The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 10

#10

Chapter 10

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Cynthia’s POV

The restaurant drama with Anna had left me shaken, my heart still racing from the confrontation but I had to play it cool. I really need to learn to overcome these anxiety. I needed air, “I’ll be outside,” I told Kevin, who was still wrapping up details with Mr. Stanley. “Just need a minute.”

He nodded, concern flickering across his face, but he didn’t push. He just looked over at the body guards and they followed me, keeping a distance.

I positioned myself behind our parked car where I could watch the restaurant’s entrance without being too visible. I found myself observing the flow of people, couples leaving hand in hand, business associates exchanging final pleasantries, friends excited about having lunch. I should have been jealous like three years ago because I didn’t have brothers then, but now… I am just admiring, not jealous.

I glanced over at the other side of the car park and caught sight at someone very familiar and my heart skipped, I didn’t expect to see him so soon, just how many days of arriving Missford.

Ethan was just stepping out of his car just a few meters away.

Behind him was Bryan and Devian. His so–called best friends, the same two who never once hid their disdain for me.

Even from this distance, I could hear their laughter, that same tone of easy camaraderie that used to fill our living room during those endless business dinners. I used to serve them drinks and smile politely, pretending not to hear when they spoke as though I wasn’t there.

Seeing them now, only made my hate burn hotter and it’s funny how I could still read their lips like I did years ago. Ethan’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen, and Bryan leaned in, chuckling. “Our sweet Anna,” Bryan teased.

Devian smirked. “She’s probably just checking up on you, man. She can’t live without her Ethan.”

I felt my pulse falter, they still adored Anna. They always had. In their eyes, she was radiant, deserving. I was the mistake Ethan had to carry

the dull, voiceless house wife.

Ethan took the phone to his ears after giving a brief smile.

“I am in the restaurant already, Anna, Why don’t you want me to go in?” he said as he strides confidently towards the restaurant

entrance.

Anna and her gimmicks, she obviously doesn’t want him to run into me that’s why she doesn’t want him to go into the restaurant.

I do not want to fucking run into him either!

I couldn’t help not looking at him. It had been three years since I’d seen him, and he looked… the same To be honest, even more handsome. He reduced weight a bit which made him lose his little baby fat on his cheeks and now he looks very hot. The gray at his temples was more pronounced now, giving him a distinguished alt that made my chest ache

“Snap out of it Cynthia!” I muttered to myself. He looked fine. Healthy and successful. Like the past three years had been kind to him, like my absence was the best thing that ever happened to him and that realization hurt more than I wanted to admit

I rolled my eyes and before Ethan could walk into the restaurant, Anna jumped in front of him with a big smiled,

My first instinct was to hide, I can’t risk being seen by Anna, I have always known she had hawk eyes.

I ducked into the car, lowering myself below the window line, my heart beating so hard I could hear it in my ears. Through the tinted windows, I watched how he smiled at her and took her into his embrace.

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#10

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All of a sudden, I felt a huge lump in my throat at the sight of that. He never attempted to hug me this way when we were together. He never loved me, he had always loved Anna.

“Hey Devian, hey Bryan” Anna greeted.

“Our dearest Anna, good to see you”

“Anna. I was just about to meet some business associates inside. What are you doing here?” Ethan said

“Oh, Margot and I just finished dinner.” She gestured vaguely toward the restaurant. “I just called because I missed you, and coincidentally you happened to be here.” She said as she adjusted his collar, tie, hair… I wanted to stop looking and hoped Kevin would come right away and take me out of here.

“Where’s Hayden?” Ethan asked.

My chest constricted painfully. Hayden, that was Anna’s daughter I guess. The child she’d been pregnant with three years ago. 1

“She’s with the sitter,” Anna said quickly.

“The sitter is off work today, Anna. You told me that earlier”

I rolled down the window just a crack, needing to hear better, hating myself for caring but unable to stop.

Anna shifted, and even from my hidden position, I could see the calculated way she moved closer to Ethan. “Actually, I’m not feeling well. Could you please take me out of here?.”

“Anna, I really need to…”

“Please, Ethan. I feel a bit dizzy. It’ll just take a minute.”

There was a pause. I imagined him weighing his options, the meeting waiting inside versus the woman who’d positioned herself as his responsibility for so long.

Bryan and Devian exchanged knowing looks. Devian clapped Ethan’s shoulder. “Come on, man, the lady’s sick. We’ll reschedule if you can’t meet up”

“Yeah,” Bryan added with a grin. “You can’t say no to sweet Anna.”

Sweet Anna, they still thinks she is sweet.

I wanted to laugh, but my throat felt dry.

Ethan hesitated for a moment, then sighed, adjusting his cuffs like a man surrendering to something inevitable. “Alright,” he said softly.

That familiar sting pricked my chest.

I looked away, trying to focus on the steering wheel, on anything that wasn’t them. But I couldn’t stop watching.

Anna smiled excited, grabbed his arm and led him away, her body language screaming possession even as she played the fragile

victim.

Bryan and Devian went into the restaurant

I sat up slowly, watching them disappear around the corner. I actually was the obstacle standing between them and their happiness.

Seeing them together now, I realized with sickening clarity that nothing had fundamentally changed. Anna was still manipulating him. Still playing the helpless card, ensuring she was the center of his attention and Ethan was still falling for it.

Kevin appeared at the car door, making me jump. “Ready to go? Cici,” he noticed my demeanor, “What happened?”

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“Nothing,” I lied. “Just tired.”

But as we pulled away from the restaurant, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ethan and Anna.

Were they living together? Co–parenting? Had Ethan finally gotten married to her?

The questions circled in my mind like vultures, and I hated that I still cared enough to wonder.

**Third Person POV**

“Anna, where’s Hayden? Really?”

Her hesitation was barely perceptible, but he caught it. “I told you. With the sitter.“.

“Your sitter is off today, Anna.” Ethan’s voice was ice. “Tell me you didn’t leave a two–year–old alone in your apartment.”

Anna opened her mouth to defend herself, to offer excuses that might thread themselves into something sensible, but none of them felt reasonable enough. Ethan’s eyes had gone very cold.

“You did. You actually left a two–year–old child alone at home. What is wrong with you, Anna? You’re not a child anymore. You’re a mother.”

The words burst from her before she could stop them. “I don’t want to be a mother anymore! Ethan, I don’t want to be a mother!”

He sighed and opened the car door.

“Where are you going?” she demanded.

“To get Hayden before she hurts herself. Get in the car, or I’m calling child protective services.”

“Ethan, wait…”

“Get in the car!”

***

Ethan swung the apartment door open as soon as they arrived Anna’s apartment

Hayden sat in the high chair, the porridge bowl overturned, with porridge smeared across the tray and floor. The child was asleep now, head lolling at an awkward angle, face blotched from crying. Ethan stopped dead, every muscle in his posture taut with something that looked like controlled panic.

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