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.

step forward. "Ever since

"How I became someone new? Or

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

Chapter 77

to talk about." Camille moved back to her klesk, putting the solid oak barrier between them. "I said everything I needed to say at

moving closer. We're your parents. Whatever mistakes we've

"Is that what

straightened his shoulders. "We had no idea

affair with Stefan. That she had manipulated both of "We didn't believe it because it seemed impossible," her mother said, tears spilling

in. "You adopted a teenager who

family as a prize she had won, not a gift of love. And you

father protested, but the doubt in

A-, you asked why it wasn't an A. When Rose wore something you didn't approve of, it was 'expressing herself. Whe the same, I was 'embarrassing the

small cuts that had bled her confidence dry. "And it wasn't just when we were young. When I told you Stefan

didn't. And deep down,

only by the

rough. "We've made terrible mistakes. Unforgivable ones. But you're alive, our

miracle. Can't we at least try

the evidence? That when I needed you most, you abandoned me Her father's face crumpled, his carefully maintained facade finally breaking. "We were

your death, it

the last year living with the knowledge that our last conversation with you was an argument, that you died believing

you want absolution." Camille's voice remained steady, though her heart pounded painfully in her chest. "You want me to tell you it's okay, that I forgive you, so you can sleep at night "We want our

gone," she said quietly. "Camille Lewis ded that night in the parking garage. The woman standing before you

shook her head fiercely. "You might have a

our child. Nothing can change that, not even what

Chapter 77

isn't about Rose," Camille said. "Not entirely. Yes, she was my executioner. But you handed her

flinched as if

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

them again. "When I finally did tell you about his affair with Rose, that's exactly what happened. You defended them both. You

admit, that every word Camille spoke was accurate. "We've lost everything," her

a hint of gentleness entering her voice

a Hollywood movie where the estranged family has a tearful reunion and everything is magically healed. Real life doesn't work that way." "So that's it?"

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

dead. The night I realized my parents would never

signaling that the conversation was ending. "I don't hate you. 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 over. We can do better." "It's too

final. “I spent my entire

approval, your

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