SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 81

Camille's phone buzzed on her nightstand, pulling her from a dreamless sleep. The screen glowed with

Alexander's name. Not a text message, but an actual call at, she squinted, 5:36 AM. "Hello?” Her voice was

rough with sleep.

"Look out your window." Alexander's voice held an energy that made her sit up straight.

"It's not even dawn," she protested, but was already moving to the floor-to-

ceiling glass that showcased the Manhattan skyline.

"East. Toward the water."

Camille pressed her forehead against the cool glass, eyes searching the

horizon where night was reluctantly giving way to morning. "What am | looking for?"

"Wait for it."

As if on cue, the first ray of sunlight broke across the water, igniting the glass towers of

the financial district

in gold and fire. But it wasn't just the buildings that caught the light. An enormous structure floated in the

harbor, a ship unlike any

Camille had seen before. Its vast deck gleamed with what appeared to be thousands of mirrored

panels catching the sunrise.

iS Hf Ee”

"RISING EX WIFE. My company's first fully solar-

powered cargo vessel." Pride shimmered in Alexander's voice. "She dropped anchor twenty minutes ago after

her maiden voyage from Rotterdam. Zero emissions. Zero fossil fuels."

Camille stared at the vessel, understanding immediately what this meant for their Phoenix Grid project. "You

didn't tellit was ready."

"Ssurprises are worth

keeping." A pause. "Get dressed. I'm sending a helicopter to the roof in thirty

minutes. Bring shoes you don't mind getting wet."

Before she could respond, the line went dead.

Victoria would disapprove, Camille thought as she showered quickly. This kind of impulsivity wasn't in the careful

script they'd crafted for Camille Kane's public persona. But as warm water cascaded over her sh what Victoria

would think. For the first tin two years, she wanted to make

a choice simply because it felt right.

The helicopter touched down exactly thirty minutes later. Alexander waited

inside, dressed in worn jeans and a light sweater, looking

nothing like the billionaire CEO the world knew. The

silver rose pendant she'd returned to her at their dinner

hung around her neck, a small weight against her collarbone.

"You're going to upend the entire shipping industry with this," Camille said as they lifted off, gesturing toward the

gleaming vessel growing larger as they approached.

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"We're going to upend it," Alexander corrected. “RISING EX WIFE is just the beginning. With the Phoenix Grid

providing charging stations in every major port, we'll make dirty shipping obsolete within a decade.’ The

confidence in his voice stirred something in Camille, not the

cold, calculated determination that had driven her revenge, but something warmer, more vital. This was

creation, not destruction. Building, not tearing down.

They landed on the massive ship's helipad, where a small group of engineers waited to greet them. As Alexander

made introductions, Camille noticed something unusual about the team, their easy camaraderie absence of the

typical deference shown to billionaire CEOS, the way they rolled their eyes

at his technical questions.

"You worked on this personally," she realized aloud.

Alexander's cheeks flushed slightly. "I have a degree in engineering most people don't know about. This project

was too important to delegate entirely."

One of the engineers, a woman with steel-gray hair and weathered

hands, snorted. "He means he drove us crazy for three years, sleeping in the lab and

redoing our calculations at 3 AM."

They toured the vessel from bow

to stern. Alexander explained how the flexible solar

panels that covered the deck could capture energy even in cloudy conditions, how the hydrogen fuel cells stored

power for nighttsailing, how

the Al navigation system optimized routes based on weather patterns to maximize efficiency.

"It's revolutionary," Camille said as they stood at the ship's bow, the Manhattan skyline spread

before them. "But the cost must be astronomical. How will shipping companies afford to convert their fleets?"

Alexander's eyes sparkled with something that looked like mischief. "They won't have to.... we'll do it for them."

"What do you mean?"

"I've created a separate foundation

with five billion in initial funding. We'll convert existing cargo ships to solar at no cost to the companies, in

exchange for a small percentage of their increased profits for five years. After that, the technology belon them

completely."

Camille stared at him. "That's... that's not how business usually works."

"Maybe it should be." Alexander

turned to face her fully. "Sinnovations are too important to be held hostage by traditional profit models.

Climate change won't wait for quarterly

earnings reports."

Something shifted in Camille's chest, a recognition of the man standing before her. Not the calculated helper

who had assisted her revenge, not the powerful CEO, but someone who had taken his own pain and "You're not

who | thought you were," she said softly.

"Neither are you." His gaze was steady. "Camille Lewis had compassion that saved a stranger on a dark road.

