The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Cynthia’s POV

I scoffed in disbelief.

Yeah, right? Had I so easily forgotten who Anna was?

Anna thrived on causing commotion. She fed on drama and chaos like it was oxygen. She definitely wouldn’t have let me go so easily even if she knew Ethan must have had an idea about me picking Amber up.

This was deliberate. This was Anna being Anna–creating a scene, asserting her territory, reminding everyone that she still had power in Ethan’s life.

I pulled out my phone with shaking hands and called Ethan.

He picked up almost immediately. “Cynthia…”

“Your mistress doesn’t want to grant me access to my son,” I said, my voice cold and clipped. “Please let her know that I am supposed to pick him up today. And please ensure this never repeats itself again.”

I dropped the call before Ethan could say anything, before he could make excuses or try to explain or do whatever it was he thought would fix this.

In a short while, Anna’s phone rang.

She was still holding onto Amber, who was clearly sensing the tension, his small body rigid against her grip, his eyes darting between us with worry.

Anna picked up the call, putting the phone to her ear.

“Hello?” Her voice was sweet, innocent.

Then her expression changed immediately as Ethan said something on the other end. The sweetness drained away, replaced by something harder, more calculating.

But she forced a smile, her voice taking on that syrupy quality again.

“Okay, baby. I just planned that Amber and Hayden could spend some time together, you know…” She laughed, but it sounded hollow. “Siblings should bond. I thought it would be good for both of them.”

That made me roll my eyes.

Baby, huh?

At the same time, I reminisced about when Ethan had told me that Hayden wasn’t his baby.

I wondered if it was actually true this time around. If Hayden really wasn’t Ethan’s daughter. Because there was nothing Anna was incapable of -lying, manipulating, fabricating entire realities to suit her needs.

Anna finally let go of Amber’s hand, her fingers trailing away slowly, reluctantly.

“I’ll see you at home, buddy,” she said to Amber, her voice dripping with false warmth. “Hayden will be waiting for you too. She misses her big brother.”

She cast me a glare of pure venom before turning on her heel and walking away, her designer bag swinging from her shoulder.

I stood there for a moment, watching her retreating figure, my mind racing.

I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly Ethan and Anna were doing. What kind of relationship did they share? Were they still

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together? Had they ever really stopped being together? Was Anna still living in some fantasy where she was Mrs. Walker in everything but name?

What the hell was going on?

And more importantly–why was it even bothering me?

I shouldn’t care. I’d left Ethan. I need to follow up on the divorce paper i had left with him. His relationship with Anna shouldn’t

matter to me anymore.

But it did.

Fuck, it did.

“Mom?” Amber’s small voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Can we go now?”

I looked down at him and saw the exhaustion in his eyes. The weight of being caught between adults who couldn’t figure out how to act like civilized human beings.

“Yes, baby. Let’s go.”

I took his hand–the one Anna had been gripping—and noticed the red marks her nails had left on his skin.

Rage surged through me again, hot and fierce.

But I pushed it down. Amber didn’t need to see me angry. He needed stability, calm, normalcy.

I led him to my car, helped him into the passenger seat, and made sure his seatbelt was secure.

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