SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 205

Victoria's eyes opened slowly in the hospital room, focusing on Camille's face for the first time in three days. The machines around her bed beeped steadily, marking the rhythm of her recovery. Her skin still looked pale against the white pillows, but the dangerous gray color was gone.

"How long was I out?" Victoria's voice was barely a whisper.

Camille squeezed her hand gently. "Three days. You scared us all."

"The company?"

"Stable. Dad and Uncle Eduardo helped with the stock crisis. We're okay for now."

Victoria tried to sit up, wincing at the effort. "There's something I need to tell you. About Alexander's accusations. About what really happened fifteen years ago." "You don't need to explain anything right now. Just focus on getting better."

"No." Victoria's grip on Camille's hand tightened. "If Alexander is spreading lies about Meridian Technologies, you need to know the truth. All of it."

Dr. Martinez appeared in the doorway, checking Victoria's chart. "Mrs. Kane, it's good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit by a truck. But I need to speak with my daughter and her colleagues about urgent business matters."

"I'm not sure that's wise. Your blood pressure is still elevated..."

"Doctor, someone is trying to destroy my company based on false accusations about events from fifteen years ago. The stress of not addressing this will be worse for my health than discussing it."

Dr. Martinez looked between Victoria and Camille, then sighed. "Thirty minutes. No more. And if your blood pressure spikes, we end the conversation immediately."

After the doctor left, Camille called Stefan and Hannah. Both arrived within twenty minutes, their faces showing relief at seeing Victoria conscious and alert.

"Before we start," Victoria said, looking at each of them, "what I'm about to share with you has been locked away for fifteen years. Some of it will be painful to hear. But if Alexander is using doctored evidence to attack us, you need to understand what really happened."

She gestured to her briefcase, which Camille had brought from the office. "In the side pocket, there's a key. Take it."

Camille found the small silver key, ornate and old-fashioned, similar to the one she'd found in Alexander's office.

"That key opens a private safe in my office. Behind the bookshelf, there's a hidden panel. The safe contains documents I've kept about every major legal challenge Kane Industries has faced. Including the Meridian Technologies case."

Stefan leaned forward. "Why keep those records separately?"

"Because some truths are too dangerous to leave in regular files. Because some stories are more complicated than the public versions." Victoria's eyes grew distant. "The Meridian Technologies factory explosion wasn't a simple case of corporate negligence. It was a tragedy caused by multiple failures, multiple people making choices that cost seventeen lives."

Hannah pulled out her laptop. "Should I take notes?"

everything. Because after today, I

her chest tighten. "What really happened,

a major industrial contract. The client wanted the cheapest bid, the

to steal

them by accepting lower profit margins." Victoria's voice grew stronger. "Richard Pierce chose a different strategy. He

factory explosion," Hannah said

maintenance." Victoria's voice cracked slightly. "The valve was supposed

felt sick. "Alexander doesn't

journal, which focused on his anger and blame toward me. But they didn't show him the engineering reports that proved the faulty equipment was

if his company was at fault?" Stefan

knew about the substandard materials

went silent except for the beeping

knew?" Camille's voice was barely

explosion, one of Meridian's engineers contacted me. He was concerned about the equipment Richard Pierce was ordering for the installation. He thought Kane Industries should know that

"What did you do?"

report suspected safety violations by a competitor. I spent

as her

I reported Meridian's cost-cutting to the client, it would look like I was trying to sabotage them to win the contract myself." Victoria's voice

felt tears starting. "So you did

two weeks later, seventeen

noticeably. Dr. Martinez appeared in the doorway, but Victoria waved

Kane Industries had sabotaged his equipment. He said we'd deliberately provided

when you fought back,"

knowledge of his cost-cutting. He threatened to make that information public, to claim

would have made you look complicit," Hannah

So when

investigated the explosion, I

showing that

responsible for the fa

the installation as safe when he

Kane Industries by destroying

Meridian Technologies completely."

engineer who warned me beforehand.

yourself by staying silent about

Kane Industries. I protected our employees, our clients, our future. I made sure that Richard Pierce couldn't drag us down

you felt guilty," Stefan

warning the client about Meridian's dangerous shortcuts. Instead, I worried about business ethics and