SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

Chapter 42

Rose stared

at Stefan, the wedding invitation sample still clutched in her hand. The gold- embossed lettering seemed to

mock her now.

"What do you mean, postponed?" Her voice cout too high, too tight.

Stefan loosened his tie, exhaustion etched into every line of his face. "Just what | said. We need to push the

wedding back. Until things stabilize with the company.

"Push it back? Push it back?" The invitation crumpled in her grip. "We've sent save-

the-dates to three hundred people. The venue is booked. The deposit is paid!"

"I know." Stefan moved to the bar, pouring himself a drink without offering her one. "My father made it a

condition of his help with the company. No distractions. Full focus on saving what's left."

Rose watched him toss back expensive scotch like it was water. The careful control she'd maintained all these

years

began to slip."Your father doesn't control our lives."

"He controls the board. He controls the family shares. Right now, he's the only thing standing betweenand

complete professional ruin." Stefan poured another drink. It's just a few months. Once | save the c

"If you save the company," Rose corrected, her voice laced with venom. "Let's be honest, Stefan. Your business is

sinking, and you have no idea who's behind it."

He flinched as if she'd slapped him. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I'm being realistic." She advanced on him, the crushed invitation still in her hand. "We've planned this wedding

for a year. A year!

Everyone who matters in New York will be there. This is our moment, Stefan. Our time!"

"Our time?" He turned to face her, something hardening in his expression. "My company is crashing. My family

legacy is at risk. And you're worried about a party?"

"A party?" The words cout as a strangled laugh. "Is that what you think this is? Just a party?" "Rose"

She hurled the crumpled invitation at his head. It bounced harmlessly off his shoulder, but the action broke

something loose inside her. All the careful planning, the years of manipulation, the patient waiting, all th "Do you

have any idea

what I've done for this wedding? For is?" She grabbed a crystal vase from the side table, feeling its weight in her

hands. "The people I've cultivated. The connections I've built. All to ensure our place in society!"

The vase shattered against the wall inches from his head, water and flowers exploding across imported

wallpaper. Stefan stared at her, shock replacing exhaustion. "Jesus, Rase! What's wrong with you?" "What's

wrong with me?" She seized a framed photo of them, ripping it from the wall. "What's wrong with you? First you

let someone destroy your company piece by piece, and now you're letting your father dict The frjoined the

vase, glass flying across the room.

"Stop it!" Stefan grabbed for her arms, but she twisted away, snatching a bottle from the bar.

"After everything | did to have you," she hissed, "after everything, | sacrificed...."

"What you sacrificed?" Stefan stepped back, something like suspicion dawning in his eyes. "What exactly did

you. sacrifice, Rose?"

The question hung between them, dangerous, unanswerable. For a moment, she froze, bottle raised mid-

swing. Then the rage took over again. The bottle smashed against the marble fireplace, alcohol spraying across

family photos, across the custom rug they'd chosen together, across his perfect white shirt.

"| waited for you!" The words tore from her throat. "While you played husband to my pathetic sister! While you

built your little life with her! | waited!"

Each accusation accompanied another act of destruction. A crystal paperweight through the television screen. A

chair overturned, Books swept from shelves.

Stefan backed away, watching her rampage with growing horror, "Rose, you need to calm down. This isn't about

Camille..."

"Everything is about Camille!" she screamed, the nlike poison on her tongue. "Poor, sweet Camille who

everyone loved. Camille who got everything handed to her while | had to fight for every scrap!"

"She's gone, Rose." Stefan's voice held an edge she'd never heard before. "She's dead. And you're destroying

our hover a postponed wedding."

Rose froze, breathing hard, surrounded by the wreckage of their perfect apartment. Something in his tone cut

through her rage. Something knowing. Questioning.

"She's dead," Rose agreed, sudden caution threading through her anger.

"And I'm your future. Not your father's company. Not your family legacy. Me."

She advanced on him again, broken glass crunching under her designer heels. "I've invested too much in us to

postpone now. Too much time. Too much planning. Too many sacrifices." Stefan stood his ground, studying her

with

new eyes. "What exactly did you do, Rose? When Camille disappeared?"

The question struck like lightning, unexpected and searing. Had he suspected all along? Had he seen through her

careful manipulations?

Rose forced

her breathing to steady, her mind racing through the implications. "What are you asking me, Stefan?" "Nothing."

He looked away, the moment breaking, "Nothing Just.. this isn't the Rose | know." She laughed, the sound brittle

and sharp. "Maybe you never knewat all."

Silence fell between them, broken only by the sound of something expensive dripping onto the ruined carpet.

Rose surveyed the destruction she'd caused, feeling no regret. Let him see this side of her. Let him "The wedding

is postponed," Stefan said finally, his voice fat. "My father gaveone month to save the company. After that,

we can

discuss dates again."

"One month." Rose smoothed her skirt, stepping over broken glass toward him. "And if you fail? If the company

crashes completely?" "Then we start over." He met her eyes. "Together. If that's still what you want."

The question hung between them, unexpected and revealing.

"Of course e it's what | want." She reached for his face, cupping his cheek with one hand. "We're meant to be

together, Stefan. We always were."

He caught her wrist, holding it just tight enough to be uncomfortable. "Then you'll wait. One month."

Something in his grip, in his eyes, warned her not to push forther. The Stefan she'd manipulated so easily

seemed suddenly absent, replaced by someone harder, Someone watchful.

"Fine." She twisted her wrist free. "One month. But when is is over, nothing stops our wedding. Not your father.

Not your company. Nothing."

"Agreed." He moved past her toward the door. "I'll stay at the family estate tonight. Give you tto calm down.

Rose watched him leave, not trusting herself to speak again When the door closed behind him, she surveyed the

destroyed apartment, broken glass glittering like diamonds across every surface.

Her phone buzzed, another message from the wedding plater asking about flower arrangements. With a scream

of pure frustration, she hurled it against the wall, watching it shatter like everything else in her pe

One month. She could wait one month. She'd waited years to have Stefan, played a long, patient game. What

was one more month?

But as she stood amid the wreckage of their home, a new fear crept through her rage. The way Stefan had

looked at her. The questions about Camille. The sudden hardening In his manner.

For the first tsince Camille's "accident," Rose wondered if her carefully constructed world might be built on

shifting sand.