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.

Camille said

"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 see your child on magazine covers

"When he needed us most, we failed him. His father and I... we made a choice so

silent, letting

James was always the golden child. When the accident happened, we couldn't believe James would have been driving recklessly. We couldn't face that he'd been drinking." A sob escaped her. "It was easier to believe Alexander's version was confused by his

James's side,"

fighting to walk again, fighting through surgeries and pain

own eyes burning. The raw anguish in Eleanor's voice

tried to reach him," Eleanor continued after composing herself. "We went to his

ribbon. "I've written him every month for four years. Birthdays. Christmas. Just ordinary days when I remembered something about him." Her voice trembled. "They all

to me?" Camille asked.

and Camille at a charity event, his head thrown back in genuine laughter.

from me?" Camille

won't read." Her eyes burned with intensity. "I need to tell my son, to his face, that he was right.

his father?"

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

announcement, he collapsed. Had a minor stroke. The doctor said it was stress, but I

chance. But Alexander deserves the truth.

rain was letting up, patches of

Alexander know he'd confessed? Did you tell

"We went to his apartment the day after the funeral. Edward was in shock. I remember standing

It came back unopened. We tried his company,

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

you say to him now? If I somehow

choice every day." Eleanor's voice strengthened with conviction. "That a mother is supposed to protect her child, and I failed at the most

met Camille's, red-rimmed but steady. "That I'm proud of the man he's become, despite us, not because of us. That I understand if he can

"And his father?"

file of every news article. He follows all of Alexander's companies, buys stock in each one." She

Eleanor continued, "it gave us hope. That perhaps Alexander could forgive, could rebuild after betrayal.

"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