SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan) novel Chapter 199

Chapter 199

Camille stood in Alexander's home office, holding the quarterly reports she'd come to collect. The afternoon sun streamed through the tall windows, casting long shadows across the mahogany desk where her husband spent most of his evenings. She'd offered to grab the Pierce Enterprises files while he attended his board meeting, wanting to help prepare for their joint presentation tomorrow.

The office felt different when Alexander wasn't here. Quieter. Almost cold. She noticed details she'd never seen before, the way his books were arranged by height rather than subject, the single family photo turned face-down on the shelf, the small silver key that had fallen behind his laptop.

Curious, she picked up the key. It was old, ornate, nothing like the modern electronic locks throughout their penthouse. She turned it over in her palm, wondering what it might open.

Her eyes swept the room and stopped at the antique wooden cabinet in the corner. She'd always assumed it held old business files or legal documents. But now she noticed the small keyhole just below the brass handle.

She shouldn't. She knew she shouldn't. But something deep in her chest pulled her forward, some instinct she couldn't name.

The key slid in perfectly.

Inside the cabinet, behind stacks of legitimate files, her fingers found something unexpected. A metal safe, small enough to hide but large enough to hold secrets.

The safe door stood slightly open, as if Alexander had been in a hurry during his last visit. Camille's heart began beating faster as she pulled it open completely.

The first thing she saw made her breath catch. Photographs. Dozens of them. All of Victoria.

Victoria leaving Kane Industries. Victoria at restaurants. Victoria at the hospital during her cancer treatments. Victoria at their wedding, smiling as she watched her daughter dance. Victoria at family dinners, at business meetings, at quiet moments when she thought no one was watching.

The photos were professional quality, taken with a long lens from hidden positions. All were date-stamped from their wedding day and after. Recent photos. Photos taken while Alexander was building their life together.

Camille's hands shook as she flipped through them. Each photo felt like a punch to her stomach. Why did Alexander have surveillance photos of Victoria? Why had he been watching her during their marriage?

Beneath the photos lay a thick folder marked "Kane Industries - Security Protocols." Her fingers felt numb as she opened it. Inside were detailed blueprints of Kane Industries' building, including restricted areas she'd never seen. Emergency exit plans. Security camera locations. Server room layouts.

Information only someone with high-level access could obtain. Information that could be used to destroy the company from within.

At the bottom of the safe lay a leather journal, its pages yellow with age. The name embossed on the cover made her blood turn to ice: Richard Pierce.

With trembling hands, she opened to a random page and began reading:

*Victoria Kane is destroying everything I built. She planted those safety violations. She bribed the inspectors. She's turning my own board against me with lies about financial misconduct. My company is finished, and she's the one holding the knife.*

Camille flipped to another entry:

*The banks are calling in our loans. Victoria's influence reaches everywhere. She wants Meridian Technologies dead, and she's willing to destroy innocent lives to get it. My employees, their families - none of it matters to her. She's a monster wearing a business suit.*

The final entry was dated the day before Richard Pierce's death:

*I won't let her win. I won't let her destroy what my father built. If I can't save the company, I'll make sure the world knows what Victoria Kane really is. Someone has to stop her. Someone has to make her pay.*

Camille's vision blurred as the words sank in. Richard Pierce. Alexander's uncle. The man who'd died by suicide after losing his company.

Alexander believed Victoria had destroyed his uncle. Alexander thought Victoria was a killer.

Alexander had married her for revenge.

The safe contained one more item. A single sheet of paper with handwriting she recognized as Alexander's:

*Phase 1: Gain Camille's trust*

*Phase 2: Access Kane Industries from within*

*Phase 3: Systematic destruction of company assets*

*Phase 4: Public exposure of Victoria's crimes*

*Phase 5: Complete financial ruin*

At the bottom, in red ink: *For Uncle Richard. Justice will be served. Started two days before engagement party.*

Camille's legs gave out. She collapsed into Alexander's leather chair, the journal still clutched in her hands. The engagement party. That was when everything changed. When Alexander learned the truth about his uncle's death.

He'd loved her before that night. She was sure of it. The way he'd looked at her, touched her, held her during those early months - that had been real. But after their engagement party, after someone told him about Victoria's role in his uncle's death, everything became a lie.

Every kiss had been a lie. Every "I love you" had been strategy. Every moment of intimacy had been him gathering intelligence, gaining her trust, positioning himself to destroy everything she cared about.

Around midnight, Alexander's phone buzzed. He slipped out of bed carefully, thinking she was asleep, and walked to the bathroom.

"Everything proceeding as planned," she heard him whisper. "She suspects nothing."

Camille bit her pillow to keep from making a sound. Tears streamed down her face as the final piece of her heart broke apart.

"The next phase starts tomorrow. Kane Industries won't know what hit them."

There was a pause as the person on the other end spoke.

"No, Camille still trusts me completely. She'd never believe Victoria could be capable of what we know she did. She's too loyal, too naive. It makes her perfect for our purposes."

Naive. The word cut deeper than any knife.

"Yes, I understand the timeline. Richard's death will be avenged. Victoria Kane will lose everything, just like Uncle Richard did. And when it's over, Camille will finally see what kind of monster raised her."

Alexander's voice carried a cold satisfaction that made Camille's skin crawl. This wasn't just about business or justice. This was about destroying her entire world, piece by piece, using her own love as the weapon.

When Alexander returned to bed, Camille forced her breathing to stay even and slow. He settled beside her, one arm draping over her waist like always.

"Sleep well, beautiful," he whispered against her hair. "Tomorrow's going to be a big day."

Camille stared into the darkness, her mind spinning. Everyone she'd ever trusted had betrayed her. Stefan, Rose, and now Alexander. The three people who were supposed to love her most had all used that love to destroy her.

But this time felt different. This time, she wasn't the naive woman who'd signed divorce papers in shock or the broken victim who'd nearly died in a parking garage.

This time, she was Camille Kane. Victoria's daughter. The woman who'd built an empire and survived her sister's attempts to murder her.

And if Alexander Pierce thought he could use her love to destroy her family, he was about to learn exactly how wrong he could be.

The game wasn't over. It was just beginning.