SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 202

Chapter 202

Camille sat in the hospital cafeteria, staring at a cup of coffee that had gone cold hours ago. She hadn't left the hospital since Victoria's collapse two days earlier. The doctors said Victoria's condition was stable but critical. The sedation would continue for at least another day while her body fought to recover from the stress- induced complications.

The cafeteria smelled like disinfectant and overcooked vegetables. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting everything in harsh white light that made everyone look sick. Camille felt sick too, but not from the lighting. She felt sick from the weight of everything falling apart around her.

Kane Industries was bleeding money. Stock prices had dropped another fifteen percent since Victoria's hospitalization. Major investors were pulling out, citing concerns about leadership stability. The board was demanding emergency meetings that Camille wasn't prepared to handle alone.

And Alexander kept calling.

She'd blocked his number after the fifth call, but he found ways around it. Messages through his assistant. Emails to her work account. Even a handwritten letter delivered to the hospital. All saying the same thing: he was sorry, he wanted to explain, he needed her to understand.

Camille didn't want to understand. Understanding would mean acknowledging that part of her still loved him. That part of her wanted to believe his feelings had been real, even if everything else was a lie.

"Camille?"

She looked up to see Stefan Rodriguez standing beside her table. He looked tired, older than his years, wearing a simple black sweater instead of his usual expensive suits. His left shoulder was still stiff from the bullet he'd taken saving her from Rose.

"Stefan? What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how Victoria is doing. And to see how you're holding up."

Camille laughed, but it sounded more like a sob. "I'm not holding up. I'm drowning."

Stefan sat down across from her without being invited. "I know the feeling." They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment. Stefan was the last person Camille had expected to see. Their relationship had been complicated since he'd saved her life. She'd forgiven him for the affair with Rose, but forgiveness didn't erase history. It didn't make their conversations easy.

"I heard about you and Alexander," Stefan said quietly.

"Did you?" Camille's voice was bitter. "What exactly did you hear?"

"That he's been investigating Victoria. That he believes she's responsible for his uncle's death." Stefan paused. "That your marriage is over."

Camille's throat tightened. Hearing the words out loud made them more real. "It was never a real marriage to begin with."

"That's not true."

"How would you know?"

Stefan met her eyes. "Because I know what it looks like when someone loves you genuinely, and I know what it looks like when someone is using you. I did both to you."

The honesty in his voice caught Camille off guard. "Stefan—"

"Alexander loved you first. Before he knew about Victoria, before anyone told him about his uncle. I saw it at your engagement party. The way he looked at you wasn't calculated. It was real."

"It doesn't matter now."

"Doesn't it? If someone manipulated him into believing Victoria was guilty, if someone used his grief to turn him against you, doesn't that change things?"

Camille stared at her cold coffee. "He still chose revenge over our marriage. He still lied to me for months. He still used our wedding as cover for surveillance."

did. And that was wrong. But the question is whether he was

"Why do you care?"

a long moment. "Because I know what it's like to

anything. You saved my life. We're

not." Stefan leaned forward. "You gave me a second chance when you had every right to hate me forever. You let me help with

the genuine regret in his eyes. The same regret that had driven him to take a

"What are you saying?"

saying let me help you investigate Alexander's claims about Victoria. Let me help you find out if someone has been manipulating all of

want to

is innocent, she deserves to have her name cleared. And if Alexander

any more betrayals, Stefan. I can't discover that

out if Victoria was telling the truth or if Alexander

don't know how to investigate something like this. I

"I've been looking into Alexander's uncle already. Victoria asked me to investigate Alexander's

at the

attackers. She wanted to know if Alexander

"Show me."

"These are the official court records

her heart sinking with each page. The safety violations were clear. The worker complaints that Richard Pierce had ignored. The shortcuts his company had taken

match what Alexander showed me,"

Alexander

Victoria as the villain. Said

"I'd like to see that journal. And

to me. And even if

to

cafeteria door opened, and Hannah Zhao walked in. Kane Industries' chief engineer

looking for you." Hannah sat down beside them.

to Stefan. "Hannah, this

"The Stefan Rodriguez?

"That's me. Though I'd prefer to be known for something else

the allegations against Victoria," Camille explained. "He thinks someone might have manipulated

interested. "What kind of

safety violations and destroyed Richard Pierce's company to hide her crimes," Stefan

"I've worked with Victoria for five years. She's obsessive about safety protocols. She'd rather lose money than risk

the documents Alexander has seem real.

"Can

share

"I can analyze digital documents for signs of manipulation. Altered timestamps, inconsistent formatting, metadata that doesn't

and Camille exchanged glances. "You can do

do more than that. If someone created

leaves traces that are

still need access to Alexander's evidence," Stefan pointed

the first time in days. "Leave that to me. Alexander's been sharing files with Kane Industries systems for months as part of the Phoenix Grid project. His

documents are on

system..."

access