"When she died, I wanted to die too." She touched a chess piece, the black queen, with gentle fingers. "But then revenge became my purpose. Destroying the Prestons gave me a reason to continue. And when that was done, when they were ruined, I had nothing left but an empire built on ashes."
"Until you saw my photo," I said softly.
Her eyes met mine, sharp with sudden intensity. "Do you know what I thought when I first saw you? Not just that you looked like her, though the resemblance was striking. I thought: here's another bright young woman being systematically destroyed by people who should protect her. Here's another life being smothered by those with power over it."
Victoria leaned forward slightly. "I recognized in you what the Prestons tried to stamp out in Sophia. Potential. Intel
