SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 181

The penthouse was quiet when Camille arrived home. Only the kitchen light glowed, spilling onto the polished floor. She found Alexander at the island counter, papers spread before him, a glass of whiskey at his elbow. The amber liquid caught the light as he raised it, not looking up when she entered.

"Long day?" he asked, still scanning the document in front of him.

Camille set her bag down, her heart beating faster. The weight of Eleanor Pierce's visit pressed on her shoulders. "You could say that."

She moved to the refrigerator, buying time as she pulled out a bottle of water. Her mind raced, searching for the right words. How do you tell someone their estranged mother showed up after seven years of silence?

"Someone came to see me today," she said, her voice quieter than she intended.

Alexander made a noncommittal sound, still absorbed in his work.

"At the office." Camille twisted the cap off her water. "Your mother."

The stillness that followed was absolute. Alexander's hand froze mid-turn of a page. His shoulders stiffened under his dress shirt. When he finally looked up, his eyes had turned to ice.

"My mother," he repeated, his voice flat. "Eleanor Pierce came to your office."

"Yes. This afternoon."

Alexander set his glass down with careful precision. "And what did my mother want after seven years of silence?"

The coldness in his voice sent a chill through Camille. This was a side of Alexander she rarely saw, the hard edge beneath his usual warmth.

"She wants to see you. To talk." Camille moved closer, resting her hands on the counter. "She says she and your father need to apologize."

Alexander laughed, a sharp sound with no humor in it. "Apologize. That's rich." He stood abruptly, the stool scraping against the floor. "Did she tell you why they might need to apologize? Did she share that particular story?"

"Some of it," Camille said carefully. "About the accident. About James."

"About how they chose to believe my brother instead of me?" Alexander's voice rose slightly. "About how they visited him daily while I was learning to walk again? About how they helped him avoid charges while I went through three surgeries alone?"

He turned away, moving to the window. Outside, the city sparkled in the darkness, a thousand lights against the night sky.

"Alexander..."

"No." His voice cut through the room. "Whatever else she told you, whatever she asked, the answer is no. I'm not interested."

Camille took a slow breath. "She mentioned James's death. Your father's stroke."

Alexander's reflection in the window showed no reaction, but his knuckles whitened where he gripped the sill.

"She said they tried to reach you. That they came to your apartment after James's funeral."

"They did," Alexander said coldly. "With his confession letter in hand. Four years too late."

"You knew about the letter?" Camille asked, surprised.

"Of course I knew," Alexander said, turning to face her. "They sent it by courier after I refused to see them. I sent it back unopened."

Camille moved toward him, stopping when he took a step back. "She brought a photo. Of you as a child. Winning a sailing competition."

Something flickered across his face, pain, quickly masked by anger. "She kept my baby pictures. How touching."

"Alexander, please..."

I needed them most? Please give them absolution so they can sleep better at night? I already refused when my father had his stroke last month. What

your father's

That he was asking for me." Alexander's expression hardened. "I told him my father made

steadily. "Please listen. Just listen to what

refuse. Then he gave a curt nod,

anything." Camille chose her words with

into his glass, saying

said forgiveness would be too much to ask. She just wants a chance to apologize

The question came quietly, some of the ice melting from his voice. "Why keep trying after all these years? After I've made it abundantly clear I want

didn't pull away. "Your father struggled

with a sharp click. "My father, struggling

now," Camille said. "Still trying to

is gone

that make

counter, pacing the length of the kitchen.

star athlete, the popular one, the son who could do no wrong. When the accident happened..." His voice caught. "I kept telling them he'd been drinking. That he'd insisted on driving even though I offered to call a

silent, letting

"They looked

ame

my leg.... and told me I must be confused. That James said I had wanted to drive but

I'd had too

was bitter. "James, the responsible one. James, who

she tell you that part? How they chose

"She just said they

voice dripped with disdain. "Is that what we're calling it?" "What would you

in the air between them. Alexander stared into his glass as if it held

kind you don't come

she stood just a step away. "I thought the same thing once. About my

believe her over you out of preference." "Didn't they?" Camille

should forgive them. I'm

"Why are you pushing this? After I've already refused them

to think a door is closed forever," Camille said quietly. "To believe some wounds can

the slow rebuilding of trust between them. Of the unexpected joy

you meet with them and decide nothing has changed, that they haven't earned a second chance.... I'll support

moment, he stared out at the city,

you still have nightmares," Camille said softly.

events."

head snapped around, surprise breaking through his anger. "She remembered

his expression. "It was the last thing she

back to the window, but not before Camille caught the flash of

her you have me now," she

the distant sounds of the city below.

said, his voice low. "In a

about what happens afterward."

Camille.

to heal. To face people who chose someone else over me when I needed them most. People I've already turned away multiple

her hands in his.

don't face