SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 102

Rain streaked down the windows of Herod Preston's penthouse, turning Manhattan's skyline into a blurry watercolor painting. Rose stood at the glass, watching lightning flash between the clouds. Her reflection Behind her, Herod ended his phone call and set his cell on the marble counter with a soft click. The sound pulled Rose from her thoughts.

"Well?" she asked, not turning around.

"It's confirmed." His voice carried that smooth confidence that had first drawn her to him. "Walsh says construction is proceeding exactly according to our modified plans. He installed the final set of altered circui Rose pressed her palm against the cool glass. "And no one noticed the changes?"

"No one. Not even the chief engineer." His footsteps approached, slow and measured. "The beauty of our modifications

is their

subtlety. Each change looks legitimate on its own. Only when viewed collectively do they create the perfect storm."

A smile touched Rose's lips. Perfect storm. How fitting. She'd spent her entire life creating storms in Camille's perfect world..

"How long until it fails?" she asked.

"The Grid goes fully operational in six days." Herod now stood directly behind her, close enough that she could feel his body heat. "The safety systems are designed to run seventy-

two hours of testing before full power integration. Once they connect to the city's main power supply..."

"Boom," Rose whispered, watching lightning split the sky.

"Precisely." His hand came to rest

on her shoulder. "And Camille Kane will be held responsible for the greatest engineering disaster in New York's history."

Rose turned to face him. Herod's dark eyes held hers, intense and unreadable. She'd worked with him for weeks now, plotting Camille's destruction, yet sometimes he remained a mystery. A dangerous one. "Victoria will protect her," Rose said, her old bitterness rising. “She always protects her precious new daughter."

"Not this time." Herod's thumb traced a small circle on her shoulder, the gesture oddly intimate. "The evidence will be overwhelming. Criminal negligence at minimum. Potentially even charges of knowingly endangering public safety for profit."

"Prison," Rose breathed, the word sweet on her tongue.

"If she's lucky." Herod's mouth curved into a smile that never reached his eyes. "More likely, Victoria Kane's empire will collapse trying to defend against the lawsuits. The stock will plummet. The board will remo He moved to the bar, pouring amber liquid into two crystal glasses. "A perfect revenge for both of us. Victoria loses everything, just as my family did. And your sister..." He handed Rose a glass. "Your sister lose Rose accepted the drink, the crystal cool against her fingers "To perfect revenge," she said, raising her glass.

"To mutual satisfaction." Herod clinked his glass against hers, his eyes never leaving her face as they both drank.

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Chapter 102

The liquor burned pleasantly down Rose's throat. She wandered to the large desk where multiple screens displayed different angles of the Phoenix Grid construction site. Workers in hard hats moved about like "Look at them," she murmured. "No idea what's coming."

Herod moved beside her, setting his glass down on the desk "Do you ever wonder," he asked, his voice lower now, "what you'll do after?"

The question caught Rose off-

guard. She'd been so focused on destroying Camille, on taking back what should have been hers, that she'd given little thought to what came next.

"After?" she repeated.

Camille is disgraced. After Victoria's empire falls."

her vision had extended only to Camille's destruction. But working with him had awakened something new in

for nothing, what then?"

rebuild it. Rebrand it. Turn it into something greater

imagined." He leaned against the desk, facing her. "But businesses are only as strong as the people who

in the air between them. Rose set her glass down beside his, suddenly aware of how close they stood, how alone they were in the vast penthouse with the storm raging outside. "Are you offering

"We work well together,

could. We both know what it means to be

Lightning

harsh white light. In that flash, Rose saw something in Herod's face,

she

find myself wondering if it

surprised her. In their weeks of planning, Herod had been all

of personal interest was unexpected, and strangely

testing the

from her face. The gesture was tentative, almost gentle, at odds

Camille Kane, I saw it as a means to my own revenge

Rose asked, her heart beating

her jawline. "About your mind. Your determination. Your willingness to do whatever it takes to get what you want Rose had manipulated men all her life.

attention. But Herod was different. Sharper.

And infinitely more interesting.

romantic qualities," she

they?" The corner of his mouth lifted. "I don't want some fragile flower, Rose. I want an equal. Someone who understands

adoptive parents, certainly not Stefan, and especially not Camille. They'd all wanted her to be something else, grateful But Herod did. He

if I don't want a partnership?"

slightly. "Then we finish our plan. Destroy Kane

conspirators?"

walking away after it was done, of

up, covering his hand with hers where it rested against

do want it?" she asked

eyes, triumph, desire, relief? Rose couldn't tell. Before she could analyze it further, Herod leaned forward and pressed

cold. It was hungry, almost desperate, as if he'd been holding himself back for weeks.

fingers gripping the lapels of his expensive suit. For so long, she'd channeled all her

both breathing heavily, the storm outside had intensified. Rain lashed against the windows, and thunder rumbled

his voice rougher than usual.

without the bitterness that usually colored her humor. "I'm

her ear. "You're

the wall of windows. They sat close, the electricity between them almost

"How so?"

business. Revenge. Clean and simple." She traced a pattern on the leather between them. "Now

he finished

at him. "Is