SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 95

Chapter 95

Three hours later, Rose gazed out the window of a private dining room in Montreal's most exclusive restaurant. Snow fell gently outside, illuminated by street lamps and café lights. Inside, candles flickered on th "You seem surprised to be enjoying yourself," Herod observed, watching her over the rim of his wine glass.

Rose turned from the window. "I am, a little. I haven't thought about anything but revenge for so long. It feels strange to just... exist."

"Vengeance is consuming," Herod agreed. "It leaves little room for ordinary pleasures."

"Is that why you collect books? To remember there's life beyond revenge?"

He considered this, "Perhaps. Though I began collecting long before Victoria Kane entered my life."

Rose studied him in the candlelight. Without the hard edges of their planning sessions, Herod Preston revealed different

facets, cultured, thoughtful, even charming in his precise way.

"Tell me about the brother you lost," she said softly.

Herod's expression tightened momentarily, then relaxed. "Charles was the better of us. Kinder. More idealistic. He believed in love, in goodness. I always saw

the darker side of human nature."

"And yet Victoria targeted him first."

"Because he was connected to what she loved most, her daughter." Herod swirled the wine in his glass. "The cruellest revenge strikes not at you directly, but at what you cherish."

Rose thought of Camille, of the Phoenix Grid, of how precisely

their attack had been aimed at what her sister valued most. "We're following her playbook, aren't we? Using Victoria's

own methods against her."

improvements," Herod added. "Victoria acted from raw grief. We move with calculation, patience." "A dangerous

gifted at manipulation as you." Rose might once have taken this as an insult Tonight, she recognized it as appreciation, one strat "We all use the tools

closed to others. That people believe what they want to believe, see what they want to

want me to see tonight?" Herod asked, leaning

without question, who never looked for the truth beneath the performance. "I don't know," she admitted, surprising herself with

"Who Rose Lewis is when the masks come

dinner arrived, exquisite plates of food too artful to immediately disturb. The waiter poured more

many faces," Rose said after a moment. "The grateful adopted daughter. The supportive sister.

said with unexpected certainty. "I've seen

determination, your refusal to accept defeat. Those

touched something deep within her, a recognition she hadn't expected. In Herod's eyes, her darkness wasn't something

people only want the pretty lies," she said

look up from her plate. “I see your ruthlessness, your capacity for vengeance, and I

with meaning. Rose felt her pulse quicken. She was accustomed to inspiring desire in men, but always for the mirage

his fork, considering his answer. "Because partnerships forged only in hatred rarely survive. Because

though she already suspected

replying, Herod reached across the table, his fingers brushing hers in

and familiar. How long had it been since she'd felt genuine attraction, not calculated seduction? With Stefan, with all the others, physical connection

Dangerous in ways that had nothing to do with their revenge

carefully, "that mixing

Herod replied. "Does it trighten

a challenge, and Rose had never backed down from a challenge in her life. She

"No," she said simply.

they remained perfectly still, connected by that single point of contact, the air between them charged "Shall we skip dessert?"

suddenly certain.

window of Herod's Montreal apartment, watching snow blanket the city. Behind her, sheets lay tangled on the bed, evidence of boundaries crossed, new territories explored. She w Herod appeared in the doorway, two glasses of whiskey in and. The moonlight silvered his bare chest, highlighting the unexpected strength of his body. Rose accepted the offered drink, their fingers brushing in "Having regrets?"

"No. Surprises,

"What surprises you?"

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