SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 81

Camille's phone buzzed on her nightstand, pulling her from a dreamless sleep. The screen glowed with Alexander's name. Not a text message, but an actual call at, she squinted, 5:36 AM. "Hello?” Her voice was rough with sleep.

"Look out your window." Alexander's voice held an energy that made her sit up straight.

"It's not even dawn," she protested, but was already moving to the floor-to-

ceiling glass that showcased the Manhattan skyline.

"East. Toward the water."

Camille pressed her forehead against the cool glass, eyes searching the

horizon where night was reluctantly giving way to morning. "What am I looking for?"

"Wait for it."

As if on cue, the first ray of sunlight broke across the water, igniting the glass towers of

the financial district

in gold and fire. But it wasn't just the buildings that caught the light. An enormous structure floated in the harbor, a ship unlike any

Camille had seen before. Its vast deck gleamed with what appeared to be thousands of mirrored

panels catching the sunrise.

"Is that...."

"RISING EX WIFE. My company's first fully solar-

powered cargo vessel." Pride shimmered in Alexander's voice. "She dropped anchor twenty minutes ago after her maiden voyage from Rotterdam. Zero emissions. Zero fossil fuels."

Camille stared at the vessel, understanding immediately what this meant for their Phoenix Grid project. "You didn't tell me it was ready."

"Some surprises are worth

keeping." A pause. "Get dressed. I'm sending a helicopter to the roof in thirty

minutes. Bring shoes you don't mind getting wet."

Before she could respond, the line went dead.

Victoria would disapprove, Camille thought as she showered quickly. This kind of impulsivity wasn't in the careful script they'd crafted for Camille Kane's public persona. But as warm water cascaded over her sh what Victoria would think. For the first time in two years, she wanted to make

a choice simply because it felt right.

The helicopter touched down exactly thirty minutes later. Alexander waited

inside, dressed in worn jeans and a light sweater, looking

nothing like the billionaire CEO the world knew. The

silver rose pendant she'd returned to her at their dinner

hung around her neck, a small weight against her collarbone.

"You're going to upend the entire shipping industry with this," Camille said as they lifted off, gesturing toward the gleaming vessel growing larger as they approached.

"We're going to upend it," Alexander corrected. “RISING EX WIFE is just the beginning. With the Phoenix Grid providing charging stations in every major port, we'll make dirty shipping obsolete within a decade.' The confidence in his voice stirred something in Camille, not the

her revenge, but something warmer, more vital. This was creation, not destruction. Building, not

introductions, Camille noticed something unusual about the team, their easy camaraderie absence of the typical deference shown to billionaire CEOS, the

at his technical questions.

this personally," she realized

have a degree in engineering most people don't

the engineers, a woman with

us crazy

our calculations at 3

the

explained

in cloudy conditions, how the hydrogen fuel cells stored power for nighttime sailing,

system optimized routes based on weather patterns

as they stood at the ship's bow, the Manhattan skyline

How will shipping

with something that looked like mischief.

"What do you mean?"

created a

We'll convert existing cargo ships to solar at no cost to the companies, in exchange

stared at him. "That's... that's not

should

face her fully. "Some innovations are too important to be held hostage

earnings reports."

Camille's chest, a recognition of the man standing before her. Not the calculated helper who had assisted her revenge, not the

had compassion that saved a stranger on a dark road. Camille Kane

them in light that felt almost too bright, too

his eyes.

on," Alexander said, sensing her discomfort. "There's one more thing I want to show

to a small cabin tucked away

framed photograph. Camille recognized Alexander, several years younger, standing beside a petite woman

engineer who developed the original flexible solar technology we're using. She died of cancer three years ago, before she could see her work implemented. Her last request was that

her favorite childhood book."

EX WIFE BY ANNYPEN" Camille

sails to

should serve humanity, not just shareholders. The week before she died, she made me promise that when this ship

tears pricking

unexpected and unwelcome. She blinked them away. "Is that

it was right?"

Alexander considered this, then

you a debt. But somewhere along the way, it

become about?" Camille's heart

of answering directly, Alexander opened a

leather journal. “Ruth kept this during

to Camille. "Page

Camille carefully opened

the marked page, where a single paragraph had

in what we

in hours that took centuries to grow. But creation? Creation is the real magic. It requires faith that what doesn't yet exist

she closed the journal. "Why are

is complete. Rose and Stefan are destroyed. Your parents are cut from your life. Victoria has given you

"What's that?"

to you." He took the journal

in creating something they could

to the cabin's small window, watching

water. Victoria would say

"Victoria transformed your