SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Alexander stood on their villa's balcony, watching the Italian sunset paint the sky

in shades of orange and purple. Behind him, Camille slept deeply, exhausted from their day exploring Capri's winding streets and hidden coves. Her soft breathing carried through the open door, a steady rhythm that should have brought him

peace.

Instead, his mind wandered back to New York, to a day that had changed everything. Two days before his engagement party. Two days before he'd committed to building a life with Camille.

The memory hit him with physical force, as vivid now as it had been then.

*** ***

Rain had pounded the windows of his Manhattan penthouse. Alexander had been reviewing contracts when his doorman called up.

"Package for you, Mr. Pierce. No delivery service, just left at the desk."

The plain manila envelope sat on his kitchen counter for an hour before he opened it. No markings, no return address. Just his name typed on a white label.

When he finally slit it open, several documents slid out onto the marble surface. The top sheet, a typed note, said only: *The truth about your uncle's death and the woman who caused it.*

His first instinct had been to trash it. Crackpot conspiracy theories about his family weren't uncommon when you had Pierce's money and profile. But something made him look at the second page.

An internal Kane Industries memo with Victoria's signature. Subject line: *Meridian Technologies - Pierce Vulnerability Assessment.*

Alexander's coffee had gone cold beside him as he read through each page. Internal psychological profiles of his uncle. Strategy documents outlining how to exploit Richard Pierce's financial weaknesses and "known emotional instability." A systematic plan to isolate him from business allies and financial lifelines.

Meeting minutes with Victoria's handwritten notes in the margins: *"R.P. showing signs of extreme stress. Push harder."*

The final document had been a photocopy of his uncle's suicide note, with a section highlighted: *"Victoria Kane has taken everything. There's nothing left."* Alexander remembered dropping into a chair, room spinning around him. Each breath had felt like drowning. The coffee cup had slipped from his hand, shattering on the floor, the sound barely registering.

Victoria Kane. The woman who had saved Camille from death. The woman who had rebuilt her. The woman whose company he was meant to celebrate with in two days at his engagement party.

Alexander had gathered the papers with shaking hands, placing them back in the envelope. He'd walked to his office safe and locked them away. Then he'd called the only person who might know if they were real.

James Whitfield, his uncle's former business partner.

"Where did you get these?" James had asked, voice tight with emotion when Alexander described the contents.

"Anonymous delivery. Are they legitimate?"

The long pause had told him everything before James even spoke. "Yes. I've been trying to prove what she did for years. After Richard's death, she buried everything. Paid people off. Threatened others. I had pieces, but never the complete picture."

Alexander had gripped the phone so hard his fingers ached. "Why send them to me? Why now?"

"Someone wants you to know who you're really dealing with before you marry into her family."

The engagement party had been in forty-eight hours. Months of planning. Hundreds of guests. And Camille, beautiful, trusting Camille, who loved Victoria like a mother.

"What did you do when you found out?" Alexander had asked.

Another painful silence. "I tried to fight her legally. Spent every penny I had. She buried me, just like she buried Richard. Made sure I couldn't work in tech again."

Alexander had looked out his window at the rain-soaked city. "I need to confirm these myself."

"Be careful," James had warned. "Victoria Kane destroys anyone who threatens what she values. And she values her relationship with Camille above everything."

The next day, Alexander had used resources only a Pierce could access, calling in favors from investigators who could breach Kane Industries' security without leaving traces. By midnight, he'd had confirmation, the documents were genuine. Victoria Kane had deliberately targeted his uncle, knowing his vulnerabilities, pushing until he broke.

Until he tied a noose and stepped off a chair in his home office, where Twenty- one-year-old Alexander would find him hours later.

*** ****

Now, standing on an Italian balcony, Alexander stared at his reflection in the glass door. Behind him, Camille stirred in their bed, murmuring something in her sleep.

The morning after confirming the documents authenticity, he had stood in front of his bathroom mirror making a vow. He would see Victoria done

Kane destroyed for what sho

to his uncle. He would dismantle everything she had built, piece by piece. He would make her feel the same helplessness his uncle had felt before he died.

But first, he needed to get close enough. Close enough that she would never see him coming.

