Chapter 76

The lobby of Kane Industries gleamed with polished marble and sleek glass. Camille stepped out of the elevator on the top floor, her heels clicking against the floor as she walked toward her office. Three days had passed since the Phoenix Gala, and her mind still buzzed with the memory of Rose's face as the truth was revealed, the shock on Stefan's features, the horror in her parents' eyes.

Now the world knew who she really was. The media couldn't get enough of the story: the supposedly dead wife who had returned as a powerful executive,the systematic destruction of her ex-husband's company and her sister's reputation. Somne painted her as a victim-turned-hero, others as a manipulative schemer. Camille didn't care which version they believed.

She pushed open the glass door to her office and stopped short. A massive arrangement of white roses sat on her desk, their scent filling the room. A knot formed in her stomach. She knew who they were from before she even read the card.

"Ms. Kane," her assistant Rebecca said from behind her, "I'm sorry. He sent them before | arrived this morning. Security checked them thoroughly."

Camille nodded, finding her voice. "It's fine,Rebecca. Could you please take them away? Donate them to the hospital across the street."

Rebecca quickly removed the flowers while Camille settled at her desk, turning her attention to the documents awaiting her signature. She had just begun reviewing the first contract when Rebecca's voice came through the intercom.

"Ms. Kane, Stefan Rodriguez is in the lobby requesting to see you. Security wants to know if they should turn him away."

Camille's pen stilled above the paper. She had expected this, of course. It was only a matter of time before he would try to reach out. Still, her heart hammered uncomfortably against her ribs.

"Tell them to send him up," she said after a moment."And Rebecca, please stay close by. If I need you, I'll call."

"Of course, Ms.Kane."

Five minutes later, Stefan stood in her doorway.He looked awful, shadows beneath his eyes, his normally perfect suit slightly rumpled, his face drawn with exhaustion. There was a time when seeing him like this would have torn at her heart, when she would have done anything to comfort him.

Now she just felt... nothing.

"Come in and close the door," she said, gesturing to the chair across from her desk. She remained standing, unwilling to cede even that small advantage.

Stefan stepped inside, his eyes never leaving her name. "I still can't believe it's really you."

sn't," she replied coolly. "Not the woman you N,anyway."

linched at her tone, then moved closer, stopping n she held up a hand. "Please, Camille. I just t to talk. I've been going crazy since the gala.I t sleep, I can't eat...."

at do you want, Stefan?" Camille cut him off, her e steady despite the storm inside her. "Why are nere?"

eded to see you." He ran a hand through his hair,ng it slightly disheveled in a way that once would made her heart skip. "To explain..." maintain.

"I was a fool," Stefan said, his eyes filling with tears." was blind and stupid and selfish. Rose... she manipulated me, fed me lies about you,about us..."

"Stop." Camille raised her hand again. "Don't blame Rose for your choices. You weren't hypnotized. You weren't drugged. You looked me in the eye and lied to me for months. That was all you."

Stefan seemed to collapse within himself, sinking into the chair. "You're right. I'm not trying to escape responsibility. What | did was unforgivable."

"And yet here you are, seeking forgiveness." Camille finally sat down, keeping her desk between them like a shield.

"Not just forgiveness." Stefan leaned forward, his eyes suddenly burning with intensity. "A second chance. Camille, I never stopped loving you.Even with Rose, even after I thought you were gone...there was always something missing. It was you. It's always been you."

A bitter laugh escaped her throat. "Are you serious?You think after everything you've done,everything that's happened, we could just... what? Get back together? Resume our marriage like none of this ever occurred?"

"Not right away, of course," Stefan rushed to say. "I know it would take time, years maybe. But we could start over. I could prove to you that I've changed, that I understand what I threw away." He reached across the desk, trying to take her hand, but she moved it away. "Camille, please. The company, the money,none of that matters. I'd give up everything just for the chance to make things right wwith you."

Camille studied him, this man she had once loved beyond reason. She could see the desperation in his eyes, the genuine misery. There was a time when his pain would have been her pain, when she would have done anything to ease his suffering.

That time was gone.

"Do you know what I remember most about our marriage, Stefan?" she asked quietly. "Not the happy moments. Not the trips or the gifts or the fancy dinners. I remember sitting alone on our anniversary,waiting for you to come home. I remember making excuses for you to my friends when you canceled our plans. I remember the way you would look through me sometimes, like I wasn't even there."

"I was a terrible husband," Stefan admitted, his voice breaking. "But people change.I've changed."

"Have you?" Camille tilted her head. "Or have your circumstances changed? You've lost your company.Your reputation is in tatters. Rose has shown her true colors. And suddenly, conveniently, you remember your lòve for me?"

