SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 192

Chapter 192

The morning rain pounded against the windows of Pierce Enterprises as Alexander reviewed the latest energy forecasts. His fingers trembled slightly as he reached for his coffee, the weight of last night's discoveries still pressing down on his chest like a stone. Across the city, Victoria Kane was discovering that someone had been probing her company's deepest secrets.

His phone buzzed against the mahogany desk. Victoria's name flashed on the screen, sending ice through his veins. He let it ring twice before answering, his voice carefully controlled.

"Victoria. Good morning."

"Alexander." Her tone was sharp, cutting through the phone like a blade. "I need to see you. My office. One hour."

The line went dead. Alexander stared at the phone, his heart hammering against his ribs. Had they traced the cyberattacks back to him? Had someone discovered his connection to "Guardian"?

He stood and walked to his office window, watching the city blur through streams of rain. Twenty stories below, people hurried along sidewalks, unaware that the foundations of two major corporations were about to shift beneath their feet.

*** ***

Kane Industries' headquarters rose like a steel and glass monument to Victoria's empire. Alexander had been here countless times since marrying Camille, but today the building felt different. Hostile. Like walking into enemy territory.

Victoria's assistant led him through familiar halls that now seemed to stretch endlessly. His footsteps echoed on polished marble, each sound marking time toward a confrontation he'd been dreading since he first opened that envelope months ago.

Victoria sat behind her massive desk, her silver hair gleaming under the office lights. Cancer had made her thinner, but her eyes burned with the same intensity that had built her empire. On the desk before her lay several printed reports, their contents hidden from his view.

"Sit," she commanded, not looking up from the documents.

Alexander took the chair across from her, his hands resting calmly on his knees despite the storm raging inside him. Years of business negotiations had taught him to hide his emotions behind a mask of professional composure.

"Someone has been trying to access our financial records," Victoria said, finally raising her eyes to meet his. "Sophisticated attempts. Professional level. The kind that requires inside knowledge of our security protocols."

Alexander's throat felt dry as sand. "I'm sorry to hear that. Has your team identified the source?"

"Not yet." Victoria leaned back in her chair, studying his face with the intensity of a predator examining prey. "But the attempts have been focused on very specific files. Records related to acquisitions from fifteen years ago."

The air in the room seemed to thicken. Alexander forced himself to breathe normally, to maintain eye contact, to show nothing but appropriate concern for his wife's family business.

"That's troubling," he said. "Do you think it could be connected to the Phoenix Grid expansion? Competitors trying to find weaknesses in your past deals?"

Victoria's expression didn't change, but something flickered behind her eyes. Relief? Suspicion? Alexander couldn't tell.

"Perhaps," she said slowly. "Speaking of the expansion, I understand you've been researching our historical energy projects for the joint venture with Pierce Enterprises?"

that would determine whether his cover held or everything came

to major infrastructure projects. Learning from your past successes, and any challenges you

remained fixed on his face. "And you've been looking specifically at

steady. "Among others. Meridian was one of your first major tech acquisitions, wasn't it? The foundation for what became your

gathered the reports on her desk, aligning their edges with precise movements. "I trust you've

team's approach to due

hung in the air between them. Victoria's hands stilled on the papers, and for a moment, Alexander saw something raw cross her face-surprise, perhaps, or recognition

she said

I understand

up. I was concerned that someone might be trying

can't imagine why anyone would do such a thing," Alexander lied smoothly. "Kane Industries has

knife's edge. "Exactly. Which is why I'm confident this cybersecurity issue will

recognizing the dismissal. "I'm sure it

This is an

walked toward the door, Victoria's voice

"Alexander."

turned, his hand on

She's been working so hard on the expansion. I worry she's

rest," Alexander promised, the words tasting like

** **

pulled the blinds shut. His hands shook as he opened his laptop and accessed the encrypted files

was a copy of an internal Kane Industries memo, dated three weeks before his uncle's suicide. Victoria's signature was clear at the bottom, authorizing an investigation into Richard Pierce's "potential

explosion at one of Meridian's facilities had killed three workers and injured dozens more. The official investigation

else. Richard Pierce had found evidence that the equipment failure was due to cost-cutting measures approved by Meridian's board, measures that violated safety protocols. Richard had been preparing to go public

somehow

ver

culpability. False accusations of financial misconduct.

contained Richard's personal notes, apparently recovered from his home computer after his death. Page after page of anguished writing, describing the pressure from Kane Industries, the threats to

that Alexander will pay the price if I proceed,* one entry read. *Victoria Kane has the power to destroy his future, his career, his life. I cannot be responsible for that. But how can I live with the blood

the day before his suicide,

Alexander must never know. He must never carry this burden. Better that I die a coward than live knowing I chose

had died because Victoria Kane

unwitting weapon used to destroy

a text from Camille: *Dinner at home tonight? I have news about the

automatically: *Looking forward to it.

built on a foundation of lies and blood. Victoria Kane had murdered his uncle as surely as if she had tied the noose herself. She had manipulated Alexander's love for Richard to ensure her