarded her sleep. Her parents waited safely in an FBI safe house.
Rose had made her threat. Camille and those she loved had responded by drawing closer together, by reinforcing their protections, by refusing to be separated.
Perhaps that was the answer. Perhaps the way to defeat Rose was not to run or hide, but to hold tighter to the connections she sought to sever.
With this thought floating through her tired mind, Camille finally drifted into an uneasy sleep.
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