SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan) novel Chapter 205

Chapter 205

Victoria's eyes opened slowly in the hospital room, focusing on Camille's face for the first time in three days. The machines around her bed beeped steadily, marking the rhythm of her recovery. Her skin still looked pale against the white pillows, but the dangerous gray color was gone.

"How long was I out?" Victoria's voice was barely a whisper.

Camille squeezed her hand gently. "Three days. You scared us all."

"The company?"

"Stable. Dad and Uncle Eduardo helped with the stock crisis. We're okay for now."

Victoria tried to sit up, wincing at the effort. "There's something I need to tell you. About Alexander's accusations. About what really happened fifteen years ago."

"You don't need to explain anything right now. Just focus on getting better."

"No." Victoria's grip on Camille's hand tightened. "If Alexander is spreading lies about Meridian Technologies, you need to know the truth. All of it."

Dr. Martinez appeared in the doorway, checking Victoria's chart. "Mrs. Kane, it's good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit by a truck. But I need to speak with my daughter and her colleagues about urgent business matters."

"I'm not sure that's wise. Your blood pressure is still elevated..."

"Doctor, someone is trying to destroy my company based on false accusations about events from fifteen years ago. The stress of not addressing this will be worse for my health than discussing it."

Dr. Martinez looked between Victoria and Camille, then sighed. "Thirty minutes. No more. And if your blood pressure spikes, we end the conversation immediately."

After the doctor left, Camille called Stefan and Hannah. Both arrived within twenty minutes, their faces showing relief at seeing Victoria conscious and alert.

"Before we start," Victoria said, looking at each of them, "what I'm about to share with you has been locked away for fifteen years. Some of it will be painful to hear. But if Alexander is using doctored evidence to attack us, you need to understand what really happened."

She gestured to her briefcase, which Camille had brought from the office. "In the side pocket, there's a key. Take it."

Camille found the small silver key, ornate and old-fashioned, similar to the one she'd found in Alexander's office.

"That key opens a private safe in my office. Behind the bookshelf, there's a hidden panel. The safe contains documents I've kept about every major legal challenge Kane Industries has faced. Including the Meridian Technologies case."

Stefan leaned forward. "Why keep those records separately?"

"Because some truths are too dangerous to leave in regular files. Because some stories are more complicated than the public versions." Victoria's eyes grew distant. "The Meridian Technologies factory explosion wasn't a simple case of corporate negligence. It was a tragedy caused by multiple failures, multiple people making choices that cost seventeen lives."

Hannah pulled out her laptop. "Should I take notes?"

"Take everything. Record everything. Because after today, I never want to speak about this again."

Camille felt her chest tighten. "What really happened, Victoria?"

Victoria closed her eyes, gathering strength. "Fifteen years ago, Kane Industries and Meridian Technologies were competing for a major industrial contract. The client wanted the cheapest bid, the fastest installation, the lowest ongoing maintenance costs. Both our companies submitted proposals."

"Alexander said you underbid Meridian to steal the contract," Stefan said carefully.

"We did underbid them. But not by cutting safety measures. We underbid them by accepting lower profit margins." Victoria's voice grew stronger. "Richard Pierce chose a different strategy. He cut costs by using substandard materials and rushing safety inspections."

"The factory explosion," Hannah said quietly.

"Happened six months after installation. Seventeen people died when a pressure valve failed during routine maintenance." Victoria's voice cracked slightly. "The valve was supposed to be rated for high-pressure industrial use. Instead, Richard Pierce had ordered residential-grade equipment to save money."

Camille felt sick. "Alexander doesn't know this?"

"Alexander has been shown selected pieces of a larger story. Someone gave him Richard Pierce's personal journal, which focused on his anger and blame toward me. But they didn't show him the engineering reports that proved the faulty equipment was Meridian's responsibility."

"Why would Richard Pierce blame you if his company was at fault?" Stefan asked.

Victoria's expression became pained. "Because I knew about the substandard materials before the explosion happened."

The room went silent except for the beeping of medical machines.

"You knew?" Camille's voice was barely audible.

"Two weeks before the explosion, one of Meridian's engineers contacted me. He was concerned about the equipment Richard Pierce was ordering for the installation. He thought Kane Industries should know that our competitor was cutting dangerous corners."

"What did you do?"