SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

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.

lowered her voice. "We're logging

think we're just being

over the exhausted engineers. "You're all taking an enormous risk. Rose and

one had openly

believe in the Phoenix Grid," Hannah said after a

you,

perhaps, or a deeper emotion Hannah couldn't name. She turned away quickly, examining one

soon can the corrections

timeline. "Three more nights, if we work

components that

referring to the electrician they'd identified as

up a security

hair installing components at one of the secondary Grid sites.

systems. Everything he installs gets quietly removed and replaced after

satisfaction briefly crossing her features. "Good. And

surveillance, yes. Daily updates. Hannah

him, or that

"We need Rose and

**

the modified circuit board. His hands shook slightly, they always did

night, lit only by temporary work

seemed straightforward when he'd agreed to it.

approached him with an offer: make some small modifications to the Phoenix Grid components, get paid fifty thousand dollars.

to maybe

the man had said. “Nothing dangerous. Just enough problems to

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

out. Not after the man's subtle threats about his children. Not after

the first payment.

the access panel and packed up his tools. One more component installed according to the modified blueprints. One step closer

pocket. Walsh jumped, nearly dropping his toolbox. His

the caller ID: UNKNOWN.

fingers, he answered.

Chapter 104

The man's voice was smooth, cultured, Betraying

hard. "Installed

blueprints showed. That's the last one in the east

anyone

engineering team is focused

unusual activity at the site?

night work?"

some of

equipment being moved

he'd assumed it was just another team working

said finally. "Everything's

Mr. Walsh, your children's future depends on

the phone, bile rising in his throat. What

*****

On the main screen, a digital countdown displayed the 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