The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Cynthia’s POV

“Tell me who,” I said, my voice tight with anticipation.

Nathaniel let out a deep sigh on the other end of the line. I could hear the weight of what he was about to say in that exhale.

“Dragon refused to say anything at first,” he began. “But the police officers have been doing their own investigation. Based on the transaction records, the money used to pay Dragon and fund the entire operation… it was traced back to Walker Industries.”

I went still.

Walker Industries.

Ethan’s company.

I turned slowly, my eyes finding Ethan through the restaurant’s floor–to–ceiling windows. He was still sitting at our table, looking disheveled and defeated, staring at the divorce papers I’d left behind.

The man who had just begged me to stay. Who had told me he loved me. Who had asked me not to divorce him.

Now I understood why.

This was how badly he wanted my downfall. Destroy my restaurant, ruin my reputation, force me back to Missford with nothing. Then I’d have no choice but to crawl back to him and continue being a doormat to him, Anna, and Grace.

“But here’s the thing,” Nathaniel continued, pulling me back to the conversation. “Based on the conversations with Dragon, he kept using ‘she‘ to address the person who hired him. So when the police informed me of this, I assumed it was Anna. I gave them her picture.”

My grip tightened on the phone waiting to hear whatever worse thing Nathaniel was about to say.

“They did a kind of test on Dragon. Showed him photographs of different women while monitoring his physiological responses with a machine that detects heart rate changes. When they got to Anna’s picture…” Nathaniel paused. “His heart started racing.”

Anna.

Of course it was Anna.

But the money came from Walker Industries. Which meant…

“So,” Nathaniel said, voicing the conclusion I was already reaching, “there’s a strong possibility that Anna is working with Ethan. How else could she get access to that much money from Walker Industries? Those aren’t small amounts, Cici. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of euros funneled through shell accounts.”

I stared at Ethan through the glass.

He looked up, as if sensing my gaze, and our eyes met.

He had the audacity to look hopeful. Like he thought I might come back inside. Like he thought his pretty words had worked.

“You should be careful, Cynthia,” Nathaniel’s voice was hard now, protective. “You must never trust Ethan. Whatever he will say to you, using Amber as a door to get to you, it could all be part of the same scheme. Get you emotionally vulnerable, then strike again.”

I was too shocked to respond immediately.

Mesmerized by the sheer scale of the betrayal.

#76

+25 Bonus

Did I get married to the devil?

Eight years of marriage. Eight years of trying to be a good wife, a good mother, a good daughter–in–law. Eight years of swallowing insults, of cooking perfect dinners while my headaches split my skull, of cleaning vomit off priceless carpets while they laughed at my pain. Eight years of believing that if I just tried harder, loved harder, endured more, they would finally see

1. me.

And this was what I got in return? Not just neglect and emotional abuse, but active sabotage? A coordinated effort to burn everything I had built with my own hands, everything I had bled for, everything that proved I was more than the orphan girl they chained to their son?

“Cynthia?” Nathaniel’s voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. “Where are you?”

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