The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Anna’s POV

I was pacing back and forth in my apartment, on a phone call.

The space felt emptier than usual tonight – the furniture I’d carefully chosen, the décor I’d selected to impress Ethan whenever he visited, all of it seemed hollow now.. Practically meaningless.

This was what my life had become. Living alone in this apartment with Hayden, everything I’d worked for crumbling in a matter of hours.

“I’m done playing games with you, Anna.” His voice over the phone was hard, final. “Completely done.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, though dread was already pooling in my stomach. I knew what was coming.

“I mean I’ve been patient. Too patient. I’ve been delaying the hit on Walker Industries because of you. Because you kept promising me you had a plan. That you could infiltrate from the inside.”

I stopped pacing, my free hand clenching into a fist.

“You claimed you could get it done,” he continued, his voice rising with frustration. “You said you’d marry Ethan, become Mrs. Walker officially, and then we’d destroy him together from a position of power. That was your brilliant plan, remember?”

“I know, but…”

“And you failed,” he cut me off. “Failed woefully. Ethan didn’t marry you. Hell, he didn’t even acknowledge Hayden as his daughter in the end, and that’s because you didn’t get him to sleep with you.”

I bit my lip, humiliation burning through me.

“In fact,” he said, and I could hear him moving, probably pacing on his end too, “I saw Ethan at the university today with Cynthia. They looked pretty cozy. Looking at each other like…” He trailed off, then let out a bitter laugh. “Like you never even existed.”

The words hit me like physical blows. Ethan with Cynthia. At the university. Being cozy.

While I was stuck here with nothing.

“And I’m tired,” he said, his voice dropping to something more dangerous. “So fucking tired of being separated from Hayden. Tired of the world thinking that Hayden is Ethan Walker’s daughter when she’s mine. She’s my daughter, Anna. My blood. My child. And I’m done playing games.”

“So, what are you insinuating?” I asked carefully, my heart starting to race.

“I’m saying I’m going to strike at Walker Industries now. No more delays. No more waiting for you to execute some elaborate the company, the reputation, the legacy that plan that’s never going to work. I’m going to take back what is rightfully mine should have been mine from the beginning.”

His words sent a chill down my spine. This wasn’t just angry talk. This was a declaration of war.

“Okay,” I said slowly, my mind racing through possibilities and consequences. “Fine. I know it’s time. I know you need to get

Walker Industries back. I won’t stand in your way anymore.”

There was a pause. I could almost hear his suspicion through the phone.

“But I have a favor to ask,” I added quickly.

“The problem is Cynthia,” I interrupted, saying her name with all the venom I’d been storing up for years.

“Exactly!” I smiled, feeling a rush of satisfaction at finally saying it out loud. Finally admitting what I’d wanted for so long, what I’d been circling around without quite having the courage to name.

“Think about it,” I continued, warming to the idea now. “Without Cynthia, Ethan will crumble. He’ll be too broken, too devastated to fight back when you take Walker Industries. He’ll be a shell of himself, easy to manipulate, easy to destroy.” I paused, considering,

“And what do I get out of this?” he asked, his voice calculating now, businessman–like despite the horrific nature of what we were discussing. “Besides the satisfaction of destroying Ethan Walker and taking what should have been mine?”

I turned away from the window, catching sight of myself in the mirror hanging on my living room wall. My makeup was smudged from earlier tears, I looked like what I was – a desperate woman with nothing left to lose.

“You’ll have me,” I said, meeting my own eyes in the mirror. “Completely. No more divided loyalties.”

“What exactly are you offering?” he asked finally.

This was it. The point of no return.

“I’ll marry you,” I said, the words tumbling out in a rush now. “I promise to marry you and forget Ethan completely. No more obsession. No more pining after a man who never wanted me. No more schemes to win him back or make him jealous. I’ll be yours… your wife, Hayden’s mother, your partner in taking down the Walkers and building something new from the ruins.”

I took a breath, my heart pounding.

“You’ll have me, fully committed. You’ll have Hayden, acknowledged publicly as your daughter. You’ll have Walker Industries and everything that comes with it – the money, the power, the respect. Everything you’ve ever wanted.”

The silence that followed telt eternal. I waited, barely breathing, wondering if I’d pushed too far, it he’d refuse, if he’d realize how insane this all sounded when spoken aloud.

Finally, he spoke.