The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 307

Chapter 307

Cynthia's POV

The drive to the police station felt like it took forever, even though Nikolai drove faster than he probably should have, weaving through midday traffic with the kind of focused intensity that suggested he understood exactly how important this was.

Kevin sat in the passenger seat, constantly checking his phone for updates from Nathaniel, his leg bouncing with nervous energy.

I sat in the back, my hands clenched so tightly in my lap that my knuckles had gone white, staring out the window without really seeing anything.

Grace has been caught.

After five months of nothing, they finally have her.

And she's going to tell us where Ethan is.

The thought played on repeat in my mind like a mantra, like if I believed it hard enough I could make it true.

When we finally pulled into the parking lot of the central police station, I was out of the car before Nikolai had even fully stopped, practically running toward the entrance.

Kevin and Nikolai hurried after me.

Inside, the station was chaos—phones ringing, officers moving urgently through the hallways, voices raised in tense conversation.

Detective Susan appeared almost immediately, as if she'd been waiting for us.

"Ms. Cynclair," she said, her expression grim but not unsympathetic. "I figured you'd be here."

"Where is she?" I demanded without a preamble. "Where's Grace?"

"In interrogation room two," Detective Susan said. "But before you…"

"I need to talk to her," I interrupted. "Please. She knows where Ethan is. She has to know."

Detective Susan held up a hand, her expression firm.

"Ms. Cynclair, I understand your urgency," she said. "But we need to do this properly. Grace Walker has been in custody for less than an hour. She hasn't said a word since we brought her in"

My heart sank.

"So she's not talking?" Kevin asked.

"Not yet," Detective Susan confirmed. "But we have leverage. We found a significant amount of cash in her vehicle when we pulled her over. We're still counting it, but preliminary estimates put it somewhere around ten million dollars."

Ten million dollars.

The number was staggering.

"Where did she get that kind of money?" Nikolai asked, voicing the question I was thinking.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Detective Susan said. "The cash was picked up from an amusement center downtown about two hours ago. The pickup code name was 'Amber.'"

I felt like I'd been slapped.

"Amber?" I repeated. "My son's name?"

Detective Susan nodded. "Yes. Which suggests whoever arranged this drop knew you and your family personally."

"Pascal," Kevin said immediately. "It has to be Pascal. He's been hiding in Missford. He probably arranged…"

"No," I interrupted, my mind racing. "If it was Pascal, why would they use Amber as the code name? Why would they use my son's name?"

Kevin frowned. "Because they're sick and twisted and…"

"No," I said again, more firmly. "Think about it. If Pascal was arranging a money drop for his mother, he'd use his own daughter's name. Hayden. Not Amber."

The realization was settling over me like ice water.

"This wasn't Pascal," I said quietly. "This was someone else. Someone who knows Amber. Someone who…"

I couldn't finish the thought.

Because the implications were too disturbing to fully process.

Someone close to us—close enough to know my son's name, to use it as a code—had given Grace Walker ten million dollars to help her escape.

Detective Susan's expression suggested she'd already come to the same conclusion.

"We're working on tracing the money," she said. "Following the paper trail to figure out who arranged the drop. But these things take time."

"We don't have time," I said desperately. "Ethan's been missing for five months. Every day that passes…"

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