SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 201

Victoria Kane stood at the head of the Kane Industries boardroom, her hands gripping the mahogany table harder than she wanted to admit. The last three days had been hell. Stock prices dropping. Investors pulling out. Emergency meetings that stretched into the early morning hours.

And now Camille wasn't answering her calls.

"Ma'am, the Henderson Group is demanding answers about the security breach," said Marcus Webb, her chief financial officer. Dark circles ringed his eyes. "They're threatening to withdraw their investment entirely."

Victoria nodded, but the movement made her head spin. The cancer treatments had been going well, but the stress of the corporate crisis was undoing months of progress. Her body felt like it was fighting two wars at once.

"Schedule a call with Henderson's board," she said, her voice hoarser than usual. "Tomorrow morning. I'll speak to them personally."

"Actually, ma'am," Webb continued, his face grim, "they want to meet today. In two hours."

Victoria closed her eyes for a moment. The fatigue was bone-deep, making every thought feel like wading through mud. She hadn't felt this weak since the early days of her diagnosis.

"Fine. Set it up."

The next hour blurred together. Phone calls with angry investors. Damage control meetings with the PR team. Emergency conferences with department heads trying to trace the source of the leaks that were bleeding their company dry.

Through it all, Victoria kept thinking about Camille. Three days ago, her daughter had called in tears, saying she needed to stay at the estate for a while. Something about needing space to think. Victoria had offered to come home immediately, but Camille had insisted she stay in the city to handle the crisis.

Now Victoria wondered if something had happened between Camille and Alexander. The timing felt wrong. The crisis at Kane Industries, Camille's sudden distance, Alexander's increased involvement in their business affairs - it all connected in ways that made Victoria's chest tight with worry.

"The Henderson call is ready," Webb announced.

Victoria stood up from her chair and immediately regretted it. The room tilted sideways, black spots dancing at the edges of her vision. She grabbed the table to steady herself.

"Ma'am? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Victoria lied. She wasn't fine. Her heart was racing, her hands were shaking, and every breath felt like work.

The conference call lasted forty-five minutes. Forty-five minutes of polite accusations and barely concealed threats. Victoria used every ounce of her remaining strength to project confidence, to reassure Henderson's board that Kane Industries was stable and secure.

By the time she hung up, she was soaked in sweat.

"We saved the Henderson account," Webb said with relief. "But there are six more calls scheduled for this afternoon."

Victoria tried to respond, but the words wouldn't come. The boardroom was spinning now, and the tight pain in her chest was spreading down her left arm.

"Ma'am?"

Victoria reached for her water glass, but her hand wouldn't cooperate. The glass fell, shattering against the floor in a spray of crystal and water.

"Call an ambulance," Webb shouted to someone.

Victoria felt herself falling, the expensive Persian rug rushing up to meet her. The last thing she remembered was the sound of her phone ringing and someone saying Camille's name.

*** ** **

Camille burst through the hospital doors like a hurricane, her face white with panic. She'd been in Victoria's garden when Webb called, trying to make sense of her marriage falling apart, when the news hit her like a truck.

Victoria had collapsed. Victoria was in the ICU. Victoria might be dying.

she?" Camille demanded at

but visiting

the hall, her heels clicking against the polished floor. She pushed through the ICU doors without

smaller than Camille had ever seen her. Tubes and wires connected her to machines that beeped and hummed with

taking her hand. The skin felt paper-thin and

didn't respond. Her eyes remained closed, her face

said Dr. Martinez, appearing beside the bed. "The stress caused severe complications with her cancer recovery. Her blood pressure spiked dangerously high, and we had to put

her eyes. "Is she going

Her body has been through tremendous strain, and the cancer markers are

"Can she hear me?"

You can talk to

Victoria's bed, holding her hand and watching the monitors. This was her fault. Victoria was fighting for her life because Camille had abandoned her during the crisis. Because she'd been so consumed with her own problems that she'd left Victoria to face

to Victoria's still form. "I should have been here. I should have helped you instead of running away to deal with my own mess." The door opened quietly, and Camille looked up expecting to see a nurse. Instead, Alexander walked in, his face etched with genuine

here?"

I wanted to see if

"You're not welcome here."

the bed, his eyes taking

her

wanted? Victoria Kane

her to get sick. I never

Just emotionally." Camille stood up, placing herself between Alexander and Victoria's bed. "You've been systematically destroying her

That part was

love while the woman who saved my life is fighting for hers because of what

crumpled. "Camille, if I could

the

the months of lies. You can't undo using our marriage as a weapon

destroyed my uncle. She covered up deaths

Victoria needed quiet. "Who told you that, Alexander? Who

than the woman you

jaw

to destroy our

"It doesn't matter who..."

"It matters because whoever it was manipulated you into breaking my heart. It

speaks for

Convenient timing right before our engagement? Someone wanted you to believe Victoria was guilty,

unconscious form, doubt flickering in his eyes

under false pretenses and spent

"That's not true."

Alexander I fell in love

trusted me enough to

future

her, but Camille stepped

Don't

can work through this. We

used me, Alexander. You used our love, our marriage, our life together as a cover for

this. My

instead of just using me? Before or after you installed surveillance equipment to photograph Victoria at our wedding? Before

briefcase?"