SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 226

Chapter 226

Victoria Kane stepped out of Kane Industries at precisely 6:30 PM, flanked by two security guards who had been assigned to protect her after James's direct threat. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the sidewalk as her black sedan waited at the curb, engine running, ready to take her to meet Camille for dinner at their favorite restaurant.

Camille emerged from the building seconds later, her own security detail creating a protective barrier around her as she moved toward the car. The past twenty-four hours had been exhausting - coordinating with the FBI about the manhunt for James, visiting Alexander in the hospital, implementing new security protocols for everyone James had threatened.

"Ready?" Victoria asked as Camille approached the sedan.

"More than ready," Camille replied, sliding into the back seat beside Victoria. "I need a normal evening after everything that's happened."

The security guards performed their final check of the vehicle and surrounding area before taking their positions in the escort car that would follow them to the restaurant. Everything appeared routine, professional, secure. Victoria's head of security had assured her that James Whitfield would not be able to get close to them with these precautions in place.

Victoria's sedan pulled away from Kane Industries and merged into the heavy Manhattan traffic. The escort car followed at a discrete distance, maintaining visual contact while avoiding the appearance of an obvious security convoy.

Neither Victoria nor Camille noticed the utility van that had been parked across the street for the past three hours, or the way it smoothly joined the flow of traffic behind the escort car.

"How's Alexander feeling?" Victoria asked as they drove through midtown.

"Better. The doctors say the sedative is almost completely out of his system. He should be discharged tomorrow morning." Camille's voice carried relief mixed with lingering fear. "Victoria, I keep thinking about what would have happened if he hadn't activated that emergency alert."

"Don't think about it," Victoria said firmly. "Alexander survived because he was smart and prepared. That's what matters now."

But even as Victoria spoke reassuring words, she felt tension coiled in her chest like a spring. James Whitfield had already proven willing to commit murder. The fact that he had failed to kill Alexander didn't mean he would give up - it meant he would be more desperate and dangerous than ever.

The sedan turned onto Fifth Avenue, heading toward the Upper East Side restaurant where they had reservations. Traffic was heavy but moving steadily, and Victoria began to relax slightly as they put distance between themselves and the business district where James had last been seen.

That's when everything went wrong.

The utility van accelerated suddenly, swerving around the escort car and ramming into the side of Victoria's sedan with devastating force. The impact sent their car spinning across two lanes of traffic before it slammed into a parked delivery truck.

Victoria felt her world explode into chaos - the screaming of twisted metal, the sharp crack of breaking glass, the acrid smell of leaking fuel and deployed airbags. Her head struck the side window with enough force to leave her dazed and bleeding.

Victoria called out, her voice weak and

replied, but her voice sounded strange, muffled. Victoria could see her daughter slumped against the opposite door, a thin

security guards jumping out of their vehicle, weapons drawn, shouting into their radios for

precision, ignoring the chaos of the traffic accident and the approaching security guards.

of the van's passenger seat, no longer bothering to hide his identity. He wore a bulletproof vest over his expensive suit and carried himself with the confidence of someone who had

over the noise of the accident. "It's time

a canister through the sedan's broken window. Victoria heard the hiss of escaping gas and immediately tried to hold her breath, but it was too

Victoria saw before the sedative took full effect was James's face pressed

Mrs. Kane. When you wake up, we'll finish what my father started twenty

his hospital bed, impatiently waiting for the doctors to complete his discharge paperwork, when his phone buzzed with an emergency alert. The message was from Kane Industries security:

and Camille's sedan had been attacked on Fifth Avenue. Both women were missing. The security

recovery. He had to get to the scene

and emergency responders. The twisted wreckage of Victoria's sedan sat in the middle of the street like

coordinating the investigation from a mobile command post that had been set up on the

asked, his voice hoarse

Whitfield planned this operation carefully. The utility van was stolen, the license plates were fake, and the

chest tighten with panic. "How

know. James's previous pattern suggests he

and

Alexander like physical blows. The two women he loved most in the world were in the hands of a man who had spent fifteen years planning their destruction. A man who had

phone rang. The caller ID showed

reports are wrong," Richard's voice was tight with barely

tell you that," Alexander replied honestly. "James

doing everything

what?" Richard's voice

fifteen years. He's not going to make

Margaret Lewis crying in the background

Richard said. "Eduardo has already chartered

Lewis, there's nothing you can do here that the