Stefan flinched asif she'd slapped him. "That's not fair."

"Isn't it? Tell me something, Stefan. If none of this had happened, if I hadn't 'died,' if your business was still thriving, if Rose was still the woman you thought she was, would you be here right now, begging for a second chance? Or would you be planning your wedding with her?"

His silence was answer enough.

Camille stood up, smoothing her skirt with steady hands. "You don't love me, Stefan. You never did.Not really. You loved the idea of me, the supportive wife, the pretty accessory, the woman who never challenged you or made you uncomfortable. That woman doesn't exist anymore. She died the night l found your divorce papers."

"You're wrong," Stefan said, standing too, his voice gaining strength. "Yes, I was blind and selfish then.But these past months without you... thinking you were dead... it changed me, Camille. And seeing you again, knowing what you went through because of me...."

"Because of Rose," she corrected.

"Because of both of us," he insisted. "I may not have hired those men, but I created the situation that led to it. I share the blame. And I have to live with that for the rest of my life."

For a moment, Camille saw something genuine in his eyes, real remorse, real pain. But it wasn't enough.It would never be enough.

"I believe that you're sorry," she said finally. "And I meant what I said at the gala, I forgive you. Not for your sake, but for mine. I refuse to carry the weight of hating you anymore."

Hope flickered across his face."Then...."

"But forgiveness isn't the same as forgetting," she continued. "And it certainly doesn't mean a second chance. There are some things that, once broken,can never be fixed."

"Camille, please." Stefan moved around the desk,dropping to his knees beside her chair. The gesture was so unexpected, so unlike the proud man she had known,that she didn't back away. "I'll do anything.Anything at all. Just tell me what I need to do to make things right. I can't lose you again."

Looking down at him, Camille felt a strange mixture of pity and disgust. "You already lost me, Stefan. A long time ago. You just didn't notice until it was too late."

She stood, forcing him to rise as well. "Our story is over. It ended the moment you decided Rose was more important than our vows. What came after, my 'death,' my transformation, your company's downfall,none of that changes the simple truth that we're done."

"I don't accept that," Stefan said, a flash of his old stubbornness showing through. "I know I hurt you.I know I don't deserve another chance. But I also know what we had was real. And if there's even a tiny part of you that remembers what we meant to each other..."

"What we had wasn't real," Camille cut him off,her voice gentle but firm. "It was a lie. You were with my sister before me, during our marriage, and you'd stil be with her now if the truth hadn't come out. That's not love, Stefan. That's convenience."

Her words seemed to hit him physically, and he staggered back a step. "You can't mean that. You can't believe that everything we shared was false."

"What I believe doesn't matter anymore." Camille moved toward the door, making it clear the conversation was ending. "What matters is that l've moved on. I've built a new life, a new identity. And you have no place in it."

Stefan didn't move, his shouldersslumped in defeat."I won't give up, Camille. Not this time. I'll prove to you that l've changed, that I can be the man you deserve."

A small, sad smile touched her lips. "That's the thing,Stefan. I no longer need a man to make me whole.I don't need you, or anyone, to 'complete' me.The woman who defined herself by her husband died in that parking garage. The woman standing before you is complete on her own."

She opened her office door, where Rebecca was waiting as instructed. "Rebecca will show you out.Please don't send any more flowers. Don't call. Don't come here again. It's over, Stefan. Accept that and move on with your life. I already have with mine."

Something in her tone must have finally reached him, because the fight seemed to drain from his body. He walked toward the door, then paused beside her.

"I really did love you, Camille," he whispered. "In my own flawed, selfish way. I just wish I had realized what that meant before it was too late."

Camille met his gaze one last time, seeing the ghost of the man she had once thought would be her forever."Goodbye,Stefan."

He nodded once, accepting her dismissal, and followed Rebecca toward the elevator. Camille watched him go, waiting for some flicker of regret,some pull of old feelings.

There was nothing.

Back in her office, she walked to the window overlooking the city. The woman she had been,Camille Lewis, devoted wife, perfect daughter,loving sister, would have crumbled at Stefan's pleas. She would have forgiven him instantly, welcomed him back with open arms, grateful for the second chance. But that woman was gone, burned away in the fire of betrayal and reborn as someone stronger, someone who valued herself too much to accept scraps of affection from a man who had discarded her so easily.

Camille Kane turned back to her desk, to the contracts awaiting her signature, to the empire she was helping to build. The past was finally, truly behind her. Whatever came next, whether it was success or failure, joy or pain, it would be on her terms, not defined by the people who had once claimed to love her.

For the first time since the night everything changed,Camille felt truly free.