SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 127

Rose stared at the photos spread across the marble countertop of Herod's penthouse kitchen. Grainy images captured through a long-

distance lens, yet clear enough to show what mattered. Camille and Alexander outside Boston Memorial Hospital. His hand holding something small. Her visible shock. Their embrace. And most damning of all, "She's engaged," Rose whispered, the words burning her throat like acid. "He proposed and she said yes."

She'd sent one of their hired men to follow Camille that afternoon, a precaution after Walsh had provided them with the misleading Grid information. She hadn't expected this.

"Are you certain?" Herod asked, examining the photos over her shoulder. "The quality isn't great."

Rose's fingernail stabbed at the clearest image. "Look at her finger. That's an engagement ring."

Herod squinted. "Could be any ring."

"It's not just any ring." Rose's voice sharpened. "I know what an engagement ring looks like, and I know my sister's face. She's... happy."

The last word emerged like a curse. Her fingers curled around the edge of the photo, crumpling it slightly.

"Does this change our plans?" Herod asked carefully.

Rose didn't answer. Her mind raced through images from their childhood, Camille always the perfect daughter, the talented musician, the brilliant student. Rose, the adopted outsider, working twice

as hard for half the recognition. And now, after everything Rose had done to destroy her, Camille was

engaged to a Trillionaire who gazed at her with undisguised adoration.

"Rose?" Herod prompted.

Her hand swept across the counter, sending the photos flying.

"It's not fair! Why does she get everything? The career, the money, Victoria's approval and fortune and now him too?"

She stalked across the kitchen, her movements sharp and erratic. Herod watched her warily, keeping the marble island between them.

"We're still going to destroy her," he reminded her. "The Grid launch is in a week. We have the information about the western junction vulnerability..."

"Information she'll protect now more than ever," Rose cut in. "She has a reason to survive, a future to protect. It makes her more dangerous."

She yanked open a cabinet, grabbed a crystal tumbler, and slammed it down. The decanter of bourbon rattled as she poured, amber liquid splashing over the rim.

"She's going to have the life that should have been mine," Rose

continued, her voice rising. "Marriage to someone powerful, Our parents wealth, Victoria's company, respect, admiration, all of it stolen from me."

plan remains the same.

need to hit her directly. No more sabotage, no more games. I want her gone." The naked

her.

with wild eyes and trembling hands, seemed

way that sent warning signals through

what, exactly?" he

been too subtle. The Grid launch, the

A chill

more aggressive approaches before, but always in hypothetical terms. The

what we agreed to," he said, keeping his voice even. "Corporate takeover, yes. Financial

line here?" "Because there's no coming back from that line, nervu replied. Right now, we're engaging in corpor Rose

pretend

1/4

Chapter 127

and they both knew it. He had imagined

she recognized him as the architect of her

between imagination and action, between revenge fantasies

he said, trying

and mistakes lead

who get caught," Rose whispered, her

Camille has gotten away with everything. Stealing Stefan. Taking my place

And now an engagement ring and a fairy-tale

screaming. "No! She doesn't get to win! Not after what I've suffered, what I've worked The crystal tumbler went flying, shattering against the wall in

narrowing dangerously. "Don't

moved closer, invading his space. "You promised me her destruction. You

assured her. "But we do it my way. Calculated. Precise.

bom of jealousy over an engagement

Wrong

slap echoing in the sleek

feeling the sting. For the first time since their partnership began, he felt a whisper of fear. Not of Rose's physical capabilities, he outmatched her there, but

"I

has affected you strongly, and we should take time to incorporate it into our plans

stepped back,

regain

want her to hurt, Herod. Not just her company, not just her reputation. I want her to feel what I felt when she took

moved to the windows,

city lights. "I want her to know, in her final moments, that her perfect life, her engagement, her future, all of it was

mo "I can make that happen," he promised, though doubt crept into his mind for the first time. "But we stick to the plan. The Grid launch, the vulnerability

Rose didn't

think. He closed the door behind him, leaning against it as a wave of uncertainty washed over him. This had begun as a business venture, albeit one motivated by vengeance. Take down Victoria Kane, acquire her company. dismantle her achievements, all while making