SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 20

Camille's point of view.

The voice behind me sent the frame tumbling from my hands. It hit the carpet with a muffled thud as I spun around.

Victoria stood in the doorway, her expression a storm of fury and pain. Her usually perfect appearance was disheveled, clothes wrinkled from travel, hair slightly mussed, as if she'd rushed home unexpectedly. "L...I thought you were in Tokyo," I stammered, heart hammering against my ribs.

"Flight canceled due to mechanical issues." Her eyes swept the room, cataloging any disturbance I might have caused. "You didn't answer my question."

I could have lied. Could have claimed I got lost,

accidentally found the key, had innocent reasons for snooping But something in Victoria's face, the raw wound exposed beneath her anger, demanded honesty.

"I was curious," I admitted, bending to retrieve the fallen photo frame. "About the locked wing. About why it was. off-

limits."

"So you invaded my privacy. Searched my office for the key. Entered a space clearly meant to remain closed." Each sentence fell like a judgment, cold and precise. "Yes." No excuses. No justifications.

Victoria's gaze settled on the photo in my hands. Something flickered across her expression, grief so intense it momentarily overwhelmed the anger.

"Put that down," she said quietly. "And get out."

I carefully returned the frame to its place. "Victoria, I..."

"Now."

remained planted in the doorway, forcing me to squeeze past her, close enough to feel the rigid tension in her body, to smell the subtle scent of her perfume mixed with the staleness of

to find her still watching from Sophia's doorway, one hand gripping the frame as if for support. "I'm sorry,"

know what today is?" she

unease growing at the intensity

whitened on the doorframe. "She would have been

three today."

violate this sanctuary, I'd chosen the

didn't know," I

fury giving way to

finally stepped away from the doorway, moving to the chess board in the sitting area. With careful precision, she adjusted one of the pieces, a knight moving to threaten a bishop. "Sophia loved chess," she said, not looking at me. "Insisted it helped her

remained motionless, afraid any movement might shatter

me, I

exactly as we left it. Sometimes I sit here and try to remember what move she was contemplating" Victoria's finger hovered over a white pawn.

for a few hours that she's just stepped out. That she'll return any moment with My chest tightened at the naked pain in her expression. Gone was the formidable businesswoman, the ruthless mentor, the demanding adoptive mother. In her place stood

weight of the moment. Victoria had never spoken this openly before,

revenge became my purpose. Destroying the Prestons gave me a

met mine, sharp with sudden intensity. "Do you know what I thought when I first saw you? Not just that you looked like her, though the resemblance was striking. I thought: here's

to stamp out in Sophia. Potential, Intelligence. A fundamental strength your

I countered. "One photo in a

life examined. Your education records. Your medical history. Your social

all her dreams You were undermined at every turn, yet still fought to carve out your own space.

my life, I'd been swimming against the current of

Chapter 20

continued. "Not just because you resembled her physically. Not just for revenge against those who hurt you. But because I recognized something worth saving. W of my value independent of my usefulness for revenge or my resemblance to Sophia. "When I saw you in here," Victoria said, gesturing toward Sophia's bedroom, "my first thought