SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 143

Rose ran across the motel parking lot, her mind racing faster than her feet. The worn soles of her expensive shoes slapped against cracked asphalt as panic clawed at her chest. Herod was going to tell the FBI She reached her car, not her car, really, but one of

Herod's cars. Her hands shook ashe fumbled with the keys. The recorder. The damned recorder he'd shown her. How long had he been recording their conversations? What exactly had she said? Rose stopped, the key halfway to the lock.

She couldn't run. Not yet. Not while Herod sat in that motel room with a phone pressed to his ear, her name on his lips, and evidence of her crimes in his pocket.

In the distance, sirens wailed. Still far away, but coming closer.

Rose looked back at Room 17, its faded blue door visible from where she stood. Behind that door sat the man who

could destroy everything she'd built. Everything she'd sacrificed for.

If he talked, it was over.

If he lived, she was finished.

Rose reached into her bag, her fingers wrapping around the cold metal of the gun she'd bought from one of Anton Bessonov's men. She'd never fired it. Had never planned to. It was just insurance, protection a rough types she had to deal with for their plan.

Now it was her only option.

The weight of the weapon felt strange in her hand as she pulled

it from her bag. She'd watched enough movies to know how to hold it, how to aim. But the reality of it, the solid heaviness of death in her palm, made her stomach turn.

Rose didn't allow herself to hesitate. Hesitation was for weak people. For people like Camille, always looking for someone else to make decisions for her. Rose wasn't weak. She'd proven that time and again. The sirens grew louder. Minutes, maybe seconds before they arrived.

She walked back toward Room 17, each step steady despite the storm inside her mind. All those years fighting to escape the foster

system. All those years pretending to be the perfect adopted daughter. All those

years watching Camille get everything Rose deserved.

She wouldn't let Herod take it all away. Not now. Not when she was so close to winning.

Outside Room 17, Rose paused, listening. Through the thin door, she could hear Herod's voice, the words unclear but the tone unmistakable. He was telling them. Giving them details. Betraying her. Rose raised the gun, aimed at the door, and pulled the trigger.

The explosion of sound shocked her. The gun jumped in her hand, the recoil stronger than she expected. A hole appeared in the cheap wooden door.

Inside, Herod's voice stopped.

Not enough. She couldn't be sure. She fired again.

And again. Three holes now punctured the door, forming a rough triangle.

Silence from inside the room.

Rose stepped closer, pressed her ear to the door. Nothing. Not even movement.

Had she hit him? Was he dead? Wounded?

She had to know. Had to be sure.

her left hand, Rose turned the doorknob slowly. The door swung open with

Herod lay

with expanding circles of red.

Successfully unlocked!

into the room, the gun still raised. You should we betrayed me," she said, her voice steadier

know..." His words came between shallow

gone. And if they come after me, I'll tell them you were obsessed with me. That you

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Chapter 143

found hers, filled with a clarity that unnerved her. Even dying, he saw through

Rose's finger tightened on the trigger again. "Everyone always does fmvery convers He tried to reach for the phone that had skittered across the

the recorder?"

again. The ghost of a smile touched

at his head while her free hand searched his pockets. Nothing. "Where

Blood bubbled at the corner of his mouth. "Evidence... against

again. The

"Tell me where it is, or 13 make

grown more labored. Each word seemed to

at his face. "Last

do..." Herod's voice faded

exploded in Rose's chest. Even dying,

with a gun pointed at his face, he wouldn't

finger tightened on the

parking lot outside, red and blue lights flashing through the thin curtains. Car doors slammed. Voices

clean shot anymore. She needed to

the floor beside Herod's head. Not a kill shot, but enough to make her point.

the bathroom window.

behind the motel. Her car was out front, now blocked by FBI vehicles. She'd have to find another wa Behind her, shouts came from the motel room. They'd found Herod. Soon they'd

the alley, away from the motel, away from

the man she'd shot but not killed. Her mind raced with

each step.

He might tell them everything. But without the recorder, without proof, it would be his word against hers. And Rose had always been very good at making people believe

She'd

a new identity. New papers. Money. She'd had all of that arranged already, in case their plan went wrong. In case they needed to disappear after destroying Camille and Victoria Kane. Now she'd use those preparations to save

slowed to a walk as she reached a busier street. She couldn't look

to herself. She smoothed her

from her face. The gun went back into her bag. hidden beneath

raised her hand, forcing her most charming

asked as she slid

station," Rose said. "I've got a

the taxi pulled

responding to the shooting. More people who would soon be looking

back against the seat, forcing her

She could still win. She just needed to adapt. To evolve

A useful one, but replaceable. She'd find another way to destroy Camille. Another path to the life that

lived? If he told

in her bag, her finger tracing