That evening, he'd attended his engagement party. He'd smiled. He'd thanked Victoria for her heartfelt toast. He'd kissed Camille under glittering chandeliers while photographers captured the perfect moment.

Not one person had noticed the cold hatred burning inside him as Victoria embraced him, welcoming him to the family.

Something had changed, though, in the months since. Something unexpected and dangerous. He had fallen truly, deeply in love with Camille. Not part of his plan. Not part of his vow.

Now, each step toward destroying Victoria meant risking the woman he loved more than his own life. Each new piece of evidence his team uncovered from Kane Industries' archives twisted the knife of his impossible choice.

Behind him, the sliding door opened. Camille stepped onto the balcony, hair tousled from sleep, wearing only his shirt.

"You're thinking too loudly," she said, wrapping her arms around him from behind. "I could hear your brain working from the bed."

Alexander forced a smile, turning to face her. "Just planning our day tomorrow." She studied his face with those perceptive eyes that missed nothing. Victoria had trained her well. "You looked sad when I first saw you. Is everything okay?"

For one wild moment, he considered telling her everything. Showing her the digital copies of the documents he kept in his encrypted phone. Explaining why he sometimes woke drenched in sweat, the image of his uncle's hanging body still vivid in his mind.

The moment passed.

"Everything's perfect," he lied, kissing her forehead. "Just missing home a little." "We can go back early if you want."

"No," he said quickly. Too quickly. "These weeks with you have been the happiest of my life."

This, at least, wasn't a lie. Despite the weight of his secret mission, despite the daily communications with his team digging through Kane Industries' past, despite the constant fear of discovery-these moments with Camille had shown him a joy he'd forgotten could exist.

She smiled up at him, the last rays of sunset catching in her eyes. "Mine too."

Later, as she stept against his chest, Alexander stared at the ceiling, the familiar war raging inside him. The envelope that had arrived that rainy day had set him on a path of revenge that felt righteous and clear. James Whitfield had helped him assemble a team of investigators and hackers who could access the records Victoria thought were buried forever.

Each day brought new evidence of her ruthlessness, new proof that his uncle's death hadn't been an unfortunate side effect but a calculated outcome. Each night brought Camille's warmth and trust.

His phone buzzed softly on the nightstand. Another message from his team, labeled only "Guardian" in his contacts.

*New documents recovered from archives. Victoria personally directed forensic accountants to fabricate evidence of Pierce Enterprises' insolvency. Created false impression with creditors that company was failing. Triggered loan recalls that drove final crisis.*

Alexander read the message twice, fresh fury building in his chest. They had faked financial reports to trick his uncle's lenders into pulling support. That went beyond aggressive business tactics into outright fraud.

He started typing a response, but stopped when Camille shifted against him. His fingers hovered over the screen, torn between the promise he'd made to his uncle's memory and the promise he'd made to Camille at the altar. "Victoria Kane has taken everything," his uncle's note had said. But that wasn't quite true, was it? She hadn't taken Camille. Not yet. But she would lose her when the truth came out. And Alexander would be the one responsible.

He set the phone down without responding, drawing Camille closer. Tomorrow he would answer. Tomorrow he would continue the hunt through Victoria's sins. Tomorrow he would move one step closer to fulfilling his vow.

Tonight, in the darkness of their Italian villa, he allowed himself to imagine a different outcome. One where his love for Camille somehow coexisted with justice for his uncle. One where the envelope had never arrived at his door two days before their engagement party.noveldrama

But such dreams evaporated with the coming dawn, burned away by the harsh light of memory, his twenty one years self cutting down his uncle's body, the sound of the 911 operator asking him to describe exactly what he was seeing, the cold certainty that someone was responsible for pushing Richard Pierce past his breaking point.

Now he knew exactly who that someone was. The woman Camille called mother.

The woman who had given his wife a second chance at life.

The woman he had sworn to destroy.

Alexander closed his eyes, the familiar ache settling in his chest. Even here, in paradise with the woman he loved, the envelope's contents haunted him, driving him toward a reckoning that could cost him everything.

The path forward remained unclear. Only one thing was certain, the moment Victoria Kane discovered what he knew, what he was doing, what he had vowed

in front of his bathroom mirror that rain-soaked morning, their carefully

constructed world would shatter beyond repair.

And Camille, innocent of all this, would be caught in the explosion.