All Chapters of The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

Chapter 72 Cynthia's POV I'd given up. Sprawled across my bed, staring at the ceiling, I'd accepted that Ethan wasn't going to respond. Maybe he'd blocked my number. Maybe he'd read my message and laughed. Maybe he'd shown it to Anna and they'd mocked me together. Whatever. Fine. I'd figure out another way to see Amber. My phone beeped. I reached for it reluctantly, expecting another promotional message from the network. My eyes nearly popped out of my head. Ethan. A long message. Multiple paragraphs. My heart started pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. [I am upset with you. Amber is disappointed and you crushed his heart. The least you could do is tell us you were unable to make it instead of keeping us waiting for three hours.] Three hours? They'd waited for three hours? The guilt hit me like a wave. I knew I'd stood them up, but somehow the concrete reality of it—three hours of watching the door, three hours of hope slowly dying—made it so much worse. I ke

Chapter 74Cynthia's POVThe restaurant was quiet, intimate — exactly what I'd wanted. Neutral ground. No home advantage for either of us.When I walked in, Ethan was already there, seated at a corner table, his back straight, his expression unreadable. He was wearing a dark suit, no tie, the top button of his shirt undone. He looked tired with his lips twisted.I made my way over and sat down across from him.Silence.Silence stretched between us and it was heavy and uncomfortable, for what felt like an eternity. I stared at the menu I had no intention of reading, hyperaware of his presence, of the weight of everything unsaid.When I finally looked up, I found him staring at me.His eyes fixed on my face with an intensity that made my skin prickle.Why was he looking at me like that? Like he was trying to memorize my features. Like he was seeing me for the first time.It made me uncomfortable."You asked to see me," Ethan said finally, breaking the silence."Yes." I straightened in m

Chapter 76Cynthia'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

Chapter 78 Cynthia's POV It was a brand new day. I refused to let what happened yesterday disrupt my entire life. I'd cried myself to sleep last night – ugly, heaving sobs into my pillow that left me feeling hollow and drained. But that was last night. Today, I had classes to teach. Students who depended on me. A life that didn't revolve around Ethan Walker and his manipulations. I stood in front of my bathroom mirror, pressing cold spoons against my puffy eyes, trying to reduce the swelling. The woman staring back at me looked tired. Worn. But underneath all that, there was steel. I'd survived worse. I would survive this too. I dressed carefully and headed to Missford University with my security detail – that I had already gotten tired of and feel like dismissing – trailing behind. The lecture went well. I lost myself in the rhythm of teaching, in the eager faces of students who actually wanted to learn, in the familiar comfort of discussing culinary techniques and flavor pr

Chapter 80 Ethan's POV I couldn't focus with work. The quarterly reports sat untouched on my desk. Emails piled up in my inbox, flagged as urgent, unanswered. My coffee had gone cold hours ago. All I could think about was Cynthia. The way she'd looked at me in that restaurant. The divorce papers she'd left on the table. The way she'd walked out without coming back. I'd torn those papers to shreds, but the gesture felt hollow now. What did it matter if I refused to sign? She clearly wanted nothing to do with me. A knock on my office door interrupted my spiraling thoughts. "Mr. Walker?" My secretary, Margret, poked her head in. Her expression was tense. "We have a situation." "What kind of situation?" "It's about the company, sir." She stepped inside, closing the door behind her. "Meridian Capital is pulling out." I straightened in my chair. "What?" "They've initiated the withdrawal of their investments. All of them." Margret placed a folder on my desk. "It started processin