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?"

Record everything. Because after today, I never want to speak about

tighten. "What really happened,

strength. "Fifteen years ago, Kane Industries and Meridian Technologies were competing for a major industrial contract. The client wanted the cheapest bid, the

you underbid Meridian to steal the contract,"

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

factory explosion,"

installation. Seventeen people died when a pressure valve failed during routine maintenance." Victoria's voice cracked slightly. "The valve was supposed to be rated for high-pressure industrial

felt sick. "Alexander doesn't know

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

you if his company was at fault?"

pained. "Because I knew about the substandard materials before the

room went silent except for the beeping

voice was barely

He was concerned about the equipment Richard Pierce was ordering for the installation.

"What did you do?"

I had my legal team research whether we had any obligation to report suspected safety violations by a competitor. I spent sleepless nights debating whether to warn

heart monitor began beeping faster as her stress levels rose. "And?" Hannah

I was trying to sabotage them to win the contract myself." Victoria's voice was full of old pain. "I told myself that Meridian's engineers would catch the problems before anyone got hurt. I told myself that Richard Pierce was too experienced to let truly dangerous equipment

starting. "So you did

two weeks later,

Dr. Martinez appeared in the doorway, but

to claim that Kane Industries had sabotaged his

fought back,"

defended my company against false accusations. But Richard Pierce knew that I had prior knowledge of his cost-cutting. He threatened to make that information public, to claim that Kane Industries knew about the dangerous equipment and chose not to warn

you look complicit,"

when the

investigated the explosion, I

every document showing that

responsible for the fa

that Richard Pierce had certified the installation as

Kane Industries by destroying

Meridian Technologies completely."

me beforehand. I never admitted

protected yourself by staying silent about your prior knowledge," Camille said,

sure that Richard Pierce couldn't drag

you felt

responsible. Not legally, but morally. I could have saved seventeen lives by warning the client about Meridian's dangerous shortcuts. Instead, I worried about