SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 233

The gardens at Victoria's estate bloomed with late spring flowers as guests gathered under white silk tents for an occasion that felt both familiar and entirely new. Six months had passed since James Whitfield's arrest, six months of healing and rebuilding and learning to trust in love again.

Camille stood in the estate's master bedroom, looking at herself in the antique mirror as Victoria helped her adjust the simple cream-colored dress she had chosen for the ceremony. This wasn't the elaborate wedding gown she had worn for her first marriage to Alexander - this dress was elegant but understated, chosen for comfort rather than spectacle.

"Are you nervous?" Victoria asked, fastening the pearl necklace that had belonged to her own mother around Camille's neck.

"Not nervous," Camille replied, touching the pearls gently. "Excited. Ready. This feels different from the first time."

"Different how?"

Camille turned to face Victoria, seeing her adoptive mother looking healthy and strong for the first time since her cancer diagnosis. The months of recovery had been good for both of them, allowing them to rebuild their relationship on foundations of truth rather than the secrets that had almost destroyed them.

"The first time I married Alexander, I was marrying the man I thought he was. Today I'm marrying the man I know he is - flaws and mistakes and all." Camille's voice carried a certainty that hadn't been there during her first wedding. "I'm marrying someone who has hurt me and disappointed me, but who has also fought for us when it mattered most."

Victoria smiled, remembering her own second chance at love after her husband's death. "That's what real love looks like. Not the fairy tale version where everything is perfect, but the grown-up version where you choose each other despite knowing exactly who you're choosing."

A soft knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Alexander's voice came through the wood, warm with affection and anticipation.

"Camille? I know it's bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony, but I have something for you."

Camille opened the door to find Alexander standing in the hallway, handsome in his dark suit but somehow more relaxed than she had ever seen him. He held a small wrapped box in his hands.

"What is this?" Camille asked, accepting the gift.

"Something I should have given you the first time we got married, instead of surveillance equipment and hidden agendas." Alexander's voice carried both regret for the past and hope for the future.

Camille unwrapped the box to reveal a delicate bracelet made of intertwined silver and gold bands. The craftsmanship was exquisite, but it was the engraving on the inside that made her breath catch: "To new beginnings and honest love - A."

"Alexander, it's beautiful."

"I had it made by the same jeweler who created your engagement ring. But this time, there are no hidden meanings or secret purposes. It's just a gift from your husband to his wife, given with complete honesty about who I am and what I'm promising you."

Camille felt tears starting as Alexander fastened the bracelet around her wrist. The weight of it felt perfect, substantial enough to remind her of his presence but delicate enough to wear every day.

you promising

our marriage over everything else, every day, for the rest of my life. I'm promising you complete honesty, even when the truth is difficult or painful.

heart swell with happiness for the couple who had survived so much manipulation and betrayal to find their way back to each

what are you promising him?" Victoria asked

man who had been manipulated into betraying her, who had nearly lost her to his own need for

even when it's tested. I'm promising him that I will fight for our marriage instead of running away when things get difficult. I'm promising

wash over him as he heard Camille's vows. This was what he had always wanted but had been too consumed by grief and manipulation to recognize

Alexander said, stepping back from the doorway. "The guests are starting to arrive,

first

later, Camille walked down the garden path between rows of white chairs filled with the people who mattered most to them. Her parents sat in the front row, their faces showing pride and relief that their daughter had found happiness again. Senator Alvarez had flown in from Washington to witness the ceremony, his

officiant for the ceremony. As the head of the family that had been rebuilt through choice rather than blood, Victoria had asked

with joy. He stood with his

working with Stefan to help plan this ceremony, their own relationship

hands and looked into

marriage, but to celebrate the renewal of vows between two people who have learned what love really means," Victoria began, Ker voice carrying clearly across the garden. "Alexander and Camille have faced betrayal, manipulation, and the kind

looked at both of them with the pride of a mother watching her

about finding someone worth fighting for, someone worth forgiving, someone worth choosing again and again

I thought I was." Camille's voice

their commitment to each other, Alexander and Camille kissed with the passion of people who had almost

those who understood

that followed

and laughter and the kind of

the sun began to set over

the small stage where a string quartet had been

his voice carrying a

Hannah look up from her conversation with Victoria. "I have

need to say."

their attention to Stefan as he stood on the stage, looking out at the crowd with the

I understood what love meant. I thought love was about

and dramatic

eyes found Hannah in the crowd, and his voice grew stronger. "But watching Alexander and Camille rebuild their marriage taught me that real love is much simpler and

heart beginning to race as she realized