The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 222

Chapter 222

Cynthia's POV

I woke to a pounding headache that felt like someone was hammering nails directly into my skull.

For a moment, I lay there with my eyes closed, trying to piece together why I felt so awful. The morning light pressed against my eyelids, indifferent and unforgiving.

Then the memories came flooding back.

Amber missing. Ethan showing up at the gates. Amber choosing to leave with him. Anna being released. Hayden at the Walker mansion.

Ethan choosing Anna.

My chest tightened painfully.

I pressed my palms against my eyes, willing the headache to go away, willing the entire night to have been a bad dream.

But it wasn't.

It was real.

All of it. Every devastating, humiliating, heartbreaking piece of it.

A soft knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Cynthia?" My mother's voice came through, gentle but firm. "May I come in?"

I sat up slowly, wincing at the sharp pain that lanced through my temples.

"Yeah," I called out, my voice hoarse.

The door opened, and Victoria stepped inside, already dressed impeccably despite the early hour. She looked rested, composed, every inch the matriarch. Her hair was perfectly set, her posture straight, her expression arranged into careful, measured concern.

Which only made me feel worse about my own disheveled state.

She crossed the room and sat on the edge of my bed, her expression soft with concern.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Like I got hit by a truck," I admitted.

Victoria's lips pressed into a thin line. "I heard Ethan took Amber last night."

I nodded, my throat tight.

"And Anna has been released," she continued. "She's at the Walker mansion. With Hayden."

I looked away, unable to meet her eyes. The words landed the same way they had the night before — heavy and cold, like stones dropping into still water.

"I know," I whispered.

Victoria was silent for a moment, studying me carefully. I could feel her gaze moving over my face, cataloguing every sign of damage the night had left behind.

Then she asked the question I'd been dreading.

"When are you going to divorce him, Cynthia?"

I blinked, surprised by the directness.

"Mom…"

"I'm serious," she interrupted gently but firmly. "When are you going to stop holding onto a marriage that's been dead for years and focus on your own life?"

The words stung, even though they were true.

Before he made his choice clear.

Was that what this was?

Ethan choosing Anna over me?

I swallowed hard, my chest aching. I hated how much the thought still hurt. How much I still wanted to find some other explanation, some version of events where he hadn't simply looked at everything we'd been through and chosen her anyway.

Victoria leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping into something more urgent.

"Cynthia," she said. "I know that you know Eleanor Ferdinand is my close friend."

I blinked, confused by the sudden shift in topic.

"Hmm…" I hummed slowly at the revelation. Did they discover that Bryan eavesdropped on their conversation and Bryan told me?

"And I know," Victoria continued, "that there are potential suitors interested in you."

My heart skipped.

"What?"

"Bryan," Victoria said simply. "And Nikolai Cross."

The room tilted.

"How do you know about Nikolai?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. The name alone sent something complicated spiraling through my chest — something I wasn't ready to examine too closely.

Victoria's expression remained calm, composed. Unbothered, as though she hadn't just dropped something that felt like a grenade into the quiet of my bedroom.

"I have my ways, my dear Cici."