SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

CAMILLE'S POINT OF VIEW

The scream ripped from my throat before I was fully awake, my body jackknifing upright in bed. Sweat soaked through my silk nightgown, heart hammering against my ribs like it might break through. For a mom

Rose's face,

smiling as I drowned. Stefan watching from the shore, doing nothing. Their fingers intertwined as they witnessed my death, as casual as if they were watching a sunset.

"Ms. Kane?" A knock at my bedroom door. "Do you need assistance?"

The night guard. New guy. Torres or Torrez. I couldn't remember his name. Victoria rotated security personnel regularly, another layer of protection in her perfectly orchestrated world.

"I'm fine." I called back, voice steadier than I felt. "Just a dream."

"Yes, ma'am. Dr. Reed has been notified as per protocol."

Of course she had. Everything in Victoria's mansion was monitored, measured, reported. Privacy was a luxury I'd surrendered along with my old identity. I checked the clock 3:17 AM. Another night ruined by memories that refused to stay buried.

Six months of training. Six months of becoming someone new. Six months of Victoria's relentless program to transform me from victim to avenger. And still, my subconscious betrayed me, dragging me back into My phone lit up with a text: My office. 15 minutes. -Dr. Reed*

No sympathy. No option to reschedule. Just a command thinly disguised as a message. Typical of Victoria's handpicked psychologist.

I shuffled to my bathroom, splashing cold water on my face. The woman in the mirror had changed dramatically since Victoria had found me, cheekbones sharper from the surgical refinements, hair styled in an eyes harder from months of combat training. But in the hours after a nightmare, I still saw traces of the old. Camille beneath the carefully crafted exterior. Vulnerable. Afraid. Weak.

Dr. Reed would not approve.

Hero

dimly lit, with two leather chairs facing each other across a glass table. No couch. No friendly plants of personal photos to soften the atmosphere.

she asked,

eyes sharp as they assessed my disheveled state.

of someone half her age and the penetrating Paze of someone who

chair, the cool surface a stark contrast to my overheated skin. "I'm in the car, Water rising Pose and Stefan watching from the

time." The detail had twisted like a knife in my gut, even in

Reed made a note on her tablet. "Six months of

what therapy

you're not receiving conventional therapy, Camille. You're

"Which are?"

heal it. Your pain is power if you control it instead of letting it control you. Do you think Victoria became who she is by processing her grief in healthy ways? By moving on The bluntness hit me like a physical blow. She moved to a cabinet, retrieving a virtual

probably custom-made. Nothing but the best in Victoria's

ready for immersion therapy.

I took

to relive drowning? Voluntarily?"

starts every night. You wake up at the moment of drowning. I want you to see what happens

watching from above. Initially, panic seized me, the memory of that night too vivid,

against the car door. It opened. Not possible in reality, not with water pressure, but this wasn't reality. This was my mind, my rules. I

like an avenging angel, dressed in a tailored power suit, hair perfectly styled, makeup Пlawless, Rose's smile faltered as I stood on the water's surface. When

"Please!" Dream-

as she fell, reaching toward me. “Camille,

unmoved, as they plunged into the dark

Rose to save

it feel?" Dr. Reed asked when

and satisfaction warring inside the. "It felt

why are you

touched my cheek, surprised to find it wet. "Because the person who enjoyed that isn't

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