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."

aside. Instead, she 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

find her still watching from Sophia's doorway, one hand gripping the frame as if for support. "I'm sorry," I said softly. "I shouldn't

today is?" she

growing at the intensity

birthday." Victoria's knuckles whitened on the doorframe. "She

three today."

all days to violate this sanctuary, I'd chosen the one when

didn't know,"

in her tone shifted, the cold fury giving way to something more complex. "You didn't.

pieces, a knight moving to threaten a bishop. "Sophia loved chess," she said, not looking at me. "Insisted it helped her think strategically. We played every Sunday morning. This was our

remained motionless, afraid any movement might shatter

me, I

remember what move she was contemplating" Victoria's finger hovered over a white pawn. "She always took her

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 simply a woman hollowed by grief, pr "She was more than my daughter," Victoria said, sinking onto the sofa beside the chess set. "She was

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

she died, I wanted to die too." She touched a chess piece, the black queen, with gentle fingers. "But then revenge became my purpose. Destroying the Prestons gave me a reason to continue. And when "Until you saw my photo," I said

mine, sharp with sudden intensity. "Do you know what I thought when I first saw you? Not just

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

me," I countered. "One photo in a

life examined. Your education records. Your medical history. Your social circles. The more I

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

All my life, I'd been swimming against the current of my family's preferences, Rose's manipulations, society's

Chapter 20

for revenge or my resemblance to Sophia. "When I saw you in here," Victoria said, gesturing toward Sophia's bedroom, "my first thought wasn't anger at the invasion o that you might damage