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.

would have been thirty-two this

been. The words hung

"What happened?"

years ago." Her fingers traced the photo.

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

down my

smile that could cut glass. "Eventually. But

down her phone, fixing me with that penetrating gaze. "After I saw your photo, I had you investigated. Learned about your

have felt creepy, but somehow it didn't.

recognized something in you. Something I saw in Sophia. Raw potential, wrapped in other people's expectations. A diamond they tried to pass off as

heart pounded. "I

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

my eyes. "Like the college

know about that too. Just like I know about the diary she forged, the jobs she made sure you didn't get, the friends

voice

to see if you'd break or bloom. Waited for the moment you finally saw through

flashed

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

"Or?"

teach you to be what they always feared

just the money or the influence. It was the absolute certainty that the world would bend to

sister spent twenty years teaching you about manipulation," she continued. "Let me teach you about

know. "Because I look

Before I learned that the world doesn't give you what

the perfect manicure that probably cost more than my monthly salary. "And if I say

to everything I've built." Her smile turned sharp.