Chapter 85

Rose stepped out of the black sedan, her eyes adjusting to the fading daylight as she gazed up at the gleaming skyscraper. The doorman nodded respectfully as she entered the marble lobby, her heels clicking against the polished floor—the last vestige of her former life's confidence.

The private elevator climbed sixty floors without stopping. She studied her reflection in the mirrored walls, barely recognizing the woman staring back. Her cheekbones jutted sharply beneath skin that had lost its glow. Dark circles shadowed her eyes. Only her expression remained unchanged: cold determination etched into every line.

“You made it,” Herod Preston said as the elevator doors slid open directly into his penthouse. He stood framed against floor-to-ceiling windows, Manhattan sprawling behind him like a glittering carpet. “Welcome to your new home.”

“Temporary arrangement,” Rose corrected, stepping into the vast space. Her gaze swept across Italian furniture, original artwork, and views that stretched to the horizon. “Until I reclaim what’s mine.”

Herod’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Of course.” He moved to a bar cart of gleaming brass and crystal. “Drink?”

“Bourbon. Neat.”

He poured two glasses and handed one to Rose. “To new beginnings.”

She ignored the toast, drinking deeply instead. The amber liquid burned down her throat, a welcome distraction from the constant ache of humiliation. “This isn’t charity, is it? I need to understand exactly what you want.”

“Direct. I appreciate that.” Herod gestured toward a sitting area. “Please.”

Rose sank into a leather chair, keeping her spine rigid. She’d been living in a run-down motel for weeks, surviving on cash she’d hidden away. Pride had kept her from accepting help until desperation won out. Now she sat in luxury again, but as a beggar, not an owner.

“I’ve been watching Victoria Kane for a decade,” Herod said, settling across from her. “Planning, waiting for the right moment to strike.” His fingers tapped rhythmically against the glass. “Your situation creates an opportunity for us both.”

“You mentioned your brother at our first meeting. Charles, was it?”

Herod’s expression darkened. “Yes. Charles Preston. Engaged to Victoria’s precious Sophia.” He reached into his jacket and withdrew a silver frame, sliding it across the table. “That’s them.”

Rose studied the photograph of a handsome young man with Herod’s features standing beside a smiling blonde woman. “So Victoria blamed your family for Sophia’s accident.”

“It wasn’t an accident. Not entirely.” Herod’s voice dropped. “My father disapproved of the match. He pressured Charles to end it. When that failed, he arranged to have Sophia… frightened. The driver was instructed to run her off the road, just enough to scare her away from our family.” His knuckles whitened around his glass. “Things went wrong. The car flipped. Sophia died instantly.”

“And Victoria discovered this?”

“She knew. Couldn’t prove it legally, but she knew.” Herod’s laugh held no humor. “Within six months, our shipping company faced regulatory investigations, contract cancellations, mysterious equipment failures. Our stock plummeted. My father’s reputation was systematically destroyed. He jumped from this very building eighteen months later.”

Rose felt a chill despite the room’s warmth. “And Charles?”

“Found hanging in his apartment after Victoria leaked documents suggesting he’d orchestrated the accident himself.” Herod finished his drink in one swallow. “Victoria Kane doesn’t just take revenge, she obliterates everything you love while forcing you to watch.”

Rose understood completely. She’d witnessed the same methodical destruction of her own life, her fashion empire dismantled, her reputation shredded, her social standing erased. All orchestrated by the sister she’d tried to eliminate.

“So you want revenge,” she said. “Just like me.”

“Justice,” Herod corrected, pouring himself another drink. “I want justice for my family. And I’ve spent ten years building the resources to get it.”

“What resources? I heard your family lost everything.”

“We lost the Preston name and fortune. But I was already building my own holdings under different companies.” His eyes gleamed with dark pride. “Victoria was so focused on destroying what my father built, she never noticed the new enterprises emerging around her. I control shipping routes in eight countries now, with shares in twenty major ports. All through shell corporations Victoria hasn’t connected to me.”

Rose leaned forward. “And you need me because…?”

“Because Victoria has never been more vulnerable than she is right now.” Herod set his glass down with precision. “She’s exposed herself by bringing Camille forward publicly. Created a weakness where none existed before.”

“Camille is my target,” Rose said sharply. “I need to be clear about that.”

“Our goals align perfectly.” Herod smiled. “Victoria loves Camille like the daughter she lost. Destroying Camille destroys Victoria. And destroying Victoria allows me to reclaim everything she took from my family.”

