SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 180

Rain tapped against the windows of Camille's office as she reviewed quarterly reports. The sky had darkened early, turning afternoon to evening without her noticing. She rubbed her tired eyes, realizing she'd been staring at the same page for ten minutes.

Her assistant's voice came through the intercom. "Ms. Kane? There's someone here to see you. She doesn't have an appointment."

Camille frowned. "Who is it?"

"A Mrs. Pierce. She says it's personal."

Camille's hand froze. Pierce. Alexander's family name. But he rarely spoke of his parents, and when he did, his voice turned cold in a way that reminded her of Victoria at her most distant.

"Send her in," Camille said, smoothing her skirt as she stood.

The woman who entered moved with quiet grace, her shoulders pulled back despite the obvious tension in her face. She was tall and slim, with silver-streaked dark hair pulled into a neat bun. Her clothes were expensive but understated. But it was her eyes that caught Camille's attention. They were Alexander's eyes exactly, the same deep blue that could shift from warmth to ice in seconds.

"Ms. Kane," the woman said, her voice soft but steady. "Thank you for seeing me without notice. I'm Eleanor Pierce."

Camille gestured to the chair across from her desk. "Please, sit down."

Eleanor perched on the edge of the seat, clutching her handbag like a shield. "I imagine this is quite surprising. Alexander doesn't know I'm here."

"He's never mentioned you would visit," Camille agreed, studying the woman's face. The resemblance was unmistakable now.

"He wouldn't," Eleanor said, pain flashing across her features. "My son hasn't spoken to me or his father in almost seven years. Not even when we begged him to after James died."

The rawness in Eleanor's voice made Camille pause. Alexander had told her fragments of his history, about the car accident, his brother walking away unscathed while Alexander spent months in the hospital. About his family choosing sides. About his brother's death four years ago and his parents' desperate attempts to reconnect that he'd ruthlessly rebuffed.

"Mrs. Pierce, why have you come to me now? After all this time?"

Eleanor's fingers whitened around her bag. "Because I'm running out of hope." Her voice cracked. "Four years of silence. Four years of trying to reach him with no response."

The admission hung in the air between them.

sorry," Camille

escaping. "Don't be. I've had four years of letters returned unopened. Four years of calls ignored. Four years standing outside his building just hoping to catch a glimpse of him." Her composure fractured. "Do you know what it's like to

him," Eleanor continued, voice barely above a whisper. "When he needed us most, we failed him. His father and I... we made a choice so terrible I wake up

remained silent, letting the woman

we couldn't believe James would have been driving recklessly. We couldn't face that

side,"

pain no young man should endure. We chose to believe James's

The raw anguish in Eleanor's voice was impossible

herself. "We went to his apartment the day after the funeral. He wouldn't even open the

four years. Birthdays. Christmas. Just ordinary days when I remembered something about

Camille asked. "After

made him smile again," Eleanor said simply. She extracted a magazine clipping, a photo of Alexander and Camille at a charity event, his head thrown back in genuine laughter. "I haven't seen him laugh like this since before the accident. You've given him something I thought was

from me?" Camille asked,

intensity. "I need to tell my son, to his face, that he was right. That

about his

destroyed what was left." Her voice hardened. "Four years ago,

Edward saw your engagement announcement, he collapsed. Had a minor stroke. The doctor said it was stress, but I know it was grief. The realization that Alexander had

But Alexander deserves the truth.

Eleanor a moment. The rain was letting up, patches of evening sky

died," she asked, "did Alexander know he'd confessed? Did you tell

apartment the day after the funeral. Edward was in shock. I remember standing there,

"We sent James's letter by courier the next day. It came back unopened. We tried his company, we tried through mutual friends, Alexander

hands. "The last time we actually spoke to him was at the hospital, during his final surgery. He

say to him now? If

day." Eleanor's voice strengthened with conviction. "That a mother is supposed to protect her child, and

steady. "That I'm proud of the man he's become, despite us, not because of us. That I understand if he can never forgive us, but I needed him to know that

"And his father?"

about Alexander without breaking down," Eleanor said quietly. "He keeps a file of every news article. He follows all of Alexander's companies, buys stock in each one." She gave a broken laugh. "He has this absurd idea

perhaps Alexander could forgive, could rebuild after betrayal. The way

stiffened. "You've been researching

we could." Her face softened. "And what we learned gave us hope. You've overcome betrayal. You've reconciled with those who hurt you. You understand the possibility of redemption." Camille thought of her own journey, of Victoria who had taught her the power of strategic thinking but was only now learning the strength in vulnerability. Of her own parents, who had asked