SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan) novel Chapter 232

Chapter 232

Camille sat in the back seat of the black sedan as it approached the women's correctional facility upstate, her hands trembling with nervous energy. Two weeks had passed since her rescue, two weeks of thinking about Rose's unexpected act of salvation, two weeks of remembering the sister she had once loved before everything went wrong between them.

Alexander sat beside her, his face showing concern and uncertainty about this decision she had made against everyone's advice.

"Are you sure about this?" Alexander asked for the tenth time since they had left Manhattan. "Camille, you don't owe Rose anything, not even gratitude. She tried to have you killed."

"She also saved my life," Camille replied, her voice steady despite the emotions churning in her chest. "Alexander, I need to see her. I need to look into her eyes and understand who she really is underneath all the hatred and manipulation."

The correctional facility loomed ahead of them, a gray concrete structure surrounded by razor wire and guard towers that spoke of punishment rather than rehabilitation. Camille felt her stomach tighten as she realized this was where Rose had been living for months, paying the price for her crimes against her own family.

The visiting room was stark and institutional, with plastic chairs and metal tables bolted to the floor. Fluorescent lights cast harsh shadows that made everyone look pale and tired. Other inmates sat with their visitors, speaking in hushed tones about family news and legal appeals and the small details of life on the outside.

Camille chose a table near the window, where natural light softened the harsh atmosphere slightly. She had dressed simply in jeans and a blue sweater, wanting to look like herself rather than the successful businesswoman or the Kane Industries heiress. Today, she was just Camille Lewis, coming to see her sister.

When Rose entered the visiting room, Camille felt her breath catch in her throat. Rose looked smaller than she remembered, thinner, with her naturally blonde hair grown out to show dark roots. The expensive clothes and perfect makeup were gone, replaced by the standard prison uniform that made her look younger and more vulnerable.

But it was Rose's eyes that shocked Camille the most. The calculating coldness that had defined her sister for so many years was gone, replaced by something raw and uncertain that looked almost like fear.

Rose walked slowly toward Camille's table, her steps hesitant as if she wasn't sure she would be welcome. When she reached the chair across from Camille, she stood for a moment, just staring at her sister's face.

"You came," Rose said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I didn't think you would ever want to see me again."

"I almost didn't," Camille admitted. "But I needed to understand why you helped save my life. I needed to see you one more time."

Rose sat down carefully, her hands folded in her lap like a child who was afraid of being scolded. For a moment, neither sister spoke, both of them processing the strangeness of being in the same room again after everything that had happened.

"You look good," Rose said finally. "Healthy. Happy. I'm glad Alexander is taking care of you."

Camille studied Rose's face, looking for signs of the manipulation and false sincerity that had characterized so many of their interactions over the years. But what she saw instead was genuine relief, as if Rose was truly glad to see that Camille had survived and was thriving.

"Rose, why did you help us find where James was holding me and Victoria?"

Rose was quiet for a long moment, staring at her hands as she struggled to find words for feelings she had buried under years of hatred and jealousy.

"Because when James described what he was planning to do to you, I realized something," Rose said, her voice growing stronger. "I realized that I had spent so many years being angry at you for having the life I wanted that I forgot you were the only person who ever really loved me."

Camille felt tears starting to burn her eyes at Rose's words.

"When we were teenagers, when I was scared or lonely or angry at the world, you were the one who sat with me. You were the one who listened when I told you about the foster homes, about feeling like I didn't belong anywhere." Rose's voice cracked with emotion. "You were my sister before you were my enemy."

"What changed, Rose? What made you start hating me instead of loving me?"

Rose lifted her head and looked directly at Camille for the first time since sitting down. "Fear. Fear that I wasn't good enough to keep your love. Fear that Mom and Dad would eventually get tired of me and send me back. Fear that you would realize I wasn't worth being your sister."

"Rose, that never would have happened."

"But I didn't know that. All I knew was that you had everything I wanted - parents who loved you unconditionally, confidence that you belonged somewhere, the security of knowing you would never be abandoned again." Rose's tears were flowing freely now. "Instead of being grateful that you shared your family with me, I became resentful that it wasn't mine by birth."

Camille reached across the table and took Rose's hands, feeling how cold and small they were. "Rose, you were my sister by choice. That should have made it more special, not less."

"I know that now. But back then, all I could see was what I didn't have instead of what I did have." Rose squeezed Camille's hands tightly. "And by the time I realized how much I had thrown away, it was too late. I had already hurt you too badly to ask for forgiveness."

"It's not too late now," Camille said softly.

Rose stared at her sister in disbelief. "Camille, I tried to have you killed. I hired men to attack you in that parking garage. I spent years manipulating and undermining you. How can you even consider forgiving me?"