The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 186

Chapter 186

Cynthia’s POV

I had tried Ethan’s number so many times that my phone was beginning to feel warm in my palm, the glass screen slick against my skin, but still there was no answer.

Not once..

Each unanswered ring tightened something in my chest. At first, I tried to reassure myself that he was asleep, or perhaps trying to drown his thoughts with work. Then I told myself his phone might be on silent. Then I told myself he was probably in a meeting or driving.

But deep down, unease was already sinking its claws into me.

Was he deliberately ignoring me because I had refused to let him follow me to the Laurent mansion earlier? Or was something else wrong?

Ethan was not the kind of man who ignored calls without a reason. It was just strange that he ignored me so well, and I even hated myself for getting slightly pissed. There must be a very good reason for him to ignore me this way.

My thoughts spiraled, rushing ahead of logic, straight into fear.

Ethan was already stretched thin. His company was under attack from every angle. The love of his life and mother of his daughter, Anna was sitting in jail.

Grace, the woman who raised him and controlled his entire life, was lying unconscious in a hospital bed. And on top of all of that, he had just discovered that she was not even his real mother.

Also he doesn’t even know his daughter has been kidnapped by this so called brother.

That kind of truth did not just shake a man.

It shattered him.

I pressed the phone to my chest, my breathing shallow.

“What if he did something stupid?” I whispered to myself.

The words terrified me the moment they left my mouth.

My heart began to pound harder, a heavy, frantic rhythm that made it difficult to sit still. I shot up from the couch at the Laurent mansion, no longer able to pretend that everything was fine.

Amber was sprawled on the rug with Lily, both of them laughing as they pressed cookie cutters into imaginary dough they had stolen from the kitchen. Flour dusted their clothes and hands, and for a moment the sight almost made me hesitate.

I crossed the room and knelt beside Amber, forcing my voice to stay calm.

“Amber,” I said gently. “We’re going to go home now.”

He looked up immediately, his smile fading. “Already? But Grandma said we can decorate cookies later.”

“I know,” I said softly, brushing flour from his cheek. “But you said you wanted to see him earlier and your daddy might need us right now.”

That did it.

Amber sat up straight, all playfulness gone. “Is Daddy sick?”

I swallowed. “I don’t know,” I admitted honestly. “That’s why we’re going.”

He nodded, suddenly serious, a look far too grown for his small face. “Okay.”

We said our goodbyes quickly.

“Hello?” I called out, my voice echoing faintly through the entryway.

No answer.

“Dad?” Amber called.

Silence.

A chill slid down my spine.

“Bryan?”

Silence

“Maybe they’re in the study,” I murmured, more to reassure myself than anything else.

I tightened my grip on Amber’s hand and walked down the hallway, my heels clicking softly against the floor. With every step closer to the study, the air felt heavier, thicker, like something tense and dangerous was waiting on the other side of the door.

My heart was racing now.

I reached for the handle.

Just as my fingers touched it…

The door opened from the inside.

I screamed.