SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 6

CAMILLE'S POINT OF VIEW

I woke to silk sheets and sunlight. For a moment, I thought I was back in my childhood bedroom, before everything fell apart. But the ceiling above me was unfamiliar, hand-painted cherubs floating in a cloudless sky, framed by gilded molding that probably cost more than my entire wedding.

Pain shot through my ribs as I tried to sit up, memories flooding back. The parking garage. Rose's hired thugs. The mysterious woman with silver hair.

"Careful." A voice from the doorway made me turn. "Three bruised ribs and a mild concussion. The doctor said you need rest."

She stood there like something from a fashion magazine, tailored black pants suit, pearls that definitely weren't fake, silver hair swept into an elegant twist. But it was her eyes that held me. Sharp. Calculating. Hauntingly familiar.

"Where am I?" My voice was rough. "Who are you?"

"You're safe." She moved into the room with fluid grace, settling into a chair beside my bed. "As for who I am... my name is Victoria Kane."

The name hit like a physical shock. Everyone knew Victoria Kane, the ruthless CEO who'd built Kane Industries from nothing, the woman Forbes called 'The Queen of Wall Street.' She was worth billions, moved markets with a phone call, and was rumored to be more powerful than most governments.

"Why..." I swallowed hard. "Why am I here?"

Something flickered in her eyes, pain, maybe, or memory. "Because Three years ago, I saw a photo in a society magazine. A young woman at some charity gala, wearing a dress that didn't quite fit, smiling bravely while her 'perfect' sister held court."

The gala. One of Rose's many triumphs, orchestrated to highlight the difference between us.

"The photo caught my attention," Victoria continued, "but it was your eyes that made me look closer. They were... familiar."

She reached for her phone, pulling up an image that made my breath catch. A young woman, maybe my age, with my face. My eyes. My smile.

"Your daughter?" The resemblance was uncanny.

voice softened. "She would have been thirty-two this

words hung heavy in the

"What happened?"

years ago." Her fingers traced the photo.

fiancé's family didn't approve of the match. Brake lines are so easily

slid down my

cut glass. "Eventually. But that's not

that penetrating gaze. "After I saw your photo, I had you investigated.

should have felt creepy,

potential, wrapped in other people's

heart pounded.

you shut away parts of yourself to please them. Watched them clip your wings while convincing

eyes. "Like

I know about the diary she forged, the jobs she made

My voice cracked. "And you

the window. "Waited to see if you'd break or bloom. Waited for the moment you finally

confrontation with Rose flashed through my mind. "And

in silhouette. "Now I'm offering you a choice. You can walk away from all of

"Or?"

can teach you to be what they always feared

saw what made her so formidable. It wasn't just the money or the influence.

spent twenty years teaching you about manipulation," she continued. "Let me teach you about power. Real power, not the

had to know. "Because I

look like I did, forty years ago. Before I learned

probably cost more than my

smile turned sharp. "Imagine your sister's face when she realizes the investor she's been desperately courting