SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 66

Camille's point of view

I stood by the floor-to-

ceiling windows in Victoria's penthouse office, watching the city lights flicker to life as dusk settled over Manhattan. Rain tapped against the glass, a gentle percussion accompanying the victory drumming throug On six massive screens behind Victoria's desk, Rose's destruction played out in real-

time. Every major news channel, every entertainment show, every social media feed, all consumed with the spectacular downfall of fashion's rising star.

"More champagne?" Victoria asked, appearing at my side with the bottle of Dom Pérignon we'd opened when the first reports broke this morning. Her smile, rare and genuine, made her look younger. "Please," I said, holding out my crystal flute.

Victoria clinked her glass against mine. "To justice," she said, voice warm with satisfaction. "Long overdue." "To justice," I echoed, turning back to the spectacle on the screens.

A reporter stood outside Rose's apartment building, rain dampening her hair as she struggled to maintain her professional demeanor despite the obvious joy in delivering the news.

"Fashion designer Rose Lewis remained inside her penthouse apartment all day as more allegations surfaced about affairs with married men, stolen designs, and

questionable financial ties to figures under investigation for money laundering, Sources close to Lewis say she is 'devastated' by what her legal team is calling a "coordinated character assassination.""

I couldn't help but laugh. "Devastated. I wonder if that's how she described me to Stefan when they were planning my replacement."

Victoria squeezed my shoulder. "This is only the beginning. By tomorrow, every major retailer will have canceled their orders. By next week, her investors will pull out completely. By next month, Rose Lewis will The satisfaction I felt should have been pure and sweet. This was what we'd worked toward for nearly two years, the systematic destruction of the woman who had stolen my husband, my life, my identity. The w So why did victory taste so complex? Why did the champagne feel both sweet and slightly bitter?

On the renter screen, footage played of Rose leaving her building through a service entrance, head high, crimson dress a slash of defiance against the gray day. Even in her downfall, she performed the role of wronged innocent perfectly.

"Look at her," I said, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice. "Still playing to the cameras. Still manipulating perceptions."

Victoria moved to her desk, pressing a button that muted the screens. "That performance won't save her. Not this

time

I turned away from the windows, studying the woman who had rescued me, rebuilt me, guided me through the transformation from broken victim to powerful avenger.

"How did you find them all?" I asked, settling into a leather chair facing her desk. "Jonathan Hayes, Lord Hartley,

Anton Bessonoy's assistant.. they all disappeared from her life years ago."

Victoria's smile tumed almost predatory. "Money opens mamy doors, but information is the true currency of revenge. For nearly one years, I've had investigators tracking down everyone Hose ever used, betraye "And the banking records? The evidence of money Laundering?"

"More challenging, but nothing is truly hidden from those who know where to look." Victoria studied me over her glass. "You're troubled. Why? This is what we've worked toward "

suffer. Only satisfaction watching her world crumble. But there's something else... something I can't quite name." Victoria leaned forward, her expression turning serious. "Don't confuse justice

feel... more. Some profound sense of closure or

doesn't come from what happens to others," Victoria said quietly. "It comes from what happens within you, Rose's

justice. Your healing is a separate

a woman whose focus had always been strategic rather than emotional.

unexpected flutter through my chest. "The lioness watches her prey fall. Satisfaction or emptiness? Perhaps both. Call when you're rea How did he always know my mind so precisely? I slipped the phone back into my pocket without responding, not ready to examine what Alexander Pierce represented

me with that

not bothering to

remains a complication," she observed, her tone neutral but her eyes

not a threat to what we've accomplished," I said,

He

button, switching the largest screen to a

channel. The analyst was

fashion industry, specifically how several designers' stock prices had jumped as retailers looked to fill the gap left

her manufacturer in Milan, Victoria said. "With their contracts canceled, they'll be desperate. We could get their facilities and

Victoria, seeing opportunity

said, surprising both of us. "We've taken

“That's... unexpected.

dismantling of

did. I do." I struggled to articulate my shifting emotions. But there's

at Victoria's lips. "Us. Not me, Us. You've

my new identity. Yet something about it now felt constricting, as if the perfect vengea Who was 1, when not defined by revenge? What would drive me, when Rose and Stefan had been thoroughly destroyed? What filled the

For months, every decision has been filtered through the lens of justice for what they did to you. Now

entirely on you." Victoria turned to face me directly. "When I found

on that garage, 1 offered you a choice, disappear into a new life somewhere far away, or rise from the ashes transformed. You chose transformation. Now

of revenge, or as someone with a future

avoiding

destruction began making room

gesturing toward the screens. "Without the goal of making

of your journey. Discovering Camille Kane beyond revenge. Beyond the past Beyond even my careful molding." The suggestion surprised

become. This open-

to define myself beyond our

purpose, was unexpected.

asked carefully. "Even if it meant choices you didn't plan

an emotion I couldn't identify. "I saved you, Camille. Rebuilt you. Gave you the tools

moved back