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.

is disgraced. After Victoria's empire falls."

awakened something new in her, ambition beyond

for nothing, what then?"

Turn it

desk, facing her. "But businesses are only as strong as the people who

alone they were in the vast penthouse with the storm raging outside. "Are you offering me a job, Herod?" she asked, her voice deliberately

darkened. "We work well

could. We both know what it means to be overlooked, underestimated, denied

Lightning

light. In that flash, Rose saw something in Herod's face, hunger, yes, but

business partnership?" she

dropped lower. "Though I find myself wondering if it might become something

In their weeks of planning, Herod had been all cold calculation and strategic

personal interest

echoed, testing the words.

a strand of hair from her face. The

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

asked, her

Not just about our plan. About you." His fingers lingered at her jawline. "About your mind. Your determination. Your willingness

easily swayed by flattery and attention. But Herod

And infinitely more interesting.

aren't exactly romantic qualities,"

of his mouth lifted. "I don't want some fragile flower, Rose. I want an equal. Someone who understands that power is never given, it must

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

a partnership?"

plan. Destroy Kane Industries. Get our revenge. And part ways as... what? Successful

conspirators?"

after it was done, of never seeing

reached up, covering his hand

want it?" she

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

Not calculated or controlling or cold. It was hungry, almost desperate, as if he'd been holding himself back for

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

storm outside had intensified. Rain lashed against

rougher than

without the bitterness that usually colored her humor. "I'm not that easy to

her ear. "You're not. That's part of what

the black leather sofa facing the wall of windows. They sat close, the electricity between them almost as palpable as the lightning outside. "You know," Rose said, curling her legs beneath her, "this

"How so?"

Revenge. Clean and simple." She traced

he finished

at