SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 140

Herod's phone rang at 3:17 AM. The cheap motel room was dark except for the blue light of his burner phone

cutting through the blackness. He squinted at the screen. Unknown number. His finger hovered ove

"Hello?"

"They found everything." The voice on the

other end was hushed, stressed, Derek Martinez, his contact at the FBI. "Your business card in the wreckage. Your

fingerprints on the detonator parts. Plans for the bombings in your apartment." Herod sat up, suddenly wide

awake. "What plans? | never kept anything in the apartment."

"Well, someone did. Blueprints of the substations. Notebooks with blast calculations. A journal talking about your

hatred for Victoria Kane."

"That's impossible. | never wrote any journal." Herod's mouth went dry. "What else?"

"Your emails. Detailing everything. The FBI has enough to lock you away forever." Martinez paused. "I'm risking

everything telling you this. My career, my freedom."

"| appreciate it." Herod's mind raced. "Any mention of Rose Lewis in the evidence?"

"Nothing. Not a trace." Martinez's voice dropped even lower. "Look, | can't help you anymore. They're searching

for you everywhere. Airports, train stations, the works. | need to disappear from your life now."

The line went dead before Herod could respond.

He sat motionless in the darkness, the truth settling over him like a heavy blanket. Rose had set him up.

Completely. Thoroughly. She'd planted evidence while he was out. Created a fake journal. Fabricated em And

made sure none of it pointed to her.

Herod got up and flicked on the light. The motel

room was small and dirty, nothing like the luxury he was used to. Rose had insisted they move here two days

ago, claiming they needed to stay hidden.

Now he understood why.

She'd wanted him in this dump, away from his resources, while she set her trap. And he'd walked right into it,

blind and willing.

The bathroom door opened. Steam escaped as Rose emerged, wrapped in a thin

towel, her hair wet from the shower. She smiled when she saw him, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"You're up early," she said, toweling her hair. "Couldn't sleep?"

"I just got a call from Martinez." Herod watched her face, looking for any reaction. "The FBI found evidence in my

apartment. Evidence | never put there."

Rose's expression didn't change. "What kind of evidence?"

"Plans for the bombings. A journal. Emails detailing everything."

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"Someone must have broken in," she said, turning away to look for her clothes. "Planted

that stuff to fryou."

"The funny thing is," Herod said, his voice deadly quiet, "Martinez said your ndoesn't appear anywhere in

the evidence. Not once."

Rose stilled for just a moment before continuing to sort through her clothes. "Lucky for me, | guess."

"No, not luck." Herod stood up. "Planning. Careful, detailed planning."

Rose turned to face him, her mask finally slipping. The coldness in her eyes matched the chill

spreading through Herod's body.

"What exactly are you suggesting?" she asked.

"You setup." The words hung in the air between them. "You arranged for evidence that points only to me.

You made sure you had alibis for both bombings. You've been planning to makethe fall guy from beginning."

Rose didn't deny it. Instead, she tilted her head, studying him like a scientist might observe a lab specimen. "And

if I did? What would you do about it?" Successfully unlocked!

The question caught him off guard. He had expected denial, ou

maybe even tears. Not this calm admission.

"I could go to the FBI," he said. "Tell them everything. About your involvement, your planning."

"With what proof?" Rose laughed, a harsh sound that scraped

his nerves raw. "Your word against the mountain of evidence showing you acted

alone? A desperate attempt to shift blfrom a guilty man?"

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Chapter 140

She was right, and they both knew it. He had nothing to prove her involvement, while she had carefully built a

case that would bury him.

"Why?" he asked, his voice breaking slightly. "I thought we were in this together. | thought..." He couldn't finish

the sentence. It sounded pathetic even in his head.

"You thought | loved you?" Rose dropped her towel and began dressing, unconcerned with her nakedness. "Poor

Herod. Always wanting what he can't have."

Her casual cruelty cut deeper than he expected. Despite everything, sfoolish part of him had believed their

connection was real. The nights they'd spent planning, talking, making love, had it all been strategy on her part?

"I gave you everything," he said. "Money. Resources. | helped you go after Camille. Why turn on me?"

