SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 105

Victoria Kane sat alone in her office, the glow from her computer screen the only light in the room. Outside her windows, dawn painted the Manhattan skyline in hues of pink and gold, but she hadn't noticed the sunrise. She hadn't moved from her chair in hours.

On her screen, financial records filled page after page, stock purchases, company

acquisitions, shell corporations nested within shell corporations like

Russian dolls. A tangled web of financial transactions that

had taken her team of investigators days to

unravel.

Victoria's mouth tightened as she scrolled through the data. The pattern was unmistakable once you knew what to look for. Small stock

purchases, never more than one percent at a time. Different buyer names. Different banks. Different countries. But

all ultimately tracing back to one man.

Herod Preston.

7

She slammed her hand against the desk, the sharp crack echoing through the empty office. Victoria Kane did not lose control. Not ever. But seeing Herod's name, the son of the man who had killed her daughte blood boiling.

Her intercom buzzed. "Ms. Kane? Mr. Pierce is here."

Victoria took

a deep breath, smoothing her features into their usual mask of calm. Send him in."

Alexander

entered, impeccable as always in a tailored suit despite the early hour. His expression shifted when he saw her face.

"You found something," he said, closing the door behind him.

Victoria swiveled her computer screen toward him. "Herod Preston has been buying Kane

Industries stock for the past six months."

Alexander crossed to her desk, studying the financial

data. “Through shell companies. Clever. Staying under the radar."

"Clever?" Victoria's voice sharpened. "He's infiltrating my company, Alexander."

"How much has he acquired?"

"Just

over five percent, according to what we've traced so far." Victoria stood, too agitated to remain seated. "He's positioning himself for a hostile takeover."

Alexander

leaned closer to the screen, scrolling through the transactions. "Pequod Ventures, Ahab Holdings, Queequeg Capital... all literature references. Easier to track than he thinks."

"This isn't a literary analysis, Alexander." Victoria paced behind her desk. "This

is Herod

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Preston making his next move against me. Against my

family. First the Grid sabotage, now this."

Alexander straightened, his expression serious. "Victoria, he can't take Kane Industries from you. You personally own sixty percent of the company."

"I'm aware of my stock holdings," she snapped.

"And I've

recently acquired ten percent," Alexander continued, unfazed by her tone. Which means that even if Herod

managed to buy every remaining share, which he can't without triggering SEC notifications he would still be a minority shareholder." Victoria paused her pacing. She knew this. Of course she knew this. She ha holdings precisely to prevent hostile takeovers. But the sight of Herod Preston's name connected to Kane Industries had triggered something primal in her, a mother's rage at the family that had taken her daugh "It's not about the stock," she said finally. "It's about his audacity. His... invasion. After what his family did to Sophia.”

Alexander's expression softened slightly. "I understand. But we need to think

strategically. If Herod is buying

stock, it means he's planning for something beyond the Grid sabotage."

was right. This wasn't

"He wants inside

she said. "Board meeting minutes. Financial projections.

"And he'll use a

the five percent threshold that

back to face

need to

move. And we

was already typing on his phone. "I'll have my

may be other shell companies we haven't traced

have them

He may be accelerating his purchases now

imminent." Victoria returned to

loss of control now replaced with cold calculation. "If

me, he'll discover just how wrong he

phone. "There's another

"Which is?"

purchases are discovered-and they will be, because we've found them, Herod will assume we're focused

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Chapter 105

"Which may

actual plan might

considered this.

"Possibly. The Grid-

The stock purchases. What if neither is his primary goal?" Alexander

in the corner of Victoria's office,

a man who always has

accepted the coffee he offered, warming her

chess master sacrificing

of his

you the most? Not just financially, but

question hung in the air between them. Victoria knew the answer immediately, though she would never say it aloud. There was only one thing

her?" Alexander asked

"About the stock purchases?"

has enough to worry about with the

affects her too. Alexander's voice remained steady, but

heard the

relationship with Camille had shifted, deepened. He was no longer

her,"

engineering team finishes correcting the Grid

apparently

the meantime,

"I'm listening."

leak information about a major

touched Alexander's mouth.

false flag operation. Force him to

may learn more about his true

time that morning, Victoria felt the

loosen slightly. This was familiar territory, strategic maneuvering, creating traps

draft a press release," she decided.

a significant upcoming

announcement. No specifics, just enough

blogs speculate."

nodded. "I'll have my publicist do the

at cooperation between

Industries on a 'revolutionary

will rise," Victoria noted. "Costing Herod more

him to accelerate his plans, whatever they

set down her coffee cup and moved back to her computer,

him come. Whatever Herod Preston is planning, he'll find I'm not the

Victoria rarely

Alexander watched her, his expression

we should

raised an

against her desk. "Herod's stock purchases began six months ago, long before the Grid sabotage. Before Rose found

went still, the implications racing through her mind.

Herod. Herod

"What if Rose wasn't the architect of

Herod discovered? Someone with personal motivation to hurt Camille,

direction and

Alexander was

they

system for a much

Victoria began, but was interrupted by

her security chief spoke. When the

her face had