Thank you for your thoughtful review! You hit the nail on the head haha. The romance between Camille and Osgoode im ITYH is essentially founded on quick sand: throw two "starving" teenagers in a cage and watch them "cannibalize" each other in a desperate attempt to survive. It was super fun and entertaining to write about, but definitely not a relationship I would wish on anyone in real life haha.
As for whether Camille "deserved" her treatment...I would say it's less about what she deserves and more about what was bound to happen. Camille was starved for love her entire life. That hunger leads to her making many "dumb" decisions and some dumb decisions have repercussions. She's like a starving stray dog who grew up eating anything it can find in a garbage can and then unfortunately falling ill from it lol. Nobody really taught her was "proper food" was, so she continues to eat garbage because it does make her feel full.
As for Osgoode's control over Camille....hes a drowning man lost in sea and Camille is his flotation deivice haha. As hinted in his backstory, Osgoode is the kind of kid who grew up doing what he was told and finds it familiar and comforting. Ironically, Camille breaking into his house was his "coming of age" moment and she becomes a weird anchor/ impetus for him to do things without his brother's input. Osgoode doesn't necessarily think that Camille deserves to be his flotation device, but he's not selfless enough to let go. And while he doesn't want to to be abusive, Osgoode absolutely will resort to cruel measures if he feels nothing else will work. The cruelty applies to both himself and Camille haha.
