SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

ROSE'S POINT OF VIEW

I swirled the champagne in my crystal flute, watching the bubbles dance. Victory tasted sweet, just like I'd imagined all these years. The living room of my penthouse apartment overlooked the city where I'd spent twenty years pretending to be the perfect adopted daughter, the loving sister, the supportive friend.

What a joke.

"To freedom," I whispered to my reflection in the window. The woman staring back at me smiled, perfect teeth, perfect hair, perfect lies. Just like always.

My phone buzzed again. Another missed call from Stefan. He'd been calling non- stop since Camille walked out, probably worried I'd change my mind now that everything was in the open. Poor, predictable Stefan. Still thinking he was in control of any of this.

I kicked off my Louboutins and sank into the leather couch, letting memories wash over me like warm wine.

The first time I saw Camille Lewis, I hated her.

I was thirteen, fresh out of foster care, desperate to please my new parents. They'd brought me to this massive house with its manicured lawn and marble floors, promising me a fresh start. A real family.

Then this skinny thing with braces and messy hair came bouncing down the stairs, all eager smiles and innocent eyes.

"Hi! I'm Camille. I've always wanted a sister!"

She hugged me right there in the foyer, not caring that my clothes were

secondhand or that I smelled like the group home's industrial detergent. Just pure, genuine joy at having a sister.

I wanted to vomit.

Because there she was, this awkward, imperfect girl who had everything I'd spent thirteen years dreaming about. Parents who actually wanted her. A home she belonged in. A future secured by the Lewis family name.

she didn't even

dinner that first night, watched how she slouched in her chair and talked with her mouth full. How she didn't know which fork to use for salad. How she laughed too loud and asked too many

such lovely manners," Mrs. Lewis.... Mom..... had said, smiling at me. "Perhaps you could learn from

I saw it. The first crack in Camille's perfect world. The slight dimming of her smile, the way she sat up

It was beautiful.

to the present. Stefan's face lit up my screen, his

"Darling, you're being needy."

"She's

tone I'd used all those times I'd counseled Camille through her

way she looked at

edge into my sweetness. "Are you having

course not. I love

stop calling me about your ex-wife. It's

Men were so predictably weak. Even Stefan, who I'd spent four years

Just like everyone else in my

the center, of course. Always the center. Camille pushed to the edge of the frame, trying so hard to smile through her

it had been easy.

was about my dear sister's emotional state. Casual mentions to Dad about how Camille seemed to

daughter, the achievable dream, while slowly crushing Camille's

I do say so myself. All it took was one tearful conversation with Mom about finding Camille's "secret" diary, filled with

Needed time to "find herself."

I could

was what I'd really wanted all along. Not Stefan, he was just a useful pawn. Not the Lewis fortune, though that would come

to watch perfect, precious Camille finally break. To see her realize that everything she thought

darling, please come over. Your father and

tearful confusion, the reluctant confession about Stefan's pursuit, the gentle

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