Chapter 478
Chapter 478:
They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment. Stefan was the last person Camille had expected to see. Their relationship had been complicated since he’d saved her life. She’d forgiven him for the affair with Rose, but forgiveness didn’t erase history. It didn’t make their conversations easy.
“I heard about you and Alexander,” Stefan said quietly.
“Did you?” Camille’s voice was bitter. “What exactly did you hear?”
“That he’s been investigating Victoria. That he believes she’s responsible for his uncle’s death.” Stefan paused. “That your marriage is over.”
Camille’s throat tightened. Hearing the words out loud made them more real. “It was never a real marriage to begin with.”
“That’s not true.”
“How would you know?”
Stefan met her eyes. “Because I know what it looks like when someone loves you genuinely, and I know what it looks like when someone is using you. I did both to you.”
The honesty in his voice caught Camille off guard. “Stefan—”
“Alexander loved you first. Before he knew about Victoria, before anyone told him about his uncle. I saw it at your engagement party. The way he looked at you wasn’t calculated. It was real.”
“It doesn’t matter now.”
“Doesn’t it? If someone manipulated him into believing Victoria was guilty, if someone used his grief to turn him against you, doesn’t that change things?”
Camille stared at her cold coffee. “He still chose revenge over our marriage. He still lied to me for months. He still used our wedding as cover for surveillance.”
“Yes, he did. And that was wrong. But the question is whether he was acting on real evidence or manufactured lies.”
“Why do you care?”
Stefan was quiet for a long moment. “Because I know what it’s like to lose you because of my own mistakes. And because I owe you something.”
“You don’t owe me anything. You saved my life. We’re even.”
“No, we’re not.” Stefan leaned forward. “You gave me a second chance when you had every right to hate me forever. You let me help with the Phoenix Foundation. You let me prove I could be better than the man who betrayed you.”
Camille looked at him, seeing the genuine regret in his eyes. The same regret that had driven him to take a bullet meant for her.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying let me help you investigate Alexander’s claims about Victoria. Let me help you find out if someone has been manipulating all of you.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Because if Victoria is innocent, she deserves to have her name cleared. And if Alexander was manipulated, you deserve to know the truth about what destroyed your marriage.”
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