Camille Kane has the power to reshape industries. I'm interested in the woman who combines both The morning

sun had fully

risen now, bathing them in light that felt almost too bright, too revealing. Camille turned away, overwhelmed by

the intensity in

his eyes.

"Con," Alexander said, sensing her discomfort. "There's one more thing | want to show you."

He led her to a small cabin tucked away from the

bridge. Inside, a simple desk held a computer and a framed photograph. Camille recognized Alexander, several

years younger, standing beside a petite woman with kind eyes.

"This was Ruth Chen," he said, touching the frgently. "The engineer who developed the original flexible solar

technology we're using. She died of cancer three years ago, before she could see her work implemented. Her

last request was that we nthe first vessel after

her favorite childhood book."

"RISING EX WIFE BY ANNYPEN" Camille murmured.

"A ship that sails to the edge

of the world and beyond." Alexander's voice was quiet. "Ruth believed innovation should serve humanity, not

just shareholders. The week before she died, she madepromise that when this ship finally sailed profit or

prestige, but because it was right."

Camille felt tears pricking her

eyes, unexpected and unwelcome. She blinked them away. "Is that why you were so determined to help me?

Because

it was right?"

Alexander considered this, then

shook his head. "No. | helped you because | owed you a debt. But somewhere along the way, it becabout

more than that."

"What did it becabout?" Camille's heart hammered in her chest.

Instead of answering directly, Alexander opened a drawer

and removed a worn leather journal. “Ruth kept this during the development process. Her technical notes, but

also her philosophy.

"He handed it to Camille. "Page seventy-three."

Camille carefully opened

the journal to the marked page, where a single paragraph had been highlighted:

*True power isn't in what we take from others, but in what

we create. Destruction is easy, a match can burn down a forest in hours that took centuries to grow. But

creation? Creation is the real magic. It requires faith that what doesn't yet exist can be brought into being

through persistence and vision.*

Camille's hand trembled slightly as she closed the journal. "Why are you showingthis?"

"Because you stand at a crossroads." Alexander's voice was gentle but firm. "Your revenge is complete. Rose and

Stefan are destroyed. Your parents are cut from your life. Victoria has given you everything she promised. But

now comes the harder part."

"What's that?"

"Deciding who you want to be when you're not defined by what was done to you." He took the journal and

returned it to the drawer. "Ruth taughtthat our greatest power lies not in

defeating enemies, but in creating something they could never imagine."

Camille walked to the cabin's small window, watching seagulls wheel

above the water. Victoria would say you're trying to manipulate me."

"Victoria transformed your

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pain into a weapon. I'm suggesting you transform it into something else."

"Like what?"

Alexander moved to

stand beside her, close but not touching. "The Phoenix Foundation you announced at the gala, it could be more

than just a symbolic gesture. You could build something that helps women rebuild after betrayal, that creates

real protection and opportunity."

"With your help, | assume?" Camille couldn't keep the edge from her voice.

"With or without me. That's your choice." Alexander's

eyes held hers. "But I'd like it to be with me."

The directness of his statement caught her off guard. "Why?"

"Because I've spent five years watching you from a distance, first with

gratitude, then with concern, then with

admiration. Because I've never met anyone who could walk through fire and

emerge stronger. Because when I'm with you, | remember that business and power are means, not

ends."

He stepped closer, still not touching her. "And because when you look at

me, you see

Alexander, not

the Pierce fortune or the company legacy. Just as | see Camille, not the woman who savedor the avenger

Victoria created."

The cabin suddenly felt too small, too intimate. Camille moved past him to

the door. "I need to think."

"I know." Alexander didn't try to stop her. "Take all the tyou need."

Back on the deck, Camille breathed deeply, trying to steady herself. New York gleamed in the morning light, its

towers reaching toward the sky like ambitions made concrete and glass.

The helicopter pilot approached, asking if she was ready to

return to the city. Camille hesitated, looking back toward the cabin where Alexander remained.

"Ms. Kane?" the pilot prompted.

"Not yet," she said, surprising herself. "I have something

to discuss with Mr. Pierce first."

As she walked back toward the cabin, Camille felt the weight of the silver rose pendant against her skin, a

small reminder of who she had been before pain and betrayal, before revenge and rebirth. Not a blueprint to

follow, but a foundation

to build upon.

She paused at the

cabin door, her hand on the handle, aware that whatever choice she made now would shape not just her

relationship with

Alexander, but the woman she would becafter the flames of revenge had cooled.

Camille took a deep breath and opened the door.