SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 177

Camille's car pulled up to the small restaurant in Greenwich Village, far from the gleaming towers of Midtown where she now spent her days. The place looked unchanged from when she'd last visited, before the divorce, before Victoria, before she became someone else entirely.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come in?" Alexander asked from the driver's

seat.

Camille shook her head. "This is something I need to do alone."

"Call if you need me," he said, squeezing her hand. "I'll be twenty minutes away."

She nodded, gathering her courage before stepping onto the sidewalk. Through the restaurant window, she could already see them-Margaret and Richard Lewis. Her parents. Waiting at a corner table, her mother nervously rearranging silverware, her father checking his watch.

This marked the first time they would meet without Victoria's watchful presence since their cautious reunion months ago. No buffers. No mediators. Just three people trying to rebuild what years of hurt and betrayal had shattered.

The bell above the door jingled as Camille entered. Her mother looked up, face lighting with a smile that couldn't hide the anxiety beneath. They stood as she approached, awkwardly hovering between formality and intimacy.

"Camille," her father said, the first to recover. "You look well."

She allowed a brief hug, still uncomfortable with physical contact from the people who had once doubted her most. "Thank you for suggesting this place," she said. "It's been a long time."

"You used to love their chocolate almond cake," Margaret said, her voice softer than Camille remembered. "You would beg to come here on your birthday."

"Did I?" Camille asked, genuinely trying to recall. So many memories had been pushed down, buried beneath pain and reinvention.

They settled into their seats, ordering drinks to bridge the awkward silence. Three people who shared blood but had become strangers, searching for common ground.

"We saw the press conference," Richard said finally. "You were quite impressive." Camille smiled faintly. "Victoria trained me well."

"It wasn't just training," Margaret interjected. "That poise was always in you. Even as a child."

The waiter brought their drinks. Camille wrapped her fingers around her water glass, needing something solid to hold.

"I've been thinking about your childhood lately," Margaret continued, her eyes showing a new vulnerability. "Looking through old albums. Remembering."

"What have you remembered?" Camille asked, unable to keep the edge from her voice. What their memories contained and what hers held might be very different. Margaret reached into her bag and pulled out a small envelope. She slid it across the table. "I found these last week. I thought you might want them."

hesitated before opening it. Inside were three photographs she'd never seen before. The first showed a girl of about six sitting on a dock, fishing rod in hand, gap-toothed grin wide beneath a

"Cedar Lake," Camille murmured.

first fish," Richard said, smiling at the memory. "A tiny sunfish. You insisted we release it

girl a few years older, standing beside a science fair project. WATER ECOSYSTEMS proclaimed the header in careful block

Margaret said. "The judge said he'd

she sat at a piano, her small

lessons," she whispered. "I'd

her eyes misty. "You practiced that Chopin piece until your fingers hurt. Said you

piano?" Camille asked, the memory taking

Margaret exchanged

gave it away," Richard

Rose came," Camille said, the pieces connecting. "She hated my playing. Said it

weight

were helping two sisters bond.

mother's face, searching for the truth. "Why didn't you

look away. "Because believing you meant facing our failure. Admitting

added, his voice rough with emotion. "Than to accept that we

looked at the menu, but found herself requesting the mushroom risotto,

they were alone again, Margaret reached across the table, stopping just short of touching Camille's hand. "We can't undo what happened. But we're trying to

me see things clearly," Camille said, the name a shield she still

gave you what we couldn't," Richard acknowledged. "Strength when you needed it

Victoria,"

between wax paper. Who cried when she found a bird with a broken

to someone else, a

all

Margaret answered. "Even if

collect herself. The risotto tasted exactly as she remembered, creamy, rich with herbs and wine. A flavor from her past that still existed

a few minutes. When Camille nodded, she

the small lock that had made her feel her thoughts were safe. She hesitated before taking it, unsure if she wanted to reconnect with the girl who had

cleaning out the attic," Margaret explained. "After

opened the

friend troubles, dreams of becoming a famous scientist or musician

caught her eye, dated