Chapter 121
Chapter 121
Rose hurled the crystal glass across the penthouse. It shattered against the wall in a spray of liquid and glittering shards. On the television screen, Camille and Alexander stood side by side at their press conference, hands joined, faces composed, turning what should have been their greatest humiliation into a triumph.
“How?” Rose screamed at the screen. “How is this happening?”
She grabbed the remote, increasing the volume to hear her sister’s voice, calm, dignified, unashamed: “Yes, Alexander Pierce and I are in a relationship. It began recently, but it is genuine and important to both of us.“*
Genuine. Important. The words burned in Rose’s ears like acid. This was not how it was supposed to go. Camille should have been destroyed by this exposure, her reputation in tatters, her position at Kane Industries compromised. Instead, she stood there with perfect poise, Alexander at her side, accepting no blame, showing no weakness.
Rose grabbed another glass, ready to send it flying, when the penthouse door opened. Herod entered, his face a thundercloud of barely contained rage. He tossed his phone onto the coffee table, where it displayed the Kane Industries stock ticker, up eight points and climbing.
“They’ve turned it around completely,” he said, his voice dangerously quiet. “The market is responding positively to their announcement. The financial documents we planted are being questioned by every major outlet.”
“I can see that,” Rose snapped, gesturing to the television where financial analysts were now discussing the “Kane–Pierce power alliance” with enthusiasm. “They’re practically celebrating them!”
Herod loosened his tie with sharp, angry movements. “Victoria. This has her fingerprints all over it. Only she would have the audacity to turn a scandal into a strategic announcement.”
Rose paced across the penthouse, unable to contain the energy coursing through her. “I planned this perfectly,” she hissed. “The photos, the timing, the fake emails, it should have destroyed them both!”
“Yet here we are,” Herod said, pouring himself a drink from the bar. He didn’t offer Rose one, knowing she was beyond such niceties now. “Our strategy has not only failed but backfired spectacularly.”
On the screen, the camera showed Camille and Alexander leaving the press conference together. The commentator’s voice gushed: *“In an age of spin and denial, the directness of Kane and Pierce’s approach has resonated deeply with the public. Social media is overwhelmingly supportive, with many praising their honesty and courage in the face of what appears to be a targeted attack.“*
“Turn it off,” Rose demanded, her voice shaking with fury. “Turn it off now.”
Herod obliged, the screen going black, leaving only their reflections staring back at them, Rose with her hair disheveled from running her hands through it repeatedly, Herod still outwardly composed but with rage simmering beneath the surface.
“This was your strategy,” he reminded her, a dangerous edge to his voice. “Your expertise in social manipulation. Your certainty that exposing their relationship would destroy them.”
Rose whirled on him. “Don’t you dare blame this all on me! You approved every step. You provided the resources, the connections to get those photos, to plant those documents.”
“Which we’ve now wasted,” Herod replied coldly. “Hundreds of thousands of dollars for what? To make your sister and Pierce more popular than ever? To strengthen Kane Industries‘ stock position?”
Rose’s hands curled into fists, nails digging into her palms hard enough to leave half–moon marks. “It should have worked,” she insisted. “No one recovers from a scandal like this. No one.”
“Apparently, they do.” Herod drained his glass. “The question is, what now? Our opening move has failed. We’ve lost the element of surprise. They’ll be watching for our next attack.”
Rose walked to the floor–to–ceiling windows, staring out at the city lights. Somewhere out there, Camille was probably celebrating her victory, laughing with Alexander about how they had turned Rose’s attack against her. The thought made her stomach twist with hatred.
“We need something bigger,” she said, her breath fogging the glass. “Something they can’t spin into a positive.”
“Such as?” Herod asked, his reflection appearing behind her in the window.
Rose turned to face him. “Victoria. She’s their weak point. Remove her from the equation, and Camille loses her guide, her mentor, her backup plan.”
“Victoria Kane is untouchable,” Herod said dismissively. “We’ve been through this.”
“No one is untouchable,” Rose insisted, a new fire burning in her eyes. “Everyone has secrets. Everyone has vulnerabilities. We just haven’t found hers yet.”
13
Chapter 121
Herod studied her for a long moment. “You truly hate her, don’t you? Your sister.”
“She’s not my sister,” Rose snapped automatically. “And hate doesn’t begin to describe what I feel for her.”
She moved closer to Herod, energy radiating from her in waves. “Camille took everything from me. My reputation, my business, my future. She exposed me to the world as a fraud, a cheat, a villain. And now she gets to stand there with her Trillionaire boyfriend and her perfect new life while I’m the one hiding in shadows?”
Her voice rose with each word, trembling with rage, with injustice, with the bitter taste of defeat. “I will not accept this. I will not let her win. Not after everything I’ve sacrificed, everything I’ve endured.”
Something shifted in Herod’s expression as he watched her, a dark appreciation for the fury burning through her. He set down his empty glass and stepped closer.
