SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

CAMILLE'S POINT OF VIEW

The black car moved through morning fog, tires humming gainst wet roads. I stared out the window, watching trees blur into gray mist. Victoria sat beside me, her face a mask of calm, but her fingers tapped a n

"Where are we going?" I asked, breaking the silence that had stretched between us since we left the mansion Thirty

minutes ago. The papers making me

officially Camille Kane had been signed at dawn, the ink barely dry. Victoria's eyes stayed fixed on the passing landscape. "To meet someone important."

The car turned onto a narrow road lined with tall iron gates and stone walls. A cemetery. My stomach tightened. "Sophia?" I whispered.

Victoria nodded once, sharp and quick, like admitting pain "Today marks ten years since I lost her."

The cemetery was empty of visitors, kept private by security guards who nodded respectfully as our car passed. Ancient trees created a natural cathedral over graves that dated back centuries. This was no ordi

Our driver stopped at the end of a curving path. "We walk from here," Victoria said, gathering her bag and stepping out without waiting for help.

I followed her along a stone path that wound uphill toward secluded corner overlooking the city. The grass here was greener, the flowers fresher. Clearly tended with special care.

We stopped before a white marble headstone, simple yet elegant. Quality that whispered rather than shouted.

SOPHIA ELIZABETH KANE

BELOVED DAUGHTER

TAKEN TOO SOON

1990-2013

Below those words, a single line of poetry: "Some souls are too bright for this world."

Victoria placed white lilies by the stone, her movements practiced yet tender. I hung back, feeling like an intruder on this private grief.

"Come," she said, not looking at me. "She would want to meet you."

I stepped forward,

uneasy. What do you say to a grave of someone you never knew? Someone whose death made your

new life possible?

Victoria knelt despite her expensive sult, uncaring about grass stains or dirt. "Hello, my darling," she said, touching the carved letters of Sophia's name. "I've brought someone to meet you." just cold.

The wind picked up, sanding, fallen leaves dancing around 1 zipped my jacket higher, shivering from more than

"Tell me about her," I said. "The real story, not the public rsion."

Victoria was

quiet so long I thought she wouldn't answer. When she spoke, her voien

Chapter 10

at twenty. Could solve equations that baffled men twice her age. But she was also kind, which I failed to teach her." A bitter smile crossed her lips. "That she learned despite I

Preston. Old money, old connections. Handsome, charming, seemed perfect. His family owned shipping companies that competed with our

hardened. "They never thought her good enough. The Kanes were new money,

came from nothing. Built everything. They came from generations of wealth,

them."

of rejection echoed in my chest. Always being measured and

I asked, though part of me already

died. Car crash on a mountain road. Brake lines cut." Victoria's voice turned to

dirt from her knees. "The Prestons celebrated quietly. Their son free to marry the 'right' background. They underestimated how far a mother

someone from

me shiver again. This wasn't griel anymore,

prices crashed. Ships lost at sea. Mysterious audits. Computer systems failing. Nothing that

Victoria's smile

married the girl they chose. Three months later, he jumped from his penthouse. Left a note confessing he'd known about the brake lines.

Their treasures auctioned. The

taking what matters most to those who hurt you," She opened her

to

me. I took it, feeling

"What is it?"

Victoria's eyes were steady on mine.

slowly. "You want

mernury, attachment, and weakness of your old life. Everything that was Camille Lewis

my hands, suddenly unsteady on my

to who you were," Victoria continued.

the carved wood. "And If I'm

ends now.

you

no shame in that choice. But there's no

me. Step forward or back. Choose power or

I opened the box.

the future stretching before me, a blank page

I reached for my purse. Inside was all I had left of my old life. The few things I'd grabbed before leaving the house that day, plus what Victoria's people had collected from my hotel room be staging

what a Rodriguez wife should wear." I stared at it, remembering the day Stefan had slid it onto my finger, Rose watching with that "Your marriage,” Victoria observed. "Your first major

ring into the box. The sound it made hitting the bottom was

my sixteenth birthday. Each charm representing some achievement of mine they'd actually noticed. So few compared to Rose's overflowing trophy shelf.

family," Victoria said. "Your deepest

bracelet joined

small stack of photos came next. Me as a child, before

The last pictures of when I was enough all by myself. Me at my wedding, smiling so hopefully. A family Christmas, all of us posed perfectly for a card no

noted. "The stories you told

photos fluttered into the box like fallen

my driver's license, credit cards, social security card. The official records

Victoria whispered. "Who

went into the chest. I stood

strange lightness spreading

a small silver key. "Are you certain? Once locked, this chest will be buried here, beside Sophia. Camille

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