SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 26

STEFAN'S POINT OF VIEW

The bourbon burned down my throat, a welcome fire against the cold emptiness spreading through my chest. I signaled the bartender for another. My fourth? Fifth? I'd lost count hours ago.

"You sure about that, buddy?" he asked, eyeing the empty glasses.

"Just pour the damn drink," I growled,

The alcohol couldn't drown the words that had haunted me all day: Martin Greene reading Camille's will, her final message cutting through me like a blade.

*"To my former husband, Stefan Rodriguez, I return the engagement ring that belonged to his grandmother, with the hope that next time he gives

it, it will be with honesty and true devotion.

The ring sat heavy in my pocket, retrieved from the safety deposit box this morning. Grandmother Rosa's ring Three generations of Rodriguez women had worn it before I'd placed it on Camille's finger, promisin Thirty million dollars and the Cedar Hill estate. All of it to charity. Not a penny to her family. Nothing to Rose. Nothing to me. Everything to help girls who had no one else to turn to

That was Camille. Always giving. Always thinking of others. Even in death.

My phone vibrated again. Rose. Her sixth call tonight. I silenced it without answering. Couldn't talk to her. Not after watching calculation rather than grief cross her face at the will reading. All she cared about wa Had I really left Camille for that? For someone who couldn't even fake proper sadness at her own sister's generosity?

The night air hit me like a slap as I stumbled out of the bar. I started walking, no destination in mind, until I found myself at Riverside Park, where Camille and I had spent countless Sunday afternoons during our first year together.

Before Rose came back from London. Before everything changed.

I sank onto a bench overlooking the water, the same river that had swallowed Camille's car. Her body never found. Just

waterlogged reminder of

diamond caught what little light penetrated the park's darkness, winking at

“I

whispered to the night, to Camille's

phone buzzed. Rose

are you?" Her voice

"Out"

over. We need to talk about

Had

did it to spite us," Rose hissed. "To punish us from beyond the

escaped me sounded more like a sob. "Is that what you

Chapter 26.

everything, she loved

ended the call and turned off my phone. The alcohol

Everyone deserves a chance," she'd said, eyes bright with conviction. "Especially kids who start with I'd nodded along, pretending

shallow then.

realization hit me with physical force. I'd left the one person who truly loved me for

at the Rodriguez family mausoleum. Inside, I traced the engraved letters of Camille's memorial plaque, added despite my father's

your message," I said to the empty air. "With the ring. You're right. I wasn't honest. Wasn't devoted. Never

cold floor, grandmother's ring clutched in

others." My voice cracked. "That's who you always were. And I threw you away for what? For Rose? For exciten Hours later, I found myself outside the Lighthouse Foundation. Camille's charity. The organization she'd

sanctuary for foster girls, carefully designed

these young women could find not just practical help but emotional safety," Dr. Reyes explained. "Many of them have never known

to help," I heard myself say.