SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 29

CAMILLE'S POINT OF VIEW

The engagement party filled the screen before me, bright lights and beautiful people swirling in celebration. I sat motionless in Victoria's guest suite, hands folded in my lap breathing measured despite the storm Joy for them. Torture for me.

The Rodriguez family estate had been transformed into a fairytale setting, white roses everywhere, crystal chandeliers hanging from pavilions, string quartet playing softly. Two hundred guests in designer forma And at the center of it all, Rose and Stefan. My sister and my ex-husband.

"The engagement of the year," the entertainment reporter gushed. "Stefan Rodriguez, heir to the Rodriguez shipping fortune, and renowned fashion designer Rose Lewis have finally made their relationship offic respectful period following the tragic death of Stefan's first wife-

Rose's sister Camille."

A "respectful period." Nine months. That's all it took for my existence to become a footnote in their love story.

The camera cut to my mother, diamonds glittering at her throat. "Of course we're thrilled," she said, voice slightly too bright. "Rose and Stefan have always had a special connection. While we continue to mourn

Would I? Would I want them to find

happiness together? To build their life on the foundation of my destruction?

A tear slid down my cheek before I could stop it. I wiped it away quickly, angry at this weakness. Eleven months of transformation. Eleven months of becoming someone new. Someone stronger.

beside my chair, her attention fixing on the

requested the broadcast," Victoria said,

see it," I replied, steadier than expected. "To understand what I'm fighting

not the dried tears, not the tension in my shoulders. "And what did

"That I've been

been preparing to take back what they stole from me. My

her fully, something shifting inside me like tectonic plates rearranging. "But that life was never worth fighting for. Stefan never loved me, not really. My parents never saw me, not clearly. Rose ne considered me her sister, only

moved to the window overlooking Manhattan's glittering expanse. A view fitting for who I was becoming. Not Camille Lewis, forgotten daughter and discarded wife. But Camille Kane, heir to an empire, architec "Justice," I said, the word tasting

are. To make

what truth

to be. That parents chose wrongly when they favored her over me." My words emerged with quiet certainty. “T Victoria moved to the desk, opening folders, dossiers on Rose's fashion business, Stefan's role in his family company, my

systematic dismantling of their world. Not with a frontal assault,

manipulated loan terms. Contract interference with Rod Not revenge in the conventional sense. Not public humiliation or dramatic confrontation. But something far more devastating, the slow,

asked,

following day. By week's end, the business world will be discussing Camille Kane, not Rose Lewis and Stefan Ro Victoria poured two glasses of

as eager women reached for it. She

you ready to begin?" Victoria asked

from the screen, something dangerous awakening in my eyes. "Burn it all

she corrected. "Burning is chaotic, emotional, easily traced. What we're about to do