SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 80

Rose huddled in the corner booth of Café Obscura, a

dingy establishment where celebrities went

to be forgotten, not spotted. The hood of her oversized sweatshirt cast shadows across her face as she clutched a chipped mug of lukewarm coffee. Gone were the designer clothes and perfect makeup that ha Three weeks had passed since Camille's dramatic resurrection at the Phoenix Gala. Three weeks of hiding

from reporters, dodging process servers, and watching her carefully constructed world crumble into dust. Each day brought new humiliations as her business partners abandoned her, her accounts were frozen, The bell above the café door jingled. Rose didn't look up, having learned not to make eye contact with anyone. But then a shadow fell across her table, and she sensed someone sliding into the seat opposite he "Ms. Lewis, I presume?" A deep voice with a hint of old money in its practiced casualness.

Rose's head snapped up, fear flooding her veins. Had they found her? Was it police? Press? The man before her was neither.

He was perhaps thirty-one, with the kind of handsome features that aged well-

strong jawline, piercing gray eyes, salt-and-

pepper hair cropped short. His clothes were expensive but understated. Nothing flashy, nothing that

screamed wealth. But Rose had spent her life

studying people with money. This man had it, and lots of it.

"Who are you?” she whispered, already calculating the distance to the exit.

"Someone with a mutual problem." He didn't offer his hand. Instead, he placed a small

manila envelope on the table between them. "My name is Herod Preston."

Rose didn't touch the envelope. "How did you find me?"

A smile touched his lips but didn't reach his eyes. "Finding people is a specialty of mine. Especially people who've fallen from grace."

The waitress approached, and Herod ordered black coffee without looking at the menu. After she shuffled away, Rose leaned forward.

I

where you're wrong, Ms. Lewis." Herod tapped the envelope with one manicured finger. "You have something incredibly valuable: a burning hatred for Victoria Kane and her new pet project." Rose's breath caught in her throat. Her fingers curled into fists beneath the

sharply. "Preston...

"The very same. Once the third largest shipping empire in the world." His

waitress returned with his coffee. He didn't touch

understand," Rose said, though a cold feeling of recognition was spreading through

brother was engaged to Sophia Kane,"

thrilled. Old rivalries, competing interests. My father

again. The couple looked

smiles genuine. "What happened?"

quickly masked. "There was an accident. Sophia's car went off the

Rose remembered

words at the gala: *My daughter was taken from me through treachery and lies. I know the pain of loss better

"Victoria blamed your family?"

us. Within a year of Sophia's death, Kane Industries had leveraged us out of every

"Because history is repeating

once again, she's

weapon to destroy anyone who

words struck Rose like

woman who is now systematically dismantling your life

Rose had been reeling from the revelation that Camille was not only alive but had been

Phoenix Gala," Rose murmured, the humiliation of that night washing over her anew. "Camille standing there, revealing herself to everyone. All this time, she was plotting with Victoria Kane." "Yes, quite the dramatic resurrection," Herod agreed. "Victoria has always

send a message. They had clearly failed, and Victoria Kane had somehow found Camille afterward. "I didn't mean for her

she's back to ensure you suffer the same

head snapped

Kane destroyed

even, reasonable. "I've spent years rebuilding what Victoria took from the Prestons. I have resources, connections. What I need is someone who knows Camille, her weaknesses, her

exactly are you proposing?" Rose

made Camille into a weapon. But even the most carefully crafted weapons have flaws in