SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 77

Chapter 77

Rain pounded against the windows of Camille's office, matching her mood as she stared at the notification on her phone. The message was brief: her parents were waiting in the lobby. No warning, no call ahead. They had simply shown up, expecting her to drop everything and see them.

Some things never changed.

"Ms. Kane?" Rebecca stood in the

doorway, her expression concerned. "Your... the Lewises are downstairs. They're insisting on seeing you."

Camille set down her pen, her fingers surprisingly steady despite the storm brewing inside her. "How long have they been waiting?"

"Almost an hour. They refuse to leave without speaking to you."

Of course they did. Margaret and Richard Lewis had always believed doors should open for them, that their demands warranted immediate attention. Even now, after everything that had happened, they expecte "Send them up in fifteen minutes," Camille said, turning back to her computer. "Not a second earlier."

Rebecca nodded and disappeared, leaving Camille alone with thoughts she had tried to bury since the Phoenix Gala. Unlike with Stefan, whose visit she had

anticipated and prepared for, this confrontation caught her off guard. She had hoped her parents would respect her wishes, would understand that some bridges couldn't be rebuilt.

But hope had always been her weakness where family was concerned.

Camille stood and walked to the window, watching raindrops race down the glass. The

sky had turned nearly black, thunder rumbling in the distance. A perfect backdrop for the scene about to unfold.

Fifteen minutes later, Rebecca's voice came through the intercom. "They're here, Ms. Kane."

"Send them in," Camille replied, remaining by the window, her back to the door.

She heard them enter, heard her mother's sharp intake of breath, heard her father clear his throat, that familiar sound that had always preceded his lectures. Camille didn't turn around.

"Camille," her mother's voice broke on her name. "Please look at us."

Slowly, Camille turned. They looked smaller somehow, diminished. Her mother's carefully maintained appearance showed

cracks, hair not quite perfect, makeup slightly smudged from the rain or perhaps tears. Her father

stood straight as always, but new lines marked his face, and his eyes held none of their usual confidence.

"Why are you here?" Camille asked, her voice flat.

"Because you're our daughter," her father said, as if that explained everything, as if the word "daughter" still meant anything between them.

taking a step forward. "Ever since the gala, we've been trying to process everything. To understand

became someone new? Or how your

mother flinched. "All of it. Please, Camille. We

Chapter 77

to her klesk, putting the solid oak barrier between them. "I said

mean that," her father insisted, moving closer. We're your parents. Whatever

held no humor. "Is

"We had no idea

in our family home and told you both that Rose was having an affair with Stefan. That she had manipulated both of "We didn't believe it because it seemed impossible," her mother said, tears spilling onto her cheeks. "Rose has been part of our family since she was

cut in. "You adopted a teenager who had

as a prize she had won, not a gift of love. And you didn't just love her, you favored her.

not true," her father protested, but the doubt in his

tutor and praised her efforts. When I got an A-, you asked why it wasn't an A. When Rose

her confidence dry. "And it wasn't just when we were young. When I told you Stefan was cheating, your first instinct wasn't to comfort me or prot Her mother shook her head desperately. "We didn't mean to hurt you. We loved you

didn't. And deep down, you

room, broken only by the thunder outside

"We've made

Surely that's a second chance, a miracle. Can't we at

and the best of Rose, no matter the evidence? That when I needed you most, you abandoned me Her father's face crumpled, his carefully maintained facade

your death, it

We've spent the last year living with the knowledge that our last

me to tell you it's okay, that I forgive you, so you can sleep at night "We want our daughter back," her mother pleaded, moving around the desk to reach for Camille's hand. Camille stepped away, maintaining

that night in the parking garage. The woman standing

fiercely. "You might have a different

can change that, not even what

Chapter 77

Camille said. "Not entirely. Yes, she was my executioner. But you handed her

parents flinched as if physically

my feelings, every time you made it clear she was the daughter you truly wanted, you gave her more power to hurt me. You taught her that Camille walked back to the window, watching lightning streak across the darkened sky. "When Stefan gave me those divorce papers, do you know why I didn't come to you? Because I already knew what you w "That's not true," her father protested

again. "When I finally did tell you about his affair with Rose, that's exactly

sobs. Her father stood helplessly, his eyes revealing the truth he couldn't bring himself to admit, that every word Camille spoke was accurate. "We've lost everything," her mother whispered. "Rose is gone. The family name is ruined. And now you... you won't even give us a

can't be fixed," Camille said, a hint

estranged family has a tearful reunion and everything is magically healed. Real life doesn't work that way." "So that's it?" her father asked, his

taken from me," Camille replied. “The night I discovered my

a parking garage and left me for dead. The night I realized my parents would

I don't wish you ill. I simply don't have room in my new life for people who couldn't love me as I deserved to be loved." "Please," her mother begged, rising from the chair. "Just give us a chance. We can start

voice final. “I spent my entire life trying

your approval, your love.

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