---- Chapter 12 Emerson Keller POV: The Zurich clinic was less a hospital and more a five-star hotel that happened to employ the world' s best plastic surgeons and trauma therapists. For six months, | lived in a cocoon of quiet recovery. Every day was a meticulous regimen of physical therapy for the burns on my back and arms, painful skin grafts, and long sessions with a therapist who helped me navigate the labyrinth of my trauma. But my recovery wasn't just about healing. It was about sharpening. While my body healed, my mind was focused on a single objective: the complete and utter annihilation of Barron Carroll. Keenan was my constant shadow, my unwavering support. He sat with me through the most painful procedures, read to me when the nightmares were too vivid to allow for sleep, and listened for hours as | finally gave voice to the horrors of the past five years. He was the anchor in my storm, the one solid thing in a world that had become a treacherous sea. Today was the day. The final bandages were coming off my face. Keenan stood beside me as the surgeon carefully peeled away the last layers of gauze. | hadn't looked in a mirror in ---- half a year. | was terrified of what | would see. | took a deep breath and opened my eyes. The woman staring back at me was a stranger. The surgeons had worked miracles. The scars were still there, faint silver tracings along my jawline and onto my cheek, but they didn't look like wounds anymore. They looked like art, like the delicate cracks in a piece of ancient porcelain. My face was thinner, the last of the soft, trusting girl | used to be carved away, leaving behind the sharp angles and hard lines of a woman who had survived the fire. But it was my eyes that were the most changed. The warm honey was gone. In its place was the cold, clear gleam of polished steel. "Well," | said, a small, wry smile touching my new lips. "He always said he wanted to be the man who remade me. | guess he got his wish." Keenan' s reflection appeared behind me. He was wearing a perfectly tailored suit, his dark hair a little longer than | remembered from our childhood, his blue eyes filled with a gentle concern that was so different from Barron' s possessive stare. He hadn't changed much, but the boy | remembered was gone, replaced by a man who radiated a quiet, formidable power. "The plan worked perfectly," he said, his voice a low, reassuring rumble. "The plane crash was all over the news. We used a shell company to buy the wreckage of a similar jet, ---- planted the doctored flight manifest and your passport. As far as the world is concerned, Emerson Carroll is dead." He handed me a new set of documents. A new passport, new identity. | was now Elara Vance, a reclusive European art investor. "And Cydney?" | asked. "My team tracked her to Rio," he said. "She had the baby, a boy. She tried to contact Barron, but he' s not taking her calls. He' s become a recluse since your 'death.' He' s let his empire begin to crumble. He' s a ghost, haunting the ruins of his life." A cold satisfaction settled in my chest. "Good," | said. "Let him haunt. When I'm done with him, that' s all he' II have left." | turned from the mirror and faced Keenan. "You know," | said, a teasing note in my voice, "I remember a time when you tried to hire me. Right after | graduated. You said Keller Pharmaceuticals was a dinosaur and | should come work for your brave new tech world." He smiled, a genuine, warm expression that reached his eyes. "| remember. You turned me down flat. You said you had to honor your family' s legacy. And that you had just met a man ... a very persuasive man." | winced at the memory. "| was a fool." "You were loyal," he corrected me gently. "And you were in love. | never would have forced you to choose." He hesitated, ---- his gaze searching mine. "Did you know | tried to warn you? | sent your father a dossier on Carroll' s predatory tactics. He never read it. He thought | was just a jealous kid with a crush on his daughter." | stared at him. "He was right, wasn' t he? About the crush." The corner of his mouth ticked up. "Was | that obvious?" | laughed, a real, genuine laugh. It felt foreign in my throat. "Painfully. But | was too blind to see it." | sobered, the weight of the past settling over me again. "Thank you, Keenan. For everything. For pulling me out of the wreckage." "I ll always be there to pull you out of the wreckage, Emerson," he said, his voice soft but firm. "Always." He handed me a tablet. On the screen was a complex web of financial data, a map of Barron' s crumbling empire. "He made one fatal mistake," Keenan explained, pointing to a series of offshore accounts. "In his twisted attempt to prove his love and trustworthiness, he put nearly half of his personal assets, billions of dollars, into a series of blind trusts. The sole beneficiary of those trusts? His beloved wife, Emerson Carroll." My eyes widened. "He assumed that with your death, the assets would revert to him," Keenan continued, a predatory gleam in his eyes. "But he doesn' t know your wife is very much alive. And she has a ---- new identity, a new face, and a very powerful friend who happens to be an expert in moving assets through impenetrable firewalls." He looked at me, his expression serious. "The money is yours, Emerson. You can take it and disappear. Live a quiet life. Forget all of this." | looked at the screen, at the numbers that represented the blood money Barron had built his kingdom on. | thought of my parents. | thought of my ten murdered children. | thought of the woman | used to be. A quiet life was a luxury | hadn't earned yet. "No," | said, my voice ringing with a purpose | hadn't felt in years. "l don' t want to disappear. | want him to see me. | want him to know it was me who took everything from him. He built an empire on the ashes of my family. I' m going to build a new one on the ashes of his." | looked up at Keenan, my steel eyes meeting his. "Let's go to work." Title: A Princess? No! I'm the Female General! In "A Princess? No! I'm the Female General!" by CrushReel, Adela Taylor, a noble family's daughter, disguises herself as her brother to secure their Duke title by joining the army. Despite facing obstacles, she achieves remarkable success. However, upon her triumphant return, her brother betrays her, setting off a chain of events that will test her resolve and reveal hidden truths. This captivating novel delves into themes of secrets, reincarnation, revenge, murder, and drama. Adela's journey from deception to betrayal is filled with intrigue and suspense as she navigates through a world where power dynamics and family loyalties collide. What sets this story apart is its strong female lead who defies expectations and challenges societal norms in a quest for justice and redemption. 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