The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 255

Chapter 255

Ethan's POV

Pain radiated through every inch of my body.

My ribs throbbed with each breath. My face felt like it had been used as a punching bag—which, technically, it had. The metallic taste of blood still coated my tongue, and I was pretty sure at least one of my teeth was loose.

But none of that—none of it—hurt as much as the realization that I'd been a complete and utter fool.

For years.

For my entire goddamn life.

Grace had lied to me about who my mother was.

Anna had manipulated me.

Pascal had been working to destroy me from the shadows.

And Cynthia — the woman I'd married, the woman I'd shared a home with for eight years, the woman I'd pushed away and hurt and blamed for everything wrong in my life—was a Laurent.

The daughter of one of the most powerful families in Missford and by extension Paris.

Kevin's sister.

Victoria's daughter.

The kidnapped child they thought was dead.

How had I been so blind?

How had I missed all of it?

I stared at Cynthia, my mind still struggling to process what Grace had just revealed, trying to reconcile the quiet, timid woman I thought I'd known with this… this impossible truth.

"You're a Laurent?" I asked, my voice coming out rougher than I intended.

Cynthia didn't meet my eyes at first.

She kept her gaze fixed on the concrete floor, her shoulders tense, her breathing shallow.

Like she was bracing herself for an explosion.

Then, slowly, she turned to look at me.

And the guilt in her expression nearly broke me.

"Yes," she said quietly.

One word.

Just one simple, devastating word.

And my entire world tilted again.

"Oh my God, Cynthia," I said, shaking my head in disbelief. "How could you keep that from me?"

"I kept it from the world, Ethan," Cynthia replied, her voice trembling slightly. "Not just you."

"No," I shot back immediately. "No, no, no. That's not the same thing. I'm your husband, Cynthia. Or at least, I was. I thought…"

I stopped, the memories flooding back all at once.

Kevin.

Always around her. Always protective. Always glaring at me like I was the worst person on the planet.

I'd thought he was her lover.

I'd convinced myself that Cynthia was having an affair with him, that she'd moved on, that she'd replaced me.

And the entire time, he was her brother.

"I didn't want her free," I continued. "I wanted her to pay for what she did. But turns out Grace had pulled the strings"

Silence fell between us for a moment.

Then I let out a bitter laugh.

Because the absurdity of it all—the sheer, tragic comedy of how badly we'd misunderstood each other—was almost too much to bear.

"We're idiots," I said, shaking my head. "Both of us. Complete and utter idiots."

Cynthia let out a choked sound that might have been a laugh or a sob.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly. "We really are."

I looked at her and saw the woman I'd loved for so long but had never truly understood.

The woman who'd been kidnapped as a child because of me..

The woman who'd survived psychological abuse and emerged strong enough to rebuild her life.

The woman who'd made me Christmas sauce even after I'd pushed her away.

Then it dawned on me…

"Bryan knew, didn't he?" I asked suddenly.

Cynthia's eyes widened slightly.

"What?" she asked.

"Bryan," I repeated, my voice hardening. "He knew you were a Laurent. That's why he's been so close to you. That's why he confessed his feelings. He knew exactly who you were, and he saw an opportunity."

Cynthia opened her mouth to respond, but I could see the truth written all over her face.

"He knew," I said, my voice dropping into something cold and angry. "That son of a bitch knew the entire time."