Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 121

Chapter 121

Christian’s POV

I heard Zoey’s footsteps coming toward the kitchen, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the wooden box sitting in the pantry-its lid sealed, an envelope pinned neatly to the top.

“What’s wrong?” Zoey’s voice came from behind me, tight, uneasy.

I grabbed the box and set it on the counter, yanking the envelope off with more force than I meant to.

“You want to tell me what this is doing here?” My voice came out harder than I’d intended.

“Christian…” she started, but I was already opening the envelope.

Inside was a card, the gold lettering gleaming under the kitchen light like a verdict being handed down.

[To our most valued collaborator,

A small token of appreciation for all your contributions. Your role has been essential.

Edward Mendez,

Director – Sunvale Winery.]

The blood drained from my face. I read the words twice, then a third time, as if repetition might make them mean something else.

“”Most valued collaborator’?” I read aloud, my voice dangerously low. “”Contributions’? ‘Essential role’?”

I lifted my gaze to Zoey. She had taken a step back, her hands clasped tightly in front of her.

“What is he talking about, Zoey?”

“I… I don’t know,” she said, but there was hesitation in her voice-a crack I hadn’t heard before.

“You don’t know?” I turned back to the box, realizing it was still sealed. “Then let’s find out together, shall we?”

I opened it slowly. Inside, six bottles lay nestled in straw. When I saw the labels, the air seemed to leave the room.

TerraVine – Sunvale Winery.

My project. Every detail-the branding, the marketing concept, even the typography-was mine. It was ours. And now it sat on my kitchen counter wearing another company’s logo.

“They actually did it,” I muttered, my hands shaking as I picked up one of the bottles.

“Christian, I can explain-”

“Can you?” I turned toward her, holding up the bottle like evidence in a trial. “Because I would love to hear an explanation for why you have, in your apartment, products created from stolen Kensington data.”

“Edward sent them,” she blurted out. “I had no idea what”

“And that didn’t seem strange to you?” My voice rose, sharper now. “Getting a gift from your former company with a card thanking you for your ‘contributions’?”

She swallowed hard, tears beginning to gather in her eyes.

“I did think it was strange. But I didn’t know what it meant. I still don’t.”

“You don’t know?” I snatched up the card again, my pulse pounding in my ears. “It says right here-‘essential role,’ Zoey. What role? What exactly were you essential to?”

“I don’t know!” Her voice cracked, tears spilling now. “Christian, you’re scaring me. What are you accusing me of?

I stared at her, the weight of betrayal pressing down like a physical blow. I wanted to believe her. God, I needed to believe her. But the evidence sitting on my kitchen counter made that almost impossible.

“Edward wouldn’t send this without a reason, Zoey. Companies don’t send expensive gifts to former employees who worked for them a few weeks. Not with notes thanking them for their ‘contributions.””

“So you’ve already decided.” She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand, anger flickering through the heartbreak. “You’ve already judged me and sentenced me without even hearing my side.”

“What side?” The frustration burst out before I could stop it. “You just said you don’t have an explanation!”

“Because I don’t!” she shouted back. “But that doesn’t make me guilty!”

The silence that followed was deafening. We stood there across the kitchen, staring at each other, the distance between us growing wider with every breath.

“I need to get out of here,” I said finally, grabbing my jacket from the chair. “I need time to think.”

“Christian, don’t go,” she pleaded, her voice suddenly small again. “Please. We can figure this out. We can find out what really happened.”

“I can’t even look at you right now without seeing that.” I motioned to the bottles on the counter. “I can’t stand here pretending everything’s fine when it’s clearly not.”

“So that’s it?” she said, following me to the door. “You’re just going to walk out and leave me here, alone, without even trying to understand?”

My hand froze on the doorknob. Her voice broke something in me, but when I turned back, all I could see were those bottles and that card-proof of everything I feared most.

“I just need space to process this,” I said, forcing the words out. “I need to understand what’s really going on.”

“And if I tell you I didn’t do anything?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. “If I swear I’m innocent? Would that change anything?”

I looked at her for a long time. I saw the woman who had turned my life upside down, who’d made me believe in something real again. But I also saw Francesca’s shadow-the same lies, the same betrayal, the same mistake I’d sworn I’d never repeat.

“I don’t know,” I said quietly, and before I lost the will to leave, I walked out.

The door closed behind me with a sound that echoed down the hallway like a gunshot. And for the first time since I’d met Zoey, I felt completely, utterly lost.