Chapter 228

Chapter 228:

“Turn it off!” she screamed, her voice raw from hours of rage.

Herod stood by the window of their shabby motel room, his back to her. He had been forced to hide here after abandoning his penthouse. He pressed the remote button, silencing Camille’s voice mid-sentence as she spoke about “transformation” and “rising from the ashes.”

“All of it,” Herod said, his voice hollow with defeat. “All my planning, all my resources, all the time spent cultivating Walsh as our inside man, wasted.”

“We knew they discovered Walsh,” Rose paced the worn carpet, her movements sharp and erratic. “But how did they block the signal jammer too? That was supposed to be foolproof!”

Herod turned to face her. His expensive suit looked out of place against the peeling wallpaper. The room smelled of old cigarettes and cheap cleaning products.

“Their systems had protections I’ve never seen before,” he said, frustration evident in the tightness of his jaw. “Everything I’ve built since approaching you with this plan—gone in an instant.”

Rose twisted the cap off a new bottle with such force it cut into her palm. She didn’t seem to notice the small line of blood.

“She’s always one step ahead now,” she muttered, taking a long drink. “My sister. The great Camille Kane. Phoenix rising from the ashes.”

Her mocking tone couldn’t hide the raw jealousy beneath. She turned to the mirror, barely recognizing herself. Her carefully maintained appearance had crumbled over the past days. Dark roots showed in her hair. Her eyes looked wild, rimmed with smeared makeup.

“We’re finished,” Herod said quietly. “Kane Industries stock is soaring. The Grid is operational. Every plan we had has failed.”

Rose spun toward him, bottle clutched in her white-knuckled hand. “Finished? FINISHED? We haven’t even started!”

“Rose…”

“NO!” She moved closer, her face inches from his. “We didn’t fail because of Walsh or better security. We failed because we weren’t willing to go far enough.”

Herod studied her, seeing something dangerous in her eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I mean we’ve been playing by their rules,” Rose’s voice dropped to an intense whisper. “Trying to sabotage their precious Grid through codes and software. Trying to damage their reputation. It’s too subtle.”

“There’s nothing subtle about what we’ve tried,” Herod argued.

“Yes, there is.” Rose’s smile chilled him. “We never targeted the actual infrastructure. The physical Grid itself.”

Herod stepped back. “You’re talking about destroying Grid components directly.”

“Yes.” Rose’s eyes lit up. “The main control hub. The primary junction boxes. The central servers. Not through codes, but through direct action.”

“That’s not sabotage anymore, Rose. That’s terrorism.”

She laughed, the sound brittle and sharp. “Such a dramatic word. I prefer to call it direct action.”

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