SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Alexander didn't look convinced. He moved

to the window, scanning the grounds with practiced eyes. "Security has been doubled since yesterday. Victoria's

orders."

"Why?" Camille asked, resuming her preparation of hot chocolate. "What aren't you two telling me?"

Alexander hesitated, then joined her at the counter. "Victoria found

something. She

wanted to wait until the Grid corrections were complete before telling you."

"Tellwhat?" The nightmare's lingering dread intensified. "Alexander, no more secrets."

He nodded, taking the mug she offered. "Herod Preston

has been buying Kane Industries stock

through shell companies. Just over five percent so far."

Camille stilled. "A takeover attempt?"

"Unlikely

to succeed. Victoria owns sixty percent, and | recently purchased ten percent myself." Alexander held her gaze.

“But it suggests Herod's plans extend beyond sabotaging

the Grid."

The kitchen suddenly felt too small, too exposed. Camille wrapped

her hands around her mug, seeking warmth.

"The nightmares started the sday Victoria discovered this," she said

quietly. "I didn't know about it, but somehow I... sensed it."

Alexander didn't dismiss this as superstition, as most would have.

"Your subconscious picks up cues your conscious mind misses. Victoria's been tenser. Security protocols

changed. Small signals."

They moved to the breakfast nook, sitting across from each other in the dimly lit

kitchen. Outside, the night pressed against the windows like a living thing.

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Chapter 106

"Tellabout the nightmare," Alexander said.

Camille stared into her mug. "I'm drowning. Rose is pullingdown. But now

Herod is with her." She looked up. "It's

different from before. There's this sense of... running out

of time."

Alexander

reached across the table, taking her hand. The contact anchored her, driving back the nightmare's ghostly

tendrils.

"There's more you should know," he said. "The

shadow engineering team found another layer of sabotage in the Grid. More

sophisticated than

the first. And installed by someone with higher security clearance than Walsh."

"Who?"

"Victoria suspects Martin Greene. Her head of special projects."

The nhit Camille like a physical blow. Martin Greene, the silver-

haired executive who had been at Victoria's side

for years. Who had helped train Camille when she first arrived. Who knew

every detail of Kane Industries operations.

"That's not possible," she whispered. "He's been with her since..."

"Since Sophia died," Alexander finished. "Fifteen years of apparent loyalty. Which makes the betrayal all the

more devastating."

Camille pushed her mug away, no longer interested in its comfort. “If

Greene is working with

Herod, we have a serious security breach. He knows everything, security protocols, the Grid designs, even

details about..." She paused, a new thought

freezing her blood. "Even details about me. About who | was before."

Alexander's expression darkened. "Victoria has him under

surveillance. If he's communicating with Herod or Rose, we'll know."

"That might be too late." Camille stood, suddenly unable to sit still. "We

need to move more aggressively. Find Herod directly."

"Victoria wants to wait. Use Greene to lead us to him."

"While we wait, they're planning something we haven't anticipated."

Camille paced the kitchen, her nightmare's urgency transferring to her waking

thoughts. "The Grid sabotage. The stock purchases. Greene's

betrayal. It's all connected, but we're missing the pattern."

She stopped abruptly at the window, staring

out into the darkness. The garden lights cast long shadows across the

lawn, creating shapes that seemed to shift and move with a life of their own.

"What if there's another layerwe haven't uncovered yet?" she asked softly. "What

if everything we've discovered so far is just the surface?"

Alexander joined her at the window. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking about Rose," Camille said. "She's always been

careful. Methodical. Her

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manipulation of my family took years of patient planning. And

Herod..." She shook her head. "Victoria says he's been building

his revenge for a decade. People like that don't put all their hopes on one plan."

"Victoria's releasing false information

tomorrow," Alexander said. "A press release about a major partnership between Kane Industries and Pierce

Enterprises. Designed

to make Herod react."

"And expose himself," Camille nodded. "Smart. But I'm not sure it's enough."

She moved to the refrigerator, pulling out milk to reheat their

cooling hot chocolate. As she stirred the milk in a pan, her mind raced through possibilities.

"The stock purchases," she said suddenly. "When did they begin?"

Alexander leaned against the counter beside her. "Six

months ago, according to Victoria's investigators."

"Before Rose connected with Herod," Camille noted. "Before the Grid sabotage plans."

"Yes. Which suggests...."

"That Rose didn't find Herod," Camille finished. "Herod found Rose. He sought her

out specifically because of her connection to me."

Alexander's eyes narrowed as he followed her logic. "So Rose

isn't the mastermind

here. She's a tool."

"A weapon aimed at me." Camille poured the warmed milk into

their mugs. "But I'm not the true target. | never was."

"Victoria," Alexander said softly.

Camille nodded, the pieces falling into place. "Herod wanted

revenge against Victoria for destroying his family. He researched her, found

her connection to me, and then found the perfect

person to help him strike at Victoria through me."

"Rose."

"Exactly." Camille felt a chill despite the warmth of the kitchen. "Which means

we've been looking at this all wrong. We've been treating Rose as the

primary threat, with Herod as her powerful ally. But it's the reverse."

They returned to

the table with their refreshed drinks. Outside, the sky had begun to lighten imperceptibly, the deep black

softening toward dark

blue.

"If you're right,” Alexander said, "then Rose might not even understand the

full scope of Herod's plans."

"No. She thinks this is about destroying me. About taking back what she believes

| stole from her." Camille wrapped her hands around her

mug. "But for Herod, it's about Victoria. About making her suffer the way he

suffered when she destroyed his family."

Alexander's expression grew grave. "And the

most effective way to hurt Victoria now..."

Chapter 106

"Is through me," Camille finished. "Her heir. Her adoptive daughter. The one thing she truly cares about."

The

realization hung between them in the quiet kitchen. Dawn was approaching, but the shadows seemed deeper

than before.

"My nightmare makes sense now," Camille said softly. "Rose pullingdown isn't the real danger. It's Herod,

patient, hidden, with a plan we still don't fully understand." Alexander reached across the table, taking her hand

again. "We'll figure it out. Together."

Camille nodded, drawing strength from his touch. But the nightmare's dread still clung to her like a second skin.

"Four days until the Grid launch," she said. "Whatever

they're planning, it's coming.

soon."

“Victoria has the shadow engineering team working around the clock to undo the

sabotage. The Grid will be secure."

"But what if the Grid isn't

the endgame? What if it's just another distraction?" Camille met his gaze directly. "The stock purchases. The

sabotage. Martin Greene's betrayal. What if they're all just pieces of something

larger?"

Alexander didn't dismiss her concerns. "Then we need to find the pattern."

He pulled out his phone, sending

a quick text. A moment later, his phone buzzed with a response.

"Victoria wants to meet at seven. Full strategic briefing." He looked up at Camille. "She's been up

all night too, apparently."

"She feels it too," Camille said. "The danger closing in."

They sat in silence as the first rays of sunrise

began to filter through the kitchen. windows. The night's shadows retreated, but the sense of lurking threat

remained.

Camille thought of her nightmare, of being pulled under dark water, of fighting for breath, of Rose and Herod

dragging her down. Now the dream's meaning seemed clearer, more ominous.

It wasn't just about drowning. It was about trunning out.

Four days until the Grid launch. Four days for them to uncover whatever Herod was truly

planning.

Four days for Camille to ensure that her nightmare remained just

that, a dream, not a prophecy.

But as she looked into Alexander's worried eyes, she

couldn't shake the feeling that whatever was coming would be worse than anything she had

imagined. And unlike her nightmare, there would be no waking up from it.