《The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return》全部章節：第 181 章 - 第 190 章

Chapter 181Cynthia’s POVThe Laurent kitchen was louder than I remembered.Not noisy in a chaotic way, but full. Full of warmth and life, overlapping voices, the soft clatter of baking trays against counters, the low hum of the oven working overtime. The air smelled like butter and sugar, vanilla and something faintly citrusy. It was the kind of atmosphere that wrapped around you and made you forget, just for a moment, that the world outside was unraveling at the seams.Amber sat on one of the island stools, his small hands dusted with flour as Helen patiently guided him, showing him how to roll the dough into neat little balls. He took the task very seriously, brow furrowed in concentration, as if the fate of the pastries depended entirely on him. Lily stood beside him, tongue sticking out, copying his movements with exaggerated care. Every so often she glanced at him, measuring her own progress against his.Julian hovered nearby, pretending to be a strict French pastry chef, his ac

Chapter 183 Cynthia’s POV Nathaniel closed the door of the study behind him, the soft click sounding far too final, but the weight of what he had just said still hung thickly in the air. The room felt smaller somehow, as if the walls had edged closer the moment the door shut. “The problem,” he repeated quietly, as if lowering his voice might soften the blow, “is that Pascal hasn’t been found. And Hayden… she’s gone.” I stared at him, my mind refusing to process the words fast enough. “Gone?” “Kidnapped,” he corrected grimly. “From foster care. Sometime last night.” My heart dropped straight to my stomach, a cold, hollow sensation spreading through my chest. “No,” I whispered. “No, no, no… She was under government protection,” “Yeah, turns out so” Nathaniel said I took a step back, shaking my head as if that might undo what he had just said. “How could someone just take her?” my voice trembling despite my effort to stay calm. I was genuinely worried because that is another

Chapter 185 Ethan’s POV Bryan and I were deep inside my father’s private storage wing, a section of the Walker mansion that had always felt more like a vault than part of a home. The air was colder here, stale and unmoving, as though it had been sealed away from the rest of the house for decades. Thick concrete walls closed us in, broken only by long rows of steel shelves stacked from floor to ceiling. Locked cabinets lined one side of the room, each one numbered, each one holding a piece of Harold Walker’s carefully preserved life. Boxes were everywhere. Some were new, reinforced and labeled. Others were old, the cardboard soft at the edges, corners worn from being moved and stacked and restacked over the years. Every single one bore my father’s handwriting. Clean. Precise. Unemotional. Harold Walker had been a man who documented everything. Property deeds bundled with twine. Business contracts sealed in plastic sleeves. Old financial records, tax filings, investment projections

Chapter 187 Cynthia’s POV Ethan and Bryan screamed too. So did Amber. For half a second, the hallway of the Walker mansion erupted into pure chaos. The sound tore out of all of us at once, raw and instinctive, bouncing off the walls and echoing down the corridor like something out of a badly timed horror movie. Four voices collided in sharp terror, overlapping and panicked, as if we had all just stumbled face to face with something unnatural. My heart leapt violently into my throat. My grip tightened around Amber’s hand, my body reacting before my mind could catch up. I felt his small fingers clench around mine just as tightly, his fear pouring straight into me. Then, just as suddenly as it started, the screaming stopped. The silence that followed felt deafening. We stared at each other. Ethan and Bryan stood inside the study, frozen in place, their eyes wide, shoulders rigid, expressions caught somewhere between shock and embarrassment. They looked like two men who had bee

Chapter 189 Ethan’s POV “I can’t believe we are doing this.” Bryan’s voice was low, almost embarrassed, as I eased the car into a discreet spot across the street from the grand hotel. The building rose like a monument to excess and power, its glass façade glowing under carefully placed lights. Crystal chandeliers were visible through the tall windows, casting a golden shimmer over guests in designer gowns and tailored suits. Valet attendants moved with military precision, opening doors, bowing slightly, ushering people inside. Cameras flashed every few seconds, catching smiles, waves, curated confidence. I didn’t respond immediately. My hands tightened around the steering wheel as I cut the engine, the sudden silence inside the car making everything feel heavier. My jaw clenched as I stared straight ahead, watching another luxury car pull up, another burst of camera flashes exploding like small fireworks. In the back seat, Amber was completely oblivious to the tension thickening