SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 36

Camille's point of view

There's a particular satisfaction in watching something fall apart from a distance, in witnessing the precise moment when confidence shatters and

reality crashes down Victoria had taught me that. "True power isn't in the destruction itself," she'd told me once, "but in knowing you orchestrated it while they never saw you coming." As I sat at the head of the under the weight of their impending ruin.

I watched the numbers change on my tablet as Pacific Marline's stock price plummeted. Each drop represented another piece of Stefan's empire crumbling. The company's board members sat across from me i "Your company lost forty percent of its value in the last hour," I said, my voice carrying through the silent room. In fifteen minutes, when the market fully reacts to the news about your accounting irregularities, tha Michael Chen, Pacific Maritime's CEO, gripped his water glass so hard I thought it might shatter. "These accusations are baseless."

"Are they?" I slid a folder across the polished table. "Our audit team spent six months combing through your records. Every questionable contract, every hidden payment, every secret deal with Rodriguez Shipp it's all there."

The board members exchanged worried glances. They knew what this meant. Pacific Maritime controlled Stefan's most important shipping routes. Without them, his entire operation would collapse.

"Kane Industries is offering to buy your remaining shares at thirty dollars each," I continued.

"Generous, considering they'll be worth nothing by market close."

"You can't do this," Thomas Rodriguez, Stefan's uncle and Pacific Maritime chairman, pushed back from the table. "Rodriguez Shipping will fight-

"With what resources?" I cut him off. "The Rodriguez company is already overextended. Three banks have quietly frozen there credit lines. And their upcoming wedding is draining what cash reserves remain.” My phone buzzed-

source inside Rodriguez Shipping: Stefan just got the news. Complete meltdown in his office. Board calling emergency

Let him rage. Let him feel powerless. Let him understand exactly what it meant to watch everything slip through his

have thirty minutes to accept our offer," I told the board. "After that, these findings go to the SEC

extortion," Chen

Mr. Chen. This is karma." I met his eyes steadily. "You chose to tie your company's future to Rodriguez

pay the price for that

lit up with updates from our trading desk. Pacific Maritime's stock In free fall. Investors dumping shares in panic. The trap I'd spent months setting had snapped shut perfectly. The company's

I

my earpiece, Victoria's voice:

crumbling exactly as predicted."

of planning

Shipping's stock starting to drop as news spread about Pacific Maritime's

said quietly. "My nephew...

I replied, letting ice coat my words. "Actions have consequences, Mr. Rodriguez. Even for those who think themselves untouch Twenty minutes later, they signed the papers. Kane Industries now owned controlling interest in Pacific Maritime. Stefan's most crucial supply chain

fear or doubt, but from the pure rush of power. I'd done it. Landed the first major blow in my campaign to systematically dismantle My phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number: *Impressive show. But what happens when winning doesn't fill

AP

he'd been watching.

instead on the news alerts flooding my screen. Business publications already running stories about Pacific Maritime's sudden takeover, Financial analysts speculating about wha Victoria entered without knocking. "The board

capacity overnight," I reported. "His stock is already down