The snow in Zurich had turned into icy rain by morning, slicking the cobblestones and casting reflections of city lights like twisted memories. Nancy stepped out of the safehouse wearing a hooded trench coat, blending into the early rush of pedestrians. Beneath her calm demeanor was a mind in overdrive.
Her encrypted phone buzzed.
Marco: Surveillance picked up Camille at Zurich Hauptbahnhof. Alone.
Nancy's brow arched. Alone? That wasn't like Camille.
She typed quickly: Track her. Do not engage. I'll handle it.
---
Inside the Station
Camille leaned against a pillar, watching the crowd with darting eyes. Her fingers fidgeted with a silver pendant—Lucien's parting gift, perhaps. She looked… unsure. Vulnerable even.
Nancy approached from behind, silent as a shadow.
"I expected Lucien," Nancy said coolly, "but I guess the real brains always show up first."
Camille flinched. "How did you—"
"Please," Nancy cut her off, stepping beside her. "You're not as invisible as you think."
Camille offered a faint smirk. "I could say the same."
There was a moment of silence between them. Not the cold, combative kind—but heavy, complicated. These two women had danced around each other for too long. Rivals in every sense—but both shaped by men who believed the world revolved around them.
"I didn't come to fight," Camille said.
Nancy's eyes narrowed. "Then what did you come for?"
"To give you something." Camille pulled a flash drive from her coat. "Everything Lucien's planning. Coordinates. Algorithms. And proof that your mother's accident… wasn't an accident."
Nancy's breath caught.
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
---
Back at the Safehouse
The team huddled around as the data Camille provided lit up their servers. Maps, AI codes, offshore accounts… and a hidden video file.
Nancy hesitated before playing it. The screen flickered.
A younger Lucien. A quiet conversation with a man in a white coat. Medical records. A payment transfer. And then, words that burned into Nancy's mind:
"Make it look like a stroke. No one suspects genetics when it runs in the family."
The screen went black.
Her voice cracked for the first time in years. "He killed her."
Adrian, standing beside her, clenched his jaw. "Then we end this."
---
Elsewhere
Lucien stood before a tall glass window in a high-rise hotel, eyes scanning the Zurich skyline.
"She's moving faster than I expected," he said.
The man beside him—an older executive from one of Blackwood's former rival companies—looked nervous. "Should we abort?"
Lucien chuckled. "No. We adapt."
He tapped the table where a new prototype device sat. "Let her win this round. The final act is mine."
---
Later That Night
Nancy sat alone with a glass of whiskey, replaying Camille's words in her head.
"I didn't come to betray Lucien. I came because I finally realized he was never going to choose me over himself."
It was strange… that even villains could feel heartache.
Nancy whispered to the empty room, "We're all just pawns to him, Camille. But I'm done playing his game."
She stood, pulling on her coat. Her eyes burned with purpose.
"I'll build my own board now."