“Then we’ll find another way,” he said, his voice lower now. “A more direct approach.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Herod said carefully, “that perhaps we’ve been too subtle. Too focused on financial maneuvers and public opinion. Perhaps it’s time for something more… definitive.”
The implication hung in the air between them. Rose felt her heart beat faster, not with fear but with a terrible excitement You mean…”
“I mean Victoria Kane is scheduled to return to work next week, Herod interrupted. “The Phoenix Grid’s final section goes live the day after. Both events will require their physical presence at specific locations, at specific times.”
His eyes held hers, dark and unblinking. “Predictability creates vulnerability.”
Rose felt her breath catch. This was new territory, beyond anything they had discussed before. Not reputation destruction or financial ruin, but something far more permanent. The thought should have frightened her, but instead, she felt a surge of dark exhilaration,
“Would you really go that far?” she asked quietly.
Herod’s hand came up, fingers tracing the line of her jaw with unexpected gentleness. “The Prestons have a long memory for those who destroy what’s ours. Victoria took everything from my family. I’ve waited years for my chance at justice.” His touch sent an electric current through Rose’s skin. In that moment, she recognized in him the same consuming fire that burned in her, the need for vengeance so powerful it had shaped every decision, every action, every moment of their lives for years,
“And you?” he asked, his fingers still against her skin. “How far would you go to destroy your sister?”
Rose didn’t hesitate. “All the way.”
Something sparked between them then, a recognition, an understanding deeper than words. Herod’s hand slid to the back of her neck, pulling her toward him. Their lips met in a kiss that contained nothing of tenderness, only shared hunger, shared rage, shared purpose.
Rose’s anger didn’t diminish with his touch, it transformed, channeling into a different kind of heat that raced through her veins. She pressed against him, fingers digging into his shoulders hard enough to bruise. Their bodies collided like storm fronts, violent and inevitable.
Clothes fell away, scattered across the penthouse floor as they moved toward the bedroom. Rose welcomed the pain of his grip, the harsh press of his mouth against hers. This wasn’t about pleasure or affection, it was about power, about connection forged in shared hatred, about finding in each other the perfect vessel for their darkest impulses.
Later, tangled in sheets damp with sweat, Rose stared at the ceiling, her body still humming with nervous energy despite physical exhaustion. Beside her, Herod traced the line of her spine with idle fingers.
“We’ll need to be careful,” he said, breaking the long silence. “What we’re considering… there’s no coming back from it.” Rose turned to face him, her eyes glittering in the dim light. “I crossed the point of no return long ago. The moment I hired those men to attack Camille in that parking garage.”
A shadow crossed Herod’s face. “You never told me the details of that night.”
“I never meant for her to die,” Rose admitted, the words sounding hollow even to her own ears. “I just wanted her scared enough to leave town, to disappear from my life. Things… escalated.”
“And now?”
Rose’s lips curved in a smile that held no warmth. “Now I understand my mistake. Half measures. I left too much to chance.” She sat up, the sheet falling away, her naked body silver in the moonlight streaming through the windows. “This time, I won‘ t make the same error. This time, there will be no room for failure.”
Herod watched her, his expression unreadable. “Victoria first?”
Rose nodded. “Cut off the head, and the body will follow. Without Victoria, Camille is just a woman playing dress–up in
Chapter 121
someone else’s life. She’ll crumble.”
“And Alexander?”
“Will be too busy grieving to see us coming,” Rose replied coldly. She leaned down, her hair creating a curtain around their faces as she kissed him again, harder this time, claiming, marking. “Together, we’ll take everything they’ve built. Together, we’ll watch it burn.”
Herod pulled her back down beside him, his hands tangling in her hair. “Tomorrow we plan. Tonight…”
“Tonight we celebrate the beginning of the end,” Rose finished for him, her body moving against his with renewed purpose. The anger that had consumed her earlier hadn’t disappeared, it had transformed into something more focused, more deadly, a cold determined fire that would not be extinguished until she had everything she wanted.
As dawn broke over the city, Rose stood naked at the penthouse windows, watching the first light touch the buildings where her enemies slept, unaware of what was coming for them. Behind her, Herod’s reflection appeared as he approached, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, his breath warm against her neck.
Rose placed her palm against the cool glass, as if reaching for the city beyond. “I’m thinking about the day Camille found those divorce papers. How surprised she looked, how hurt. How satisfying it was to finally drop the mask after all those years of pretending to care about her.”
She turned in his arms, her eyes hard with certainty. “I want to see that look on her face again. The moment she realizes she’s lost everything. The moment before the end.”
Herod’s hands tightened on her waist. “And you will. I promise you that.”
Rose smiled as she kissed him again, the taste of victory already sweet on her tongue. This time, there would be no clever press conferences, no strategic announcements, no spinning failure into success.
This time, there would be only ashes.
