The Billionaire CEO Betrays his Wife: He wants her back-Chapter 174: The mysterious caller

"You seriously told Mara she should divide the twins?" Valerie’s voice cracked in disbelief, standing up now. "After everything she went through? After losing her baby, being lied to, fighting tooth and nail to get him back, you thought you could ask her to hand him over like he’s a possession?"

Ethan’s face darkened, his chest heaving, but no words came.

"God, Ethan," Valerie sighed, shaking her head. "Do you even hear yourself anymore?"

The house felt colder after that. Because deep down, he knew she was right.

"What’s so wrong with that?" Ethan fired back, his voice raw and desperate. "So now, what, I have to go over there and ask permission every time I wanna see my children? While Rafael gets to be around them every damn day? How is that fair, Val? How?"

Valerie crossed her arms, her gaze sharp enough to cut glass. "You wanna know why? Because Mara is their mother, Ethan. And those babies deserve to be with her. And you—" she pointed a finger at his chest, "you lost that right the second you let Lucy steal her son. The second you believed that lie. You weren’t expecting Mara to move back in because you missed her, you were hoping Andrew would be your leverage, weren’t you?"

Ethan’s mouth twitched. "Yes," he admitted quietly. "I was hoping. It’s been a year, Valerie."

"A year?" Valerie let out a humorless laugh. "And you think a year erases what you did to her? What you put her through? You think because it’s been twelve months, her pain packed up and left?"

Ethan said nothing.

"She missed her baby for a year, Ethan. You don’t get points for keeping him when you should’ve fought for the truth from day one," Valerie said, stepping closer. "And don’t you dare drag that poor girl to court over custody. Don’t even think about it. You let Lucy’s lies wreck one life, you won’t do it again."

Ethan’s throat tightened. The house felt suffocating now, walls closing in on his crumbling justifications. And the worst part? Deep down, he knew Valerie was right.

"How am I supposed to be a father to my children? " Ethan’s voice broke, his eyes glassy with raw, aching pain, "when I won’t even get to see them often? When her brothers look at me like I’m some kind of plague? I’m their father, Valerie. Me. No one else gets to play father figure in their lives while I’m alive. They have me."

Valerie sighed, her heart heavy, but her resolve unshaken. She stepped closer, her voice steady but soft. "Do we really need to go over this again, Ethan? Do you honestly not see how your own actions led you here?"

His gaze flickered, jaw tightening.

"Forget about Lucy for a minute," Valerie said, waving her hand like swatting away a mosquito. "Yes — she’s a sick, manipulative girl. She lied. She backed you into a corner. But let’s rewind, shall we? To the root of this mess. To the woman you betrayed your wife with, Ethan. To her best friend, the one you didn’t just betray but fell for. Do you remember that part?"

Ethan’s face darkened, but he didn’t speak.

"No amount of time is going to erase that kind of pain, Ethan," Valerie went on, her words not cruel, but brutally honest. "You didn’t just hurt Mara. You broke her. You made her question herself, her worth, and her sanity. And now, now you want to act like you’re the victim because you don’t get daily access to the children she fought for while you looked the other way?"

Her words hung in the air like smoke, thick and suffocating.

"I’m not saying you don’t deserve to be in their lives," Valerie added quietly. "I’m saying you need to earn it. And anger, bitterness, and playing the poor-me card won’t get you there."

"I made a mistake with Maria Isabel," Ethan choked out, his voice cracking like brittle glass. "I wasn’t in love with her. It was a stupid, reckless moment, but it wasn’t love. And for crying out loud, it’s been a year already!" His voice rose, as if shouting it would somehow bend time, make the world spin backward, and fix what was broken.

Valerie looked at her baby brother, her heart heavy. He wasn’t the man he used to be. The absence of Mara and little Audrey had left a hollow place in the house, a void he tried to fill with Andrew, and now that was gone too. What was left was a man stripped bare, drowning in his own mistakes.

Then, the sharp trill of his phone broke the silence.

Ethan glanced at it: Unknown Number.

He let it ring out.

A second later, it rang again.

He hesitated, then picked up.

"Hello?"

Silence. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Nothing but static.

His jaw clenched. "Who the hell is this?"

The line went dead.

The phone buzzed again. Same number.

Irritated now, Ethan snatched it up. "Look, speak up or I’m blocking this number. Who are you, and what do you want?"

The line crackled faintly, a hiss of static licking at Ethan’s ear. And then, just before the call threatened to drop for a third time, a voice. Soft. Unrecognizable at first, but drenched in something cold and unnerving.

"It’s me... I need a favor."

Ethan froze, the phone suddenly heavy in his hand. The voice wasn’t loud, but it carried weight, so many things tangled in those four words: regret, anger, a touch of madness, and something else Ethan couldn’t name but felt in the pit of his stomach.

No. No way.

Hell no.

His heart hammered against his ribs as a cold sweat prickled his skin. It couldn’t be. Not her. Not after everything. Not now.

His throat tightened. "You’ve gotta be kidding me," he whispered, more to himself than to the voice on the other end.

Disbelief, fury, and a sick, sinking dread settled over him.

Why the hell was she calling him?