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?"

I never want to speak

tighten.

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

said you underbid Meridian to steal the contract,"

did underbid them. But not by cutting safety measures. We underbid them by accepting lower profit margins." Victoria's voice grew stronger. "Richard Pierce chose a different strategy. He

explosion," Hannah said

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

sick. "Alexander doesn't know

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

if

I knew about the

went silent except for

voice was barely

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?"

documented everything he told me. I had my legal team research whether we had any obligation to report suspected safety violations by a competitor. I spent sleepless nights debating

beeping faster as her stress levels rose.

like 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

felt tears starting. "So you

And two weeks later,

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

had sabotaged his equipment. He said we'd deliberately provided him with false specifications to make his

when you fought back,"

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

would have made you

when the

investigated the explosion, I

document showing that Meridian

responsible for the fa

certified the installation as safe

Kane Industries by destroying

Meridian Technologies completely."

never told the courts about the engineer who warned me beforehand. I never admitted that I could have prevented

by staying silent about your prior knowledge," Camille said, understanding

our future. I made sure that Richard Pierce couldn't drag us down with him by

you felt guilty," Stefan

about Meridian's dangerous shortcuts. Instead, I worried about