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

"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 and realize you don't know him anymore? To watch him receive awards, build companies, fall in love, all from a

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

remained silent, letting

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.

side," Camille

again, fighting through surgeries and pain no young man should endure. We chose to believe James's lies,

burning. The raw anguish in Eleanor's voice was impossible

to reach him," Eleanor continued after composing herself. "We went to his apartment the day after the

bag, held together with a ribbon. "I've written him every month for four years. Birthdays. Christmas. Just ordinary days

come to me?" Camille asked. "After all these attempts, why

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

it you want from

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

about his father?"

left." Her voice hardened. "Four years ago, Edward

The doctor said it was stress, but I know it was grief. The realization

Eleanor whispered, the word raw with desperation. "I know we don't deserve another chance. But Alexander deserves

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

Alexander know he'd confessed? Did you tell

her voice hollow. "We went to his apartment the day after the funeral. Edward was in shock. I remember standing there, James's letter in my hand, knocking until

letter by courier the next day. It came back unopened. We tried his company, we tried through mutual

we actually spoke to him was at the hospital, during his final surgery. He looked at us with such emptiness. He said, 'You've chosen. So have I.' He hasn't spoken to

would you say to him now? If

supposed to protect her child, and I failed at the most fundamental duty. That I've missed him with a pain so physical I sometimes can't

because of us. That I understand if he can never forgive us, but

"And his father?"

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

Eleanor continued, "it gave us hope. That perhaps Alexander could forgive, could rebuild after betrayal. The way you did with your

"You've been researching

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