Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 175

Chapter 175

Christian’s POV

The morning of Zoey’s discharge began with a heavy melancholy that hung over the room like thick fog. As I carefully folded the clothes she’d worn during her stay, I watched her sitting on the edge of the bed, eyes fixed on the window overlooking the floor where the neonatal ICU was. Her fingers drummed anxiously against the white sheet, the only outward sign of the storm inside her.

The discharge process was painfully slow. Each time Dr. Porter slid another document in front of her to sign, Zoey hesitated, as if every signature pulled her a little farther away from Matt. Her hands trembled slightly as she held the pen, and I had to place my hand over hers to steady her.

“None of this feels fair,” she murmured, her voice heavy with a mother’s sorrow that twisted something deep in my chest. “A mother should be with her child.”

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, feeling the tension in her body.

“We’ll get through this, love. I promise.”

“When?” she whispered, the question breaking with exhaustion. “Because every time I start to think things are settling down, that maybe we’ll finally have peace, something worse happens. The sabotage, the accident, Matt being born early… when does it stop chasing us?”

I looked straight into her brown eyes, seeing the reflection of months of emotional fatigue staring back at me.

“I’m close to an answer now. Closer than you think.”

The drive home passed in contemplative silence. Zoey rested her forehead against the cool glass of the passenger window, watching the familiar landscape of Highridge Valley drift by like a slow-motion film. Her fingers played absently with her wedding ring. It was a nervous habit she’d developed without realizing it.

Our house greeted us with the warm stillness of a home that had missed its owners. The plants Carmen had faithfully cared for were lush and thriving, every room spotless. Yet there was a faint emptiness in the air, one we both felt the instant we stepped inside.

Zoey paused in the middle of the living room, slowly turning as if reacquainting herself with a place that should’ve felt familiar but somehow didn’t anymore.

“It feels like we’ve been gone for months,” she said softly, brushing her hand along the back of the couch.

I made chamomile tea and we settled on the sofa. It felt like the right moment to bring up what had been circling in my mind ever since that talk with Matthew.

“I want to talk about the dinner I mentioned at the hospital.”

Zoey sighed, setting her cup down on the coffee table with a faint metallic clink.

“Christian, I really appreciate everyone wanting to welcome me home,” she said gently. “But I can’t pretend to be in a celebratory mood while Matt’s still fighting to gain weight in the ICU. Maybe we should wait until he’s home. Then we’ll actually have something to celebrate.”

“It would be something small, intimate,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “And it’s really important to me that you’re there.”

She studied my face with that uncanny perception of hers, even in her fragile state.

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