SCORNED EX WIFE Queen Of Ashes (Camille and Stefan)

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.

"What are you promising me?" she asked softly.

"I'm promising you that I will choose 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. I'm promising you that I will never let anyone come between us again."

Victoria watched this exchange from the doorway, feeling her heart swell with happiness for the couple who had survived so much manipulation and betrayal to find their way back to each other.

"And what are you promising him?" Victoria asked Camille.

Camille looked into Alexander's eyes, seeing the man who had been manipulated into betraying her, who had nearly lost her to his own need for revenge, who had fought desperately to save her when she was kidnapped.

"I'm promising him that I will trust in our love 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 him that I will love him not just for who he could be, but for who he is right now."

Alexander felt overwhelming emotion 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 - unconditional love from someone who saw his flaws and chose him anyway.

"I should go," Alexander said, stepping back from the doorway. "The guests are starting to arrive, and I want everything to be perfect for you."

As Alexander walked away, Camille felt a deep sense of peace settle over her. This ceremony wasn't about erasing the past or pretending their first marriage hadn't been poisoned by lies. It was about acknowledging what they had learned and choosing to build something stronger from the foundation of truth.

An hour 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 presence a reminder of the family support that had helped save Kane Industries.

Victoria walked beside Camille, serving as both mother of the bride and officiant for the ceremony. As the head of the family that had been rebuilt through choice rather than blood, Victoria had asked to be the one to speak the words that would renew Alexander and Camille's commitment to each other.

But it was the sight of Alexander waiting at the flower-covered arch that made Camille's heart race with joy. He stood with his best man Stefan, both men looking nervous and happy as they watched her approach.

Hannah sat in the second row, wearing a soft blue dress that complemented her dark hair. She had been working with Stefan to help plan this ceremony, their own relationship deepening through months of supporting each other during the aftermath of James's campaign of terror.

As Camille reached the arch, Alexander took her hands and looked into her eyes with an expression of pure love and gratitude.

"We gather today not to witness a first 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 of challenges that destroy many relationships. But they have chosen to use those experiences to build something stronger."

Victoria looked at both of them with the pride of a mother watching her children succeed despite tremendous obstacles.

"Marriage isn't about finding someone perfect. It's about finding someone worth fighting for, someone worth forgiving, someone worth choosing again and again even when it's difficult."

Alexander squeezed Camille's hands as he spoke his renewed vows. "Camille, I vow to you that I will never again let anyone manipulate me into hurting you. I vow to choose our love over any need for revenge or any outside pressure. I vow to be the husband you deserve, not just the husband I thought I was." Camille's voice was steady and clear as she responded. "Alexander, I vow to you that I will trust in your love even when my past experiences make trust difficult. I vow to fight for our marriage instead of protecting myself with distance. I vow to love you not just in spite of your mistakes, but because of how you've grown from them."

As Victoria pronounced them renewed in their commitment to each other, Alexander and Camille kissed with the passion of people who had almost lost

each other and the tenderness of those who understood how precious their love truly was.

The reception that followed was

intimate and joyful, filled with dancing and laughter and the kind of easy happiness that comes from

surviving something terrible together. As the sun began to set over the estate gardens, Stefan

stood up from his table and approached the small stage where a string quartet had been playing throughout the evening.

"Excuse me, everyone," Stefan said, his voice carrying a nervous energy that

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

need to say."

The reception guests turned their attention to Stefan as he stood on the stage, looking out at the crowd with the expression of someone about to take the biggest risk of his life.

"Six months ago, I thought I understood what love meant. I thought love was about grand

gestures and dramatic sacrificeen et

and proving yourself worthy of someone's affection." Stefan's 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 much more difficult than that."

Hannah felt her heart beginning to race as she realized what Stefan was about to

do.

"Real love is about choosing someone every day. It's about building trust through small, consistent actions. It's about creating something together that's stronger than what either person could create alone."

Stefan stepped down from the stage and walked directly to Hannah's table, dropping to one knee beside her chair as the reception guests realized what they were witnessing.

"Hannah Zhao," Stefan said, pulling a ring box from his jacket pocket, "you have shown me what healthy love looks like. You have supported me without trying to

fix me, challenged me without trying to change me, and loved me without needing me to be perfect."

Hannah felt tears streaming down her face as Stefan opened the ring box to reveal a beautiful emerald-cut diamond surrounded by smaller stones that caught the light from the garden lanterns.noveldrama

"Will you marry me? Will you build a life with me based on the kind of honest, daily love that we've learned is worth more than any fairy tale?" Hannah looked into Stefan's eyes, seeing the man who had worked so hard to become someone worthy of love, who had supported her through the crisis with James, who had shown her that it was possible to trust again after betrayal. "Yes," she said, her voice breaking with emotion. "Yes, I will marry you." As Stefan slipped the ring onto Hannah's finger, the reception guests erupted in applause and cheers. Alexander and Camille stood together, watching their friends begin their own journey toward marriage, feeling grateful that their love had survived long enough to witness this moment.

Victoria raised her champagne glass as the celebration continued around them. "To new beginnings," she called out to the crowd. "To love that survives testing, to family that's built through choice, and to the courage to keep believing in happy endings even after everything goes wrong."

As the evening continued with dancing and toasts and the joy of people who had survived something terrible together, Camille felt a deep sense of completion. The past year had tested everyone's capacity for forgiveness, growth, and love. But they had all emerged stronger, more honest, and more committed to protecting

what mattered most.

The war that James Whitfield had started was finally over. The healing had begun. And love, in all its complicated and resilient forms, had won.

THE END

Dear Readers,

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read my book. Your

support means the world to me. Whether you laughed, cried, or held your breath

through the twists and turns, I'm truly grateful that you chose to be part of this journey.

Every page was written with care, and knowing it reached you makes it all worthwhile. I hope the story stayed with you long after the final chapter.

With deepest gratitude,

ANNYPEN