Victoria Newman’s eyes flutter open to the suffocating dimness of a concrete bunker, her body aching, her mind reeling. The metallic scent of cold machinery and betrayal hangs heavy in the air. Her wrists are raw from the ropes, but it’s the crushing weight in her chest that consumes her. Before her stands Cole Howard, flanked by Clare Grace, both cloaked in a chilling silence. This isn’t a nightmare; it’s a terrifying reality.

Cole steps forward, his eyes tired but resolute, and delivers the confession Victoria had dared not fully accept: “I am Dumas.” The name, once an elusive whisper of sabotage and blackmail, now belongs to the man she once loved. Cole continues, his voice eerily calm, detailing his deep-seated vengeance against Victor Newman and those who wronged him. “I never wanted this,” he claims, “not with you. But I’ve been wronged… This is the only way I can make it right.” Victoria wants to scream, but only a choked sob escapes her. “I loved you,” she whispers, voice cracking. “I trusted you… and this is what I get?”

Cole kneels, his voice heavy. “I never betrayed you. I never stopped loving you, Victoria… But I needed to get close. You were my way in.” He admits to using her, but insists his goal was to hurt those who hurt him, never her. His words tear through Victoria like knives, each tear tracing an acidic path down her face. Clare finally speaks, her voice soft and uncertain: “You weren’t supposed to find this… We can’t let you leave now. You know too much.” Victoria’s blood runs cold. Cole then attempts to reassure her, even producing a “release protocol” and an “escape plan,” claiming he never wanted her hurt. But these words only deepen her despair, confirming his calculated deception from the very beginning. “I don’t believe you,” she snaps. “You say you love me, but you tied me up… Do you even hear yourself anymore?”

The last shreds of Victoria’s hope vanish. The people before her are shells, consumed by vengeance. She knows she must survive them, for this won’t end with her release. The “Dumas” plan is an annihilation of legacies, a scorched-earth campaign designed to shatter Genoa City’s power structure. Victoria can’t stop it yet, but she will remember, she will wait, she will endure. She understands that the most dangerous person is the one with nothing left to lose.

The Price of Betrayal: A Heartbreaking Transformation

The physical torment of her captivity pales in comparison to the devastation crushing Victoria’s heart. Cole and Clare, once familiar and loved, now loom like monstrous strangers, forged from shadow and resentment. The warm memories of their past have been replaced by faces contorted with cold fury and a thirst for control. They have evolved into predators, and Victoria is their prey.

When they approach her again, she no longer flinches. Her voice, ragged but clear, rises in defiance. “You can tie me up. You can threaten me. But I will tell the world… This, whatever this sick delusion is, it ends.” A flash of fury ignites in Cole’s eyes, and Clare’s mouth twists venomously. Clare storms forward, screaming, “You’re not walking out of here! You don’t get to act like the victim after everything you’ve done!” But it’s Cole’s voice that follows, colder than ice, stripped of humanity. “You talk like you matter… You’re not a Newman here. You’re just a problem. And problems get eliminated.”

Victoria recoils, not from fear, but from the sheer horror of his words. She searches Cole’s eyes for remorse, memory, anything, but finds only an empty, soulless void. Clare’s face is stone, her loyalty to their madness absolute. “Do you hear what you’ve become?” Victoria chokes out, her voice cracking with disbelief. “You disgust me, both of you.” Cole sneers, “You think your version of love was anything but control? You manipulated… Don’t pretend you’re innocent now that the world you built is crumbling.” He paces, declaring, “No one will mourn you… You’re a liability.”