SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 198 Victoria's hands shook as she stared at the financial reports spread across her desk. Not from the cancer treatments, those were going better than expected. No, these tremors cfrom something far worse: the growing certainty that the man sleeping beside her daughter every night might be her greatest enemy.

The attacks on Kane Industries had started three weeks after Camille's wedding. Subtle at first, a few negative stories in financial blogs, sanonymous tips to reporters about safety concerns. Then the stock manipulation, the server outages, the leaked internal documents. Someone with intimate knowledge of their systems was bleeding them slowly, methodically.

Someone close enough to know their vulnerabilities.

Victoria picked up her phone with unsteady fingers.

"Stefan Rodriguez." "Stefan, it's Victoria Kane. I need to see you. Today." A pause. "Is Camille.." "Camille is fine. But I need your help with something that could destroy her if I'm right." Two hours later, Stefan sat across from Victoria in her private conference room. The guilt he'd carried since betraying Camille had changed him, made him quieter, more thoughtful. More willing to do whatever it took to protect the woman he'd failed so completely.

"You suspect Alexander," Stefan said. It wasn't a question.

Victoria's composure cracked slightly. "The timing of these attacks... they started right after the wedding. Someone is using inside information, intimate knowledge of our systems. And there's something else." She slid a folder across the table. "Meridian Technologies. It collapsed fifteen years ago after a series of financial attacks that look remarkably similar to what's happening to us now." Stefan opened the folder, scanning the documents. "Richard Pierce. The founder who died by suicide after losing everything." His head snapped up. "Pierce. As in Alexander Pierce?" "His uncle." Victoria's voice was barely a whisper. "If Alexander blamesfor Richard's death..." "Then Camille married a man who's using her to get revenge on you." Stefan's face went pale. "Jesus, Victoria. The engagement, the wedding, everything, it could all be an elaborate setup." The words hung in the air like poison. Victoria thought of Camille's radiant smile on her wedding day, the way she'd looked at Alexander like he'd hung the stars. The idea that it might all be built on lies made her feel physically sick.

"I need you to investigate him," Victoria said. "Quietly. Thoroughly. Use your shipping connections, your business contacts. Find out everything about Alexander Pierce's background. Any connection to Meridian Technologies, any evidence he's targeting my company." "Why me? You have resources...." "Because this has to stay completely off the books. No paper trail that could tip him off. And because..." Victoria met his eyes. "Because you understand betrayal from the inside. If Alexander is using Camille's love against her, I need someone who knows how that kind of manipulation works." Stefan flinched at the direct hit. He thought of the night Camille found those divorce papers, the way her face had crumbled when she realized the scope of his betrayal. The possibility that she might be living through something even worse, might be sharing her bed with someone who was systematically destroying everything she loved...

"What about Camille? She has a right to know." "She can't know. Not yet." Victoria's voice was firm despite the pain in her eyes. "If I'm wrong, this suspicion alone could destroy her marriage. If I'm right, we need irrefutable proof before we shatter her world again." Stefan stared at the folder in his hands. "How long do you need?" "Two weeks. Maybe less. If there's a connection, if there's any evidence Alexander is behind these attacks..." Stefan looked up, his expression grim. "I'll find it. Not for you. For her. To protect her from going through what I put her through." After Stefan left, Victoria remained alone in the conference room. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, she could see the city Camille was learning to love, the life she was building with the man who might be her greatest enemy.

Victoria's phone buzzed with a text from Camille: *Having lunch with Alexander. He's being so supportive about the company troubles. I'm so lucky to have him.*

Victoria stared at the message, her heart breaking. Somewhere in the city below, her daughter was som probably laughing at something Alexander said, planning their future together, completely unaware that the man holding her hand might be the one slowly destroying everything she'd worked for.

The irony was devastating. After everything with Rose, all the lies, manipulation, and betrayal the real threat to Camille might be the person ཤ་ she trusted most. The man who'd helped save her from Rose might be using that heroism as cover for his own revenge. Victoria set the phone down without responding. If she was wrong, she was about to investigate an innocent man based on paranoia and suspicion. If she was right...

If she was right, then Camille's heart was about to be broken by the one person she believed would never hurt her. And this time, Victoria wasn't sure either of them would survive it.

She closed her eyes and made a silent vow. Whatever the truth was, whatever it cost her she would m protect Camille from another betrayal. Even if it meant destroying the happiness her daughter had finally found. Even if it meant becoming the villain in Camille's story to save her from a greater evil.

The investigation would begin tomorrow. Tonight, Camille would go hto her husband, still believing in love, still trusting in the future they were building together.

Victoria prayed she was wrong about Alexander Pierce. But if she wasn't, she would make sure he learned that using Camille's love as a weapon was the last mistake he would ever make.