“How exactly do we do that?” Rose asked. “Camille has Victoria’s resources, Kane Industries’ security. I can’t even get close to her without…”

“You won’t need to.” Herod rose and crossed to a sleek desk, returning with a laptop. “Victoria and Camille are launching something called the Phoenix Grid. Clean energy infrastructure worth billions.” He opened the computer, turning it to show Rose a series of documents. “I have people inside Kane Industries feeding me information. The project breaks ground next month.”

Rose studied the screen, unimpressed. “So?”

“So the technology doesn’t work.” Herod’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Not the way they think it does. My sources tell me there are fatal flaws in the design that their testing hasn’t revealed. When deployed at scale, the system will fail catastrophically.”

“And this helps us how?”

“Rose,” Herod said with exaggerated patience, “Kane Industries is investing forty percent of their liquid assets in this project. Alexander Pierce is committing similar amounts. When it fails, stock prices will collapse. But more importantly, if we acquire certain information before the failure and position ourselves correctly…”

“We can profit from their downfall,” Rose finished, understanding dawning.

“Precisely. And with the right evidence leaked to the right people, we can make it appear that Camille knew about the flaws all along. That she deliberately misled investors.”

“Securities fraud,” Rose murmured. “Prison time.”

“And complete destruction of the Kane legacy.” Herod closed the laptop. “Victoria would lose everything, her company, her reputation, and her precious new daughter.”

Rose felt a smile spread across her face for the first time in weeks. “I want to be there when it happens. I want to see her face when she realizes she’s lost everything, just like I did.”

“That’s the spirit.” Herod reached for a decanter. “More bourbon?”

“Not yet.” Rose stood and walked to the windows, gazing out at the city that had once been her playground. “Tell me more about this Phoenix Grid. Who designed it?”

“Their chief engineer is someone named Hannah Zhao. Brilliant but inexperienced. The fatal flaws are in her integration systems.”

Rose turned, a strange light in her eyes. “And who oversees the project for Kane Industries?”

“Camille herself. It’s her pet project, her big debut as Victoria’s heir.”

“And Alexander Pierce? What’s his involvement?”

“He’s all in. Provided the original solar technology. His reputation in sustainable energy rides on this project’s success.”

Rose pressed her palms against the cool glass, feeling the vibration of the city below. “I know where to strike.”

“Oh?” Herod raised an eyebrow.

“Camille thinks she’s won. That I’m beaten.” Rose’s reflection smiled back at her, feral and hungry. “But I know something Victoria Kane doesn’t.”

“And what’s that?”

Rose turned from the window, her face transformed by purpose. “I know Camille’s greatest weakness isn’t Victoria or even Alexander Pierce. It’s that she still thinks like Camille Lewis underneath it all. Still believes in things like justice and redemption.” Her laugh was brittle. “And I know exactly how to use that against her.”

Herod watched her with new interest. “I think this arrangement will benefit us both tremendously.”

“It’s not about benefit.” Rose’s voice hardened. “It’s about survival. Camille took everything from me—my reputation, my business, Stefan. She turned my parents against me and made me a social pariah.”

“And now?”

“Now I’ll take everything from her.” Rose picked up her abandoned bourbon and drained it. “Not just her money or company. I’ll take her soul.”

Herod refilled her glass. “To detailed planning and perfect execution.”

Rose raised her glass, but her mind was already racing ahead, calculating angles and vulnerabilities. For the first time since the Phoenix Gala, she felt alive again. Not just with anger, but with purpose.

“I’ll need access to your sources inside Kane Industries,” she said. “And I’ll need to know everything about this Hannah Zhao.”

“Consider it done.” Herod pressed a button on a remote, and a hidden door slid open. “I’ve prepared a suite for you. Everything you need should be there, including new identification and credit cards.”

Rose nodded, taking the hallway toward her new quarters. Behind her, she heard Herod call out.

“What exactly did you mean, Rose? About knowing where to strike?”

She paused in the doorway, not bothering to turn around. “Camille thinks she died in that parking garage and was reborn stronger. But she’s wrong. She’s still the same underneath, still believes in fixing things rather than destroying them.”

“And?”

Rose glanced over her shoulder, her eyes gleaming in the half-light. “The Phoenix Grid isn’t just a project to her. It’s her redemption. Her proof that she can create instead of destroy.” Her lips curved into a smile. “And when we take that from her, when we turn her creation into destruction, we won’t just ruin her financially.”

“We’ll break her completely,” Herod finished, understanding darkening his features.

“Exactly.” Rose stepped through the doorway. “We strike at the heart of who she’s trying to become. And I know exactly how to do it.”

The door slid closed behind her, leaving Herod staring after her with newfound respect, and perhaps a touch of fear, for the woman who’d lost everything but her capacity for calculated cruelty.