The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 253

Chapter 253

Cynthia's POV

This was it.

The moment I'd been dreading for three years.

The moment Ethan would finally learn the truth.

Not gently, not on my terms, not in a quiet conversation where I could explain everything carefully, piece by piece.

But here.

In a freezing warehouse.

Tied to chairs.

Bleeding and terrified.

With Grace Walker gleefully revealing secrets that weren't hers to tell.

I kept my eyes fixed on the concrete floor, unable to look at Ethan, unable to face whatever expression was on his face right now.

Confusion, probably.

Betrayal, certainly.

Because I'd lied to him or rather, I withheld the truth from him.

Grace's laughter echoed through the warehouse, sharp and delighted.

"You know," she said conversationally, "twenty years ago, I actually considered sending Cynthia back to her family when Jerome kidnapped her along with Ethan."

My chest tightened.

"It would have been the smart thing to do," Grace continued. "The safe thing. But then Jerome got greedy. He started making demands. Threatening to expose everything if I didn't leave Harold and run away with him."

She shook her head, her expression almost nostalgic.

"Jerome was a hard nut to crack," Grace said. "Stubborn. Obsessed. Completely irrational. And if I'd tried to return Cynthia to the Laurents then, they would have traced it back to him. And then to me. And I would have lost everything."

I heard Ethan's sharp intake of breath beside me.

"What are you saying?" he asked, his voice hoarse and strained.

Grace turned her full attention to him, her smile widening.

"I'm saying, dear Ethan, that your entire life has been built on lies," she said pleasantly. "Would you like to hear the whole story? I think it's time someone told you the truth."

"Don't…" I started, but Grace cut me off with a wave of her hand.

"Oh, hush, Cynthia," she said dismissively. "You've had plenty of time to tell him yourself. And you didn't. So now I will."

She settled back, looking far too comfortable for someone orchestrating a kidnapping.

"As I mentioned before," Grace began, "Victoria Laurent and I were friends once. Best friends. Along with Eleanor Ferdinand—Bryan's mother. The three of us were inseparable in high school."

She paused, her expression darkening.

"We were also love rivals," Grace continued. "All three of us wanted the same man. Cynthia's father. The heir to the Laurent fortune."

My stomach churned.

"He was handsome, charming, wealthy, powerful—everything a young woman could want," Grace said. "And he could have chosen any of us. But he chose Victoria."

The bitterness in her voice was palpable, even after all these years.

"So I had to settle," Grace said coldly. "For Harold Walker. The only son of the Walker family. Rich, respectable, but not the man I wanted. Never the man I wanted."

She looked directly at Ethan.

"And I never let go of that resentment," she said. "Not for a single day."

Ethan was staring at her, his face pale despite the blood and bruises, his expression a mixture of horror and disbelief.

"But the truth behind the kidnapping," Grace continued, her voice dropping into something darker, "is that I was having an affair."

“What do you mean Anna’s parents?” I was getting irritated by her additions to the story and lies.

Grace continued, ignoring my question. "We concealed Cynthia's identity. Made sure no one would connect her to the Laurent family. And lovely Ethan my dear Harold’s son, asked that we adopt Cynthia because she saved him bla bla bla…”

My throat felt like it was closing.

She looked directly at me now, her expression cold.

"And then," Grace said softly, "I made sure that traumatized, timid little girl understood exactly where she belonged."

I felt Ethan's gaze snap to me, but I still couldn't look at him.

My vision blurred with tears.

"And that stupid Harold made you marry her," Grace added, her voice hardening, "That was the worse. I hated it! If Anna had married you, we wouldn’t have been here today, would we?"

I finally forced myself to look at Ethan.

His face was ashen.

His eyes were locked on me, wide with shock and something that looked like…devastation.

"Ethan—" I started, my voice breaking.

But he didn't respond.

He just stared at me.

Like he was seeing me for the first time.

Or maybe like he'd never really seen me at all.

"So you see," Grace said cheerfully, "this isn't just about Walker Industries. This is about revenge. Against Victoria. Against the Laurents. Against everyone who took something from me."

She gestured to both of us.

"And you two," Grace said, "are going to help me get it."