The Billionaire Ex-Wife's Return (Cynthia and Ethan) novel Chapter 306

Chapter 306

Ethan's POV

My hands were shaking as I picked up the pencil for what felt like the hundredth time in two days.

This time, Carmen and Miguel were watching with an intensity that suggested they actually knew something—that this wasn't just another dead end, another crushing disappointment.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to focus.

To pull up that memory again—the flash of Cynthia's face that had been so vivid, so impossibly clear.

Her eyes. Her smile. The exact curve of her jaw.

After about fifteen minutes, I set down the pencil.

The drawing wasn't perfect, but it was the best I drew.

I turned the paper around so Carmen and Miguel could see, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.

For a moment, they both just stared at the drawing in silence.

Then Carmen let out a choked sob.

Her hands flew to her mouth, tears spilling down her weathered cheeks, her entire body starting to shake.

"Dios mío," she whispered. "Dios mío."

She looked up at me, her eyes red and streaming.

"You are the Ethan," she said, her voice breaking. "You are her husband. You are Cynthia's husband."

Before I could process what she'd said, Carmen launched herself at me, wrapping her arms around me in a bone-crushing hug, sobbing into my shoulder.

"I cannot believe," she was saying in broken English between sobs. "I cannot believe is you. Is really you. We found you."

I stood there frozen, completely overwhelmed, my arms slowly coming up to return her embrace even though I had no idea what was happening.

"Carmen," I said, my voice shaking. "What do you mean? How do you…"

Miguel said something in rapid Spanish, his voice thick with emotion too.

Carmen pulled back slightly, still gripping my shoulders, tears streaming down her face.

"We helped her," she said, the words tumbling out quickly. "Your wife. Cynthia. We helped her."

My brain struggled to catch up.

"You helped Cynthia?" I repeated. "When? How?"

"Five - six months," Carmen said. "We found her on our farm, she had spend the night there. She said she had escaped from kidnappers."

The time frame lined up with when I'd woken up in that hospital bed with no memory.

Which meant…

"That was the same time I was found," I said, the pieces clicking into place. "The same time I woke up in the hospital."

Carmen nodded, wiping at her eyes.

"She told us her husband was still with the kidnappers," she continued. "That she had to get help for him. She was so worried. So scared."

Her voice broke again.

"And we drove her to Missford," Carmen said. " We tried to help"

Miguel nodded in agreement.

"We go now," he said. "Right now. You get your things, we get the car, we drive to Missford."

"I don't have things," I said. "Just these clothes you gave me. I'm ready to leave right now."

Carmen wiped her eyes and took my face in her hands, looking at me with such warmth and kindness it made my chest ache.

"You are good man, Ethan," she said. "Your Cynthia, she is very lucky. And she loves you very much. I could see it when we talked to her. How worried she was. How scared."

"She's been looking for me?" I asked, needing to hear it confirmed.

"Sí," Carmen said firmly.

Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks.

"Let's go," I said, my voice shaking with emotion and impatience and desperate hope. "Please. I can't wait another second."

Carmen laughed through her tears and kissed my forehead.

"Then we do not make you wait," she said.

Miguel was already grabbing his keys and heading for the door.

Carmen took my hand and squeezed it tight.

I followed them out to the car that Cynthia had bought for them in gratitude, not knowing that someday it would be the vehicle that brought her husband home.

I climbed into the back seat, my hands still shaking, my heart racing so fast I thought it might actually explode.

Miguel started the engine and pulled out onto the road.