SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 104

Chapter 104

The basement level of Kane Industries glowed with harsh fluorescent light at two in the morning. While most of the building sat dark and empty, the engineering lab hummed with tense activity. Sheets of bluepri covered every surface. Monitors displayed complex

circuit diagrams and safety protocols. The air smelled of coffee and

stress.

Hannah Zhao stood at the center of it all, hair pulled

back in a messy bun, dark circles under her eyes. She hadn't gone home in thirty-

six hours. Neither had the six engineers she'd personally selected for this shadow team, the only people besides Camille, Alexander, and Victoria who knew about the sabotage of the Phoenix Grid. "Li, what's the status on the junction box rewiring?" Hannah

asked, not looking up from the circuit board she was examining through a magnifying glass.

Li, a thin man with wire-

rimmed glasses, didn't pause his typing. "Schematics complete. I've isolated all fourteen tampered triggers and recalibrated them to the correct specs."

Hannah nodded, marking something on her tablet. "Good. Park, how about the emergency shutdown protocol?"

Across the room, a woman with short-cropped

hair shook her head. "It's worse than we thought. They didn't just modify the temperature sensors. They rigged the entire backup system to fail simultaneously instead of in sequence."

Hannah's stomach tightened. The sabotage grew more alarming the deeper they dug. This wasn't just an attempt to cause the Grid to fail, it was designed to make it fail catastrophically, with maximum damage A voice spoke from the doorway. "How bad is it?"

Hannah turned to see Camille standing there. Despite the late hour, she looked perfectly put together in a tailored pantsuit, though exhaustion shadowed her eyes.

"Ms. Kane." Hannah straightened. "We didn't expect you tonight."

"I couldn't sleep." Camille crossed to the main workstation "Show me what you've found."

Hannah pulled up the master diagram on the main screen. Red marks highlighted each sabotaged component, there were dozens, spread throughout the Grid's main systems.

"They were... thorough," Hannah said, trying to keep her voice steady. "Every critical safety system has been compromised in some way. Temperature sensors set too high. Circuit breakers modified to allow po Camille's face remained composed, but Hannah saw her hands clench at her sides. "And the result?"

"If the Grid went online with these modifications..." Hannah paused, the words sticking in her throat. "The main junction boxes would overheat within seventy-

two hours. The safety systems would report everything functioning normally even as temperatures reached dangerous levels. When the system finally failed, it would trigger a cascading power surge through the "Explosions?" Camille asked softly.

Hannah nodded, "Multiple sites. Simultaneous. The downtown power

grid would go down conîpletely. And the public record would show that Kane Industries knowingly implemented a flawed system."

A muscle twitched in Camille's jaw, the only sign of the anger she must be feeling.

"But we're fixing it," Hannah added quickly. "We've already corrected the blueprint modifications. We're now

Chapter 104

implementing physical changes to counteract any hardware that's already been installed according to the sabotaged plans."

"And no one outside this room knows what we're doing?" Camille surveyed the small team.

her voice. "We're logging all our work

The construction teams think we're just being extra

gaze swept over the exhausted engineers. "You're all taking an enormous risk. Rose and her partner have already shown

no one had openly acknowledged the danger they might be

Hannah said after a moment. "And

in you, Ms.

Hannah couldn't name. She turned away quickly, examining one of the

the corrections be

checked her timeline. "Three more nights, if we work straight through. We need to

components that

Walsh?" Camille asked, referring to

up a security feed

one of the secondary Grid

systems. Everything he installs gets quietly removed and replaced

satisfaction briefly crossing her features. "Good. And

Pierce's surveillance, yes. Daily updates. Hannah hesitated,

that

said. "We need Rose

**

forehead as he finished installing the modified circuit board. His hands shook

felt eerie at night, lit only by temporary work lights that cast long shadows across the

job had seemed straightforward when he'd agreed to it.

represent one of Kane Industries' competitors had approached him with an offer: make some small modifications to the

to maybe start

the project,” the man had said. “Nothing dangerous. Just enough problems

modifications grew more extensive, Walsh had begun to suspect that wasn't

man's subtle threats about his children. Not

the first payment.

component installed according to

phone buzzed in his pocket. Walsh jumped, nearly dropping his toolbox. His heart hammered

the caller ID: UNKNOWN.

trembling fingers, he

Chapter 104

The man's voice was smooth, cultured,

swallowed hard. "Installed the

tonight, just like the blueprints showed. That's the

has anyone

engineering team is focused on the main grid. No one's double- checking the

paused. “Any unusual activity at the

night work?"

had noticed some of the

equipment being moved

was just another team working different

said finally. "Everything's

planned. Remember, Mr. Walsh,

Walsh stared at the phone, bile rising in his throat.

*****

days until the Phoenix Grid was scheduled to go fully operational: 5 days, 7 ho Hannah moved between workstations, checking progress, making adjustments. Despite her exhaustion, her mind remained sharp. This was the most challenging engineering problem she'd ever faced, not just "Ms. Zhao?" One of the younger engineers called her over, pointing to a circuit diagram. “I think I found another one. It's subtle, but the power regulator has been modified to allow a ten percent tolerance instea Hannah examined

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