SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Morning sunlight cut through Bodriguez Shipping headquarters, harsh and unforgiving. The building felt like a tomb, employees moving like ghosts, their futures evaporating with each passing hour. Stefan stood The grandfather clock, a family heirloom, ticked mercilessly in the silence. Each sound a heartbeat closer to the end

Two floors below, Camille Kane sat watching security feeds, her pulse quickening as she found him. Stefan, standing alone, shoulders unnaturally straight despite everything crumbling around him. That damne His phone lit up: Eduardo Rodriguez calling again. Four desperate calls already this morning. Overnight, the family estate's mortgage had been sold. Seattle accounts mysteriously frozen. Last— minute financing arrangements collapsed without explanation

A cold smile spread across Camille's face, savage satisfaction coursing through her. No escape routes. No last-

minute rescues. Just methodical, absolute destruction.

Maria appeared in Stefan's doorway, eyes swollen and red-

rimmed. Fifteen years of loyalty, about to end in unemployment.

"Mr. Chen from First National Bank is asking to see you," she said, voice breaking "He says it's urgent."

Stefan nodded. "Send him to the small conference room."

After she left, he straightened his tie with trembling fingers he couldn't quite control. What would his grandfather think? The man who started with one small cargo boat during America's darkest economic times- what would he say about the grandson who lost everything?

Matthew Chen's normally friendly face was now a mask of professional detachment. The handshake between them felt foreign, distant.

"I wanted to

speak with you privately," Chen said, pity flickering in his eyes. "Before the official notifications."

Stefan's laugh held only pain. "To soften the blow? Let me gave you the trouble. I know the banks are calling in the loans."

"It's worse." Chen's voice dropped. "The loans weren't foreclosed by banks. They were purchased outright. All of them. By Kane Industries."

The name hit Stefan like a physical blow, driving the air from his lungs. "That's impossible."

"They found a loophole in your financing agreements." Chen slid a document across the table. "As of this morning, every dollar Rodriguez Shipping owes is owned by Kane Industries."

Stefan stared at the elegant cursive signature swimming before his eyes. Not Victoria Kane's signature. Her daughter's. Camille Kane.

"The family estate?" he asked, voice barely audible.

“Also purchased. I'm sorry, Stefan. This isn't standard practice anymore. This is..." Chen hesitated, "personal."

In her hidden room, Camille leaned closer to the screen, pulse hammering in her ears as she watched color drain from Stefan's face. This was the moment she'd dreamed of for so long. The realization dawning "Victoria Kane?" Stefan asked, confusion etched in the lines of his face. "Why would she target my family?"

Chen shook his head. "All I know is they said it was precisely the point to be unnecessarily destructive."

alone, nausea rising

father's name. This time

the house." Eduardo's

heard before. "Our home. Five

know."Stefan closed his eyes, chest so tight he could

our debt.

Victoria Kane never

whispered, "but this feels personal,

watched

chest. Eduardo had always been kind to her during her marriage to Stefan. Had defended her when Stefan's mother ma She pushed the feeling away, anger rising to

that Rodriguez men always got what they wanted,

the remaining

all outstanding Rodriguez Shipping debt and intends to call in these loans immedia "That's not possible," Thomas Wagner

we file for bankruptcy protection,"

blocked that avenue too." Stefan's voice remained clinically detached while his world disintegrated. They've already

their faces as understanding

sleepless nights. But the hollow feeling in her chest refused to fill with the joy she'd

knock interrupted. Three people entered, led by Rebecca

"Mr. Rodriguez,"

here to deliver formal notification of loan acquisition and immediate

"Payment is required within 72 hours or Kane Industries will begin asset

valuation," Wagner whispered, the color draining from

of your family estate mortgage, Kane Industries

right to call that loan

estate. Five generations of Rodriguez history. The final twist of the

raw and desperate. "Why is Kane

anticipated your request." Rebecca removed an envelope, "She asked me

handwriting that stirred something in his memory. The paper

representatives left, silence descended. The board members looked to Stefan with

meeting is

will prepare separation

has been an

you."

gone, Stefan remained alone in the boardroom where generations of Rodrig Camille watched him on her screen, her heart thundering against her ribs. This was the moment she'd planned so meticulously. The message that would begin to unravel the mystery for him.

debts can't be measured in

losses can't be repaid with anything

took that

dread, a cold sweat breaking across his forehead. Not a business communication. A personal