CEO’s Regret After I Divorced (Serena and Ryan) novel Chapter 373

Chapter 373: Chapter 373 Claire’s Revenge

Serena’s POV

The car’s leather seats felt cold against my back, but nothing compared to the ice spreading through my chest.

"She was hysterical," Cedric said, his voice disturbingly calm while his knuckles turned bone-white around the steering wheel. "She was blocking our way."

"She’s pregnant." The words scraped out of my damaged throat. I kept seeing her fall—the instinctive way her hands flew to protect her stomach, the color bleeding from her face like spilled milk.

Cedric’s jaw locked so tight I could hear his teeth grinding. "They’re fabricating this entire scene, Serena. Don’t let them manipulate you."

But doubt had already sunk its claws into me. "Ethan... he really is Serena’s brother, isn’t he?" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

A pause. Too long. "Yes."

"Then what was he talking about?" My heart hammered against my ribs. "What did he mean?"

Cedric glanced at me, his eyes hardening with something that looked like desperation disguised as determination. "They’re too emotional right now. They’ve confused you with someone else."

"He said Serena disappeared three years ago." The coincidence felt like a noose tightening around my throat.

"Serena, this has nothing to do with you." His voice carried an edge now, sharp enough to cut. "Don’t overthink it."

But my mind was already spiraling. If Maya could be bought off by Ryan, why would her husband—a Quinn family heir—participate in such an elaborate lie? Would they really sacrifice their own family member for money?

The questions multiplied like cancer cells, spreading until I could barely breathe.

"I’ll speak with the Quinn family myself," Cedric said urgently, reading the doubt written across my face. "I’ll clear this up. They won’t bother you again." He exhaled sharply. "Don’t take today to heart. They’re just... desperate people."

His words felt hollow, rehearsed. Everything about this felt wrong—the timing, the coincidences, the raw desperation in Maya’s eyes that no amount of money could fake.

"By the way," he continued, clearly scrambling for safer ground, "Nancy knows you’re coming home. She’s been waiting for you."

At the mention of my daughter, something in me finally unclenched. "Okay."

Two days of house arrest—because that’s what it felt like—and I was climbing the walls. My throat still felt like I’d swallowed broken glass, but I couldn’t stand another minute of Cedric’s hovering concern and Nancy’s worried glances.

I needed to work. Needed normalcy. Needed to escape the suffocating web of questions that had taken residence in my skull.

"You should rest longer," Cedric had argued that morning, his hands gentle but firm on my shoulders.

"I’ll be fine," I’d insisted, already reaching for my coat. "Sally can handle the talking."

Now, stepping out of the car at Elegant Realm’s entrance, I wondered if I’d made a mistake. The morning air felt sharp against my skin, loaded with the kind of tension that preceded storms.

That’s when I saw her.

Claire barreled toward me like a woman possessed, her face twisted with something beyond anger—something feral and broken. Before I could even process what was happening, ice-cold water exploded across my face.

"It’s all because of you!" she screamed, her voice cracking with hysteria. "You destroyed everything! My hope, my career, my entire fucking life!"

Water dripped from my hair, soaked through my silk blouse, pooled at my feet. I stood frozen, shock rendering me speechless. This wasn’t the timid, insecure Claire I remembered—this was something darker, someone transformed by pure hatred.

She lunged for my hair with clawed fingers, but security finally intervened. The commotion drew a crowd—pedestrians with phones out, employees spilling from the building like ants from a disturbed hill.

"Have you completely lost your mind?" Sally appeared beside me like an avenging angel, positioning herself as a human shield. "You did this to yourself, Claire! How dare you attack Serena?"

Claire thrashed against the security guards, her eyes wild with the kind of desperation that made people dangerous. "What do you know about anything? If Serena Lancaster hadn’t recorded those videos, hadn’t set me up, I wouldn’t be living this nightmare!"

Her screams echoed off the building’s glass facade until one of the guards finally clamped a hand over her mouth, reducing her accusations to muffled snarls.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify