The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 113

Cynthia’s POV

I woke up to a text from three different men.

‘Hey Cynthia, I hope you had a great night’s rest. Can we meet today? I’m done with your project.‘ – Bryan.

‘Hey Cynthia, I bet you had a cozy night. It’s December! Happy new month! Can you smell Christmas? I can! Hope Amber loved the gifts.‘ – Nikolai.

‘Amber got home safely after school, thank you. Sorry about the misunderstanding with Anna. I miss you. I want you. I love you. I’ll see you today, whether you like it or not.‘ – Ethan.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, tossing my phone onto the nightstand.

What was I going to do with my complicated life?

Three men texting me before I’d even had my morning coffee. Three very different men with three very different expectations

of me.

Bryan, professional and eager, ready to deliver on his promise.

Nikolai, charming and warm, making me smile despite myself.

And Ethan… God, that man with his declarations and his certainty that he could just show up in my life “whether I liked it or not.

11

The audacity.

I had a class at 9 a.m. Possibly after the class, I could meet with Bryan to review the AI system he’d developed for the restaurant.

That was business. Professional. Safe.

I responded to Nikolai’s text first: ‘Amber loved the gifts! Thank you so much for your generosity. He couldn’t stop talking about

the cars.‘

Then I texted Bryan: ’11 a.m. works. Same restaurant as previous?‘

His response came immediately: ‘Perfect. See you then.‘

I stared at Ethan’s text for a long moment, my finger hovering over the screen.

Then I locked my phone without responding.

He didn’t deserve a response.

I got up and went through my morning routine, trying to push thoughts of my complicated life out of my mind and focus on the day ahead.

Downstairs, Julian and Kevin were already at the breakfast table, both looking unusually serious.

“Morning,” I said, pouring myself coffee. “What’s with the faces?”

“Mom’s taking a flight to Missford tomorrow,” Kevin said, cutting into his omelet.

I nearly dropped my coffee mug. “Tomorrow?”

“Yep,” Julian confirmed, sipping his own coffee. “She called last night after you went to bed, it was supposed to be a surprise but she couldn’t keep it any longer. Said she wants to see how we’re all settling in, meet Amber properly, and…” he paused, a slight smile playing at his lips, “…make sure you’re not ‘consorting with that Walker boy again.“”

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+25 Bonus

I groaned. “Of course she did.”

My mother. Victoria Laurent. The woman who’d welcomed me back with open arms after twenty years of thinking I was dead, but who also had very strong opinions about everything from my career choices to my romantic life.

And apparently, she had loose lips when it came to her best friend.

I remembered that my mother had discussed my secrets with Bryan’s mother. The knowledge still made me angry. How could she be so careless? How could she share such sensitive information?

I wished I could scold her about it when she arrived. Really give her a piece of my mind about privacy and boundaries.

But Bryan had begged me not to mention that I knew. Had asked me to keep his eavesdropping a secret from his mother, which meant keeping my knowledge of mom’s indiscretion a secret too.

I was trapped in a web of secrets, just like everyone else in this family.

“When exactly does her flight land?” I asked, taking a long sip of coffee. 1

“Around noon,” Julian said. “We should probably all be here to greet her. You know how she gets when she feels ignored.”

“I have a class at nine and a meeting at eleven,” I said. “I should be back by noon at the latest.”

“That works,” Kevin said. “Just… be prepared. You know how Mom is about Ethan.”

Did I ever.

Victoria had made her feelings about Ethan Walker very clear. She blamed him for my unhappiness, for the years of neglect, for everything. And she wasn’t shy about expressing those opinions loudly and frequently.

Having her in Missford while I was trying to navigate this complicated situation with Ethan was going to be… interesting.

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