Chapter 209
Chapter 209:
“We need to be smart about this,” he said, trying a different approach. “Hastily planned actions lead to mistakes, and mistakes lead to prison.”
“Prison is for people who get caught,” Rose whispered, her eyes fixed on some distant point. “And Camille has gotten away with everything. Stealing Stefan. Taking my place at Kane Industries. Winning Victoria’s approval. And now an engagement ring and a fairy-tale ending?”
Her voice rose until she was nearly screaming. “No! She doesn’t get to win! Not after what I’ve suffered, what I’ve sacrificed!”
The crystal tumbler went flying, shattering against the wall in an explosion of glass shards. Herod flinched, watching Rose carefully. This volatility, this raw emotion overriding logic, wasn’t part of the cold, calculating persona he’d partnered with.
“You need to calm down,” he said, regretting the words immediately.
Rose’s eyes snapped to his, narrowing dangerously. “Don’t tell me to calm down. Don’t you dare.”
She moved closer, invading his space. “You promised me her destruction. You promised me she would lose everything, just as I did.”
“And she will,” Herod assured her. “But we do it my way. Calculated. Precise. Not with some half-formed plan born of jealousy over an engagement ring.”
Wrong move. Rose’s hand struck his face with surprising force, the crack of the slap echoing in the sleek kitchen.
“Jealousy?” she hissed. “Is that what you think this is?”
Herod touched his cheek, feeling the sting. For the first time since their partnership began, he felt a whisper of fear. Not of Rose’s physical capabilities—he outmatched her there—but of her unpredictability, her willingness to burn everything down, including herself.
“I think,” he said carefully, “that this news has affected you strongly, and we should take time to incorporate it into our plans properly.”
Rose stepped back, her breathing ragged. For a moment, she seemed to regain some control, smoothing her hair with shaking hands.
“Fine,” she said after a beat. “We’ll plan. But I want her to hurt, Herod. Not just her company, not just her reputation. I want her to feel what I felt when she took everything from me.”
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She moved to the windows, staring out at the twinkling city lights. “I want her to know, in her final moments, that her perfect life, her engagement, her future— all of it was just an illusion.”
Herod watched her silhouette against the glass, recognizing the dangerous precipice they were approaching. The woman he had partnered with for revenge was transforming before his eyes into something more volatile, more lethal.
“I can make that happen,” he promised, though doubt crept into his mind for the first time. “But we stick to the plan. The Grid launch, the vulnerability in the western junction…”
Rose didn’t respond, continuing to stare out at the city. Herod moved to his office, needing distance, needing to think. He closed the door behind him, leaning against it as a wave of uncertainty washed over him.
This had begun as a business venture, albeit one motivated by vengeance. Take down Victoria Kane, acquire her company, dismantle her achievements, all while making a profit. Clean, strategic, controlled.
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