The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 160

Chapter 160

Ethan's POV

Before Cynthia could explain anything to the police officer, before she could say a word about what had happened on that veranda, I crossed the remaining distance between us and pulled her into my arms.

Luckily, she didn't pull away from the anger of what happened the last time at the beach house.

She was shaking. Her entire body trembling like she was freezing. And there was blood, so much blood on her hands, her clothes, smeared across her arms.

"Are you hurt?" I demanded, pulling back just enough to look at her face, to check for injuries. "Cynthia, tell me right now…are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," she said, but her voice was thin, strained. "It's not my blood. It's Grace's."

My mother's blood. “What?”

The words should have affected me more than they did, but all I could focus on was the fact that Cynthia was alive, was standing here in front of me, was safe.

"Where's Amber?" I asked suddenly, panic surging through me as I realized I hadn't seen my son. "Where is he? Is he okay?"

"He's inside," Cynthia said quickly. "Asleep in his room. He doesn't know anything happened."

Relief hit me so hard I actually felt my knees weaken.

I felt Cynthia's hand slip into mine, and when I looked at her, I saw the same relief mirrored on her face.

"He's okay," she whispered. "He's safe."

We stood there for a long moment, both of us needing that reassurance.

Then I heard footsteps behind us, and I turned to see Nathaniel standing in the hallway.

Of course Nathaniel was here. He was the one who'd called me, who'd raised the alarm that something was wrong. I'd been with him in Anna’s apartment when he called Cynthia, and he noticed something was going on wrong in the house, so he raised the alarm.

"Ethan, you need to get to your house. Now. Something's happened with Cynthia."

I'd dropped everything and driven like a maniac, breaking probably a dozen traffic laws, my heart in my throat the entire time.

And Nathaniel had been right behind me, both of us arriving within seconds of each other.

"Are you alright?" Nathaniel asked Cynthia quietly, looking very worried

I looked at him properly for the first time and felt something dark twist in my chest.

He was looking at Cynthia with naked concern, his protective instincts written all over his face in a way that made my jaw clench.

"We should go check on Grace," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "Find out what the doctors say."

"No," Nathaniel said immediately, moving to stand closer to Cynthia in a way that made me want to put my fist through the wall. "Cynthia shouldn't go anywhere right now. She's in shock. She needs to rest, not deal with more trauma."

The protective instinct in his voice really annoyed me, more than annoyed. It enraged me.

This was my wife. My situation. My mother in the hospital.

"Cynthia!" He practically ran the last few steps, reaching for her. "What happened? Are you hurt? Whose blood…"

He was acting all protective, all concerned, his hands hovering near her arms like he wanted to touch her but wasn't sure if he should.

And something in me snapped.

I stepped forward, deliberately placing myself between Bryan and Cynthia in a claiming way that left no room for interpretation.

"She needs rest," I said, my voice hard. "She doesn't need to be crowded right now."

Bryan looked at me, confused and maybe a little hurt. "Ethan, what's going on? I was just passing by and I noticed the sirens of ambulance, police cars. I saw them pull out of your driveway and I thought..."

He trailed off, looking between me and Cynthia, trying to piece together what had happened.

"It's a long story," Cynthia said quietly. "Grace is in the hospital. There was an... accident."

"An accident?" Bryan's eyes narrowed. "What kind of accident?"

"The kind we don't need to discuss right now," I said firmly. "Cynthia's had a traumatic experience, and she needs space."

Bryan looked like he wanted to argue, but Cynthia spoke up first, turning to Nathaniel.

“Nathaniel, can you take Amber home with you? I wouldn’t want him to be here all by himself”

"No." The word came out sharp and immediate. "No way you're taking my son to your men’s house."