The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Cynthia’s POV

I waited until the last staff member had left before making my move.

I grabbed my coat and slipped out the back entrance, pulling up Felicia’s address on my phone. She lived in a modest apartment building about twenty minutes away by taxi. The whole tide there, I rehearsed what I was going to say, how I was going to approach this.

Confrontation wasn’t my strong suit. The old Cynthia would have avoided this entirely, would have let someone else handle it, would have shrunk away from conflict.

But I wasn’t the old Cynthia anymore.

When I knocked on Felicia’s door, it took a long moment before it opened. She stood there in sweatpants and an oversized sweater, her face pale, dark circles under her eyes.

“Madame Cynclair,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “I… how did you…”

“Can I come in?”

She stepped aside, her whole body shaking as I walked into her small apartment. It was neat and modestly furnished.

“I saw the footage,” I said, turning to face her. “The backup footage. I saw you planting evidence in my kitchen three nights ago.

11

Felicia’s face crumpled. Tears spilled down her cheeks almost instantly.

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed, pressing her hands to her face. “I’m so sorry, madame. I didn’t want to do it. I never wanted to…”

“Then why did you?”

“I was threatened!” The words came out in a desperate rush. “but I made sure I took it all out shortly after, I am just confused how the food agency found something” she sobbed.

—

I studied her face the genuine terror in her eyes, the way her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. This wasn’t a calculated saboteur. This was a woman who’d been backed into a corner.

“Why did you remove it?” I asked, my voice softer now.

Felicia wiped at her tears with trembling fingers. “After I placed everything, the person who asked me to do it came to check. To make sure I’d done it properly. But after he left, I just… I couldn’t live with myself. I kept thinking about everything you’d done for me, how you gave me this job when no one else would hire me. So I went back and removed it all.”

“But the health inspector still found evidence.”

“I know.” Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. “I don’t understand. I took everything out. Every single thing. Someone else must have put more in after I removed it.”

My mind was racing. So Felicia had planted evidence, removed it, and then someone else had planted more? This was more complicated than I’d thought.

“Felicia,” I said carefully, “who asked you to do this? Who threatened you?”

She looked at me with red–rimmed eyes, fear and guilt warring on her face.

ཚ ཆེ ནི རྫ

“Pierre,” she whispered.

The name hit me like a physical blow.

+25 Bonus

“What?”

“Pierre,” she repeated, her voice barely audible. “He came to me two weeks ago. Said he needed me to do something important. When I refused, he threatened me. Said he had information that could ruin my life, my family.”

“That’s impossible.” I shook my head, refusing to believe it. “Pierre has been with me since the beginning. He loves Maison Cynclair. He would never…”

“I have proof,” Felicia interrupted. She moved to her small desk and pulled out her phone, scrolling through messages. “Here are the text messages I received from him.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify