The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 116

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Chapter 116

Cynthia’s POV

My heart was racing on my way to the restaurant.

My mind replaying that moment in the hallway over and over like a broken record.

The way Ethan had looked at me when he saw Bryan’s name on my phone–like I had betrayed his whole existence. Like I’d driven a knife straight through his heart. The hurt in his eyes, the anger, the jealousy, the devastation all mixed together in an expression that haunted me even now.

It bothered me. More than it should.

Should I have tried to convince him more that it was just business and nothing more? Should I have stayed and explained instead of walking away? Should I have made it clearer that Bryan was simply helping me with my restaurant’s AI system and there was nothing romantic about it?

Though, if I was being honest, it had sounded like more when Bryan spoke through that phone call. “Come hungry.” The casual intimacy of it. The warmth in his voice. Even I had heard it, had felt that uncomfortable flutter of confusion about what exactly was happening between us.

It worried me.

Would this become an issue between Bryan and Ethan’s friendship? They’d been friends for years–since college. They’d built their careers together, supported each other through everything. And now I was potentially driving a wedge between them.

I cared more than I wanted to admit, and I hated it. Hated that I still cared about Ethan’s feelings after everything he’d put me through. Hated that I felt guilty for having a business meeting with another man. Hated that some part of me wanted to go back and reassure him that he had nothing to worry about.

I wished I cared less. Maybe if I could just turn off these feelings, stop worrying about Ethan’s pain, stop seeing that hurt look in his eyes every time I closed mine–maybe then I could move forward without this constant weight of guilt and confusion.

Maybe Bryan would explain to Ethan himself. Maybe they’d talk, man to man, best friend to best friend, and Bryan would make it clear that this was purely professional. That he was just helping me with a business problem.

I wouldn’t let it bother me anymore, I decided. After all, I owed no one an explanation about who I did business with. I was a grown woman, a successful restaurateur, and I had every right to work with whomever I chose.

That’s what I told myself, anyway.

But the knot in my stomach suggested I didn’t quite believe it.

I arrived at the restaurant just in time–a few minutes before eleven, actually.

I grabbed my bag and got out of the car, my security detail parking a few spots away. They’d keep their distance during the meeting but would be close enough if I needed them.

I walked toward the entrance and peered through the large front windows, scanning the interior for Bryan.

There.

He was seated at a comer table, and I could see his laptop open in front of him, presumably with the presentation about the Al system ready to show me.

But he wasn’t alone.

A woman sat in the chair across from him and this woman… she looked very exposed in her dressing. A tight dress that revealed

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far too much thigh, cut low enough to show significant cleavage. The kind of outfit that was meant to attract attention, to seduce, to leave very little to the imagination.

She was leaning toward Bryan, her body language unmistakably flirtatious. One hand played with her hair. The other rested on the table, her fingers occasionally reaching toward his arm in that casual–but–deliberate way women use when they’re interested.

Bryan looked uncomfortable.

I could see it even from here–the way he leaned back slightly in his chair, putting distance between them. The polite but strained smile on his face. The way his eyes kept darting toward the entrance, probably looking for me, hoping I’d arrive and save him from this situation or I wouldn’t find him in this situation.

I stood there on the sidewalk, suddenly unsure of what to do.

Should I approach them like this? Walk right up and interrupt whatever was happening? This was supposed to be my meeting with Bryan, my time reserved. I had every right to walk in there and claim my seat.

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