Rose pulled

on her shirt and faced him. "Because someone needs to take the blame, and it was never going to be me. I've

spent my life being careful, covering my tracks. Did you really think I'd risk everything now?" "So what happens

next?" Herod asked, feeling hollow. "The FBI catcheswhile you walk away clean?"

"That's one option." Rose sat on the bed, crossing her legs. "Or we could make a new plan."

Something in her tone made him wary. "What kind of plan?"

"We still need to hit the main control center. One final blow to bring down Camille and Victoria." Rose

smiled, the expression not touching her eyes. "You're already facing life in prison for the first two bombings.

What's one more? Especially if it means hurting them where it counts?"

Herod stared at her, unable to believe what he was hearing. "You wantto keep helping you, knowing you've

setup to take the fall?"

"I'm offering you a chance to complete what we started." Rose stood and moved toward him, placing her hand

on his chest. "To make Victoria and Camille pay, just like we planned."

Her touch, once exciting, now made his skin crawl. Yet he couldn't pull away. Despite everything, sbroken

part of him still craved her approval, her touch, her presence.

"And afterward?" he asked.

"Afterward, | help you escape. Get you out of the country with new identity papers, enough money to start over."

It was a lie. He knew it was a lie. Yet he found himself considering it, weighing his options. The FBI was closing in.

His life

as he knew it was

over. What did he have to lose by playing along with her plan a little longer?

"You're askingto trust you," he said. "After learning you've betrayed me."

Rose's fingers moved to his face, tracing his jaw. “I'm asking you

to finish what we started. Together."

"Until you no longer need me."

Her smile turned predatory. "Everyone leaves eventually, Herod. At

least with me, the ride is exciting while it lasts."

Herod searched her face, looking for any sign of genuine feeling, any crack in her perfect mask. He

found nothing but cold. calculation.

"You never cared aboutat all, did you?" he asked.

"I cared about what you could provide," Rose answered, her honesty

brutal. "Money. Connections. The means to hurt Camille. And you delivered beautifully."

The admission should have angered him, should have sent him storming out. Instead, it created a strange calm.

The final illusion had been stripped away. He saw Rose clearly now, not as a partner or lover, but Just as she had

done with Stefan. With her parents. With Camille.

And now with him.

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"We need to leave this motel," Rose said, moving away to pack her bag. "The

FBI might trace Martinez's call. | know another place we can stay while we plan

the control center attack."

Herod watched her efficient movements, the way she packed only essentials, ready to disappear at a moment's

notice. She was offering him a poisoned choice: continue helping her and face certain capture aft "What's it

going to be, Herod?" Rose asked, zipping her bag closed. "Are you in or out?"

The smart choice was to run. To get as far from Rose as possible. To try

to save himself.

But where would he go? His accounts were frozen, his hwatched, his face on every news channel. And the

thought of being alone, without Rose, created a hollow feeling in his chest that frightened him mo When had he

becso dependent on her? When had she bechis entire

world?

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Chapter 140

"I'm in," he said, the words tasting like ash in his mouth.

Rose's smile was triumphant. "I knew you would be." She tossed him his jacket. "Now let's go. We have one more

job to do"

As they left the motel room, Herod felt like a man walking to his own execution. Rose had destroyed him, used

him, set him up to take the fall for her crimes. Yet here he was, following her into the night, unable He could still

turn around, still go to the FBI and tell them everything. They might not believe him, but at least he'd have tried

to do the right thing.

Instead, he got into the passenger seat of the stolen car Rose had acquired, watching as she started the engine.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Somewhere they won't find us," she answered, pulling onto the empty street. "Somewhere we can plan our final

move." As the city lights blurred past, Herod realized the truth about himself. He wasn't just Rose The knowledge

should have shamed him. Instead, it

brought only a dull acceptance.

Rose reached over and squeezed his hand, the gesture almost caring. "It'll be over soon," she promised. "One

more job, and Victoria and Camille will pay for everything they've done."

Herod nodded, not

trusting himself to speak. He knew what "over" meant for him. Prison, if he was lucky. Death, if he wasn’

But as the car sped through the night, taking them toward whatever end Rose had planned, he couldn't bring

himself to care. He had given her everything, his money, his future, his freedom.

And still, it wasn't enough.

It would never be enough.