SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan) novel Chapter 196

Chapter 196

The morning of September 15th arrived gray and cold, matching the heaviness in Alexander's chest as he stood at his office window. Fifteen years. Fifteen years since Meridian Technologies collapsed. Fifteen years since his uncle Richard Pierce had tied a rope around his neck rather than face another day of Victoria Kane's systematic destruction.

Alexander's phone buzzed on his desk, but he ignored it. Today wasn't a day for business calls or meetings. Today was a day for remembering. For honoring the dead. For making good on promises whispered in graveyards.

The secure phone in his jacket pocket vibrated against his ribs. A message from "Guardian": *System breach complete. Phoenix Grid servers compromised. Anniversary gift delivered.*

Alexander closed his eyes, feeling the weight of the moment. Somewhere across the city, Kane Industries was about to discover that their precious Phoenix Grid had been sabotaged. On the exact anniversary of Richard Pierce's death, Victoria's crown jewel would suffer the kind of unexplained failure that would send shock waves through the company.

Justice, served cold after fifteen years.

** **

At Kane Industries headquarters, chaos erupted across multiple floors simultaneously. Computer screens flickered and died. Emergency lights flashed red warnings. In the Phoenix Grid control room, Hannah Zhao stared in horror as system after system showed critical failures.

"What's happening?" Camille burst through the control room doors, her face pale with panic.

"Complete server outage," Hannah reported, her fingers flying across backup keyboards. "Primary systems, secondary backups, even the tertiary safeguards. Everything's down."

Camille's phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID - power company officials from Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia. The three cities where Phoenix Grid expansion was scheduled to begin next month.

"Ma'am," came a voice from across the control room. "We're getting reports of power fluctuations in all three expansion cities. Grid coordination is failing without our central systems."

Camille's hand shook as she answered the phone. "This is Camille Pierce. Yes, we're aware of the situation. No, I can't give you a timeline for restoration yet."

The calls kept coming. Angry municipal officials. Worried investors. News reporters who had somehow already learned about the outage. Each conversation was a nail in Kane Industries' coffin, each question a reminder of how much was at stake.

Victoria Kane arrived forty-five minutes after the crisis began, her silver hair perfectly styled despite the early hour. She moved through the control room like a general surveying a battlefield, her pale eyes taking in every detail.

"Status report," she commanded.

"Complete system failure starting at 6:47 AM," Hannah replied. "No obvious cause. No malware detected. The servers just... died."

"All of them? Simultaneously?"

"Yes, ma'am. It's unprecedented."

Victoria's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "And the backup systems?"

"Failed at exactly the same time. Someone would need incredibly sophisticated knowledge of our infrastructure to coordinate this kind of attack."

"How long until full restoration?"

Hannah hesitated. "At least twelve hours. Maybe eighteen. We're essentially rebuilding everything from scratch."

Victoria nodded once, absorbing the information with the calm of someone who had weathered countless storms. But Camille saw the tension in her shoulders, the slight tremor in her hands that betrayed inner turmoil.

"I want a complete investigation," Victoria announced. "Every access log. Every employee with sufficient clearance. Every contractor who's worked on these systems."

She turned to Camille. "Call an emergency board meeting for this afternoon. And prepare a press statement. We need to control the narrative before it controls us."

As Victoria moved toward the door, she paused. "And find out what today's date significance might be. Someone chose September 15th for a reason."

** ***

In her private office, Victoria sat alone with her laptop, diving deep into Kane Industries' corporate history. September 15th. The date nagged at her, familiar but not immediately identifiable.

She pulled up archived files from the company's earlier years, scanning through acquisition records, press releases, financial reports. There, a folder marked "Meridian Technologies Final Closure – September 15th."

Victoria's blood ran cold as the implications hit her. Today was the fifteenth anniversary of Meridian's collapse. The exact date when Richard Pierce's suicide had closed the final chapter on one of her most ruthless business campaigns.

Someone knew. Someone remembered. Someone was sending her a very specific message.

Victoria's fingers trembled slightly as she opened another search window, typing in "Richard Pierce family survivors." The results made her stomach lurch.

Richard Pierce, survived by nephew Alexander Pierce, age 16, currently residing with deceased following parents' estrangement...

Alexander Pierce. Her son-in-law. The man who had married her adopted daughter. The man who had been living in her home, attending her board meetings, sharing her family's most intimate moments.

Richard Pierce's nephew.

Victoria closed the laptop with shaking hands, her mind racing through months of interactions with Alexander. Had she seen resemblance? Had there been signs? How had she missed something so fundamental about the man who was now part of her family?

She reached for her secure phone, dialing Jason Chen's direct line.

"I need a complete background investigation on Alexander Pierce," she said without preamble. "Everything. Birth records, school transcripts, business dealings, personal relationships. I want to know every detail of his life going back to childhood."

"Ma'am, he's been thoroughly vetted. When he married Camille, we ran comprehensive..."

"Run it again. Deeper this time. And Jason? Priority one. I need results today."

Victoria ended the call and sat back in her chair, staring at the city skyline beyond her windows. If Alexander Pierce was behind this attacks, if Richard's nephew had spent months infiltrating her company, her family, her daughter's life – then the game had changed completely.

This wasn't just corporate espionage anymore. This was personal. This was family. This was blood calling for blood.

*** **

Alexander stood in the cemetery as evening shadows lengthened across the headstones. The same cemetery where he had made his promises. The same grave where he had sworn vengeance.

"The Phoenix Grid went down today, Uncle Richard," he said quietly to the marble marker. "On the anniversary. Victoria Kane felt her empire shake, just like you felt yours crumble fifteen years ago."