Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 205

I managed to keep myself busy for a few hours, pretending to review reports and answer emails. But my mind was miles away. Every time someone walked past my desk, I felt that paranoid twist in my stomach that they were looking at me funny.

Then I realized it wasn't paranoia. They actually were.

I noticed the whispers that stopped the second I walked by. The sideways glances, followed by hushed conversations. Margaret, Nathaniel's secretary, greeted me with a smile that looked painfully forced. James from finance looked me up and down in a way he had never done before.

When Gwen finally got back from lunch at two-thirty, she headed straight to my desk wearing an expression caught between concern and pure nosiness.

"Okay," she said, dragging a chair beside mine. "Why is the entire office buzzing about the Verdanian girl who was supposedly giving…" She made air quotes. "Sexual favors to the COO in the elevator?"

All the color drained from my face. This was worse than I'd imagined.

"What do you mean 'buzzing'?" I asked, even though I already knew I wouldn't like the answer.

"Annie, since I walked in from lunch, I've heard at least three different versions of the story. One has you on your knees. Another mentions clothes coming off. And the most creative one claims you two got caught in the act. What happened?"

Nausea curled in my throat.

Instead of answering, I asked the question that had been eating me alive.

"Who is Alexandra Kensington?"

Gwen let out a long sigh and leaned back in her chair.

"Oh," she said, as if everything suddenly made sense. "Now it's clear."

"Clear how?"

"Alexandra is Anthony's sister. She's always had a thing for Nate. But as far as I know, nothing ever happened between them."

My stomach tightened. Of course she had a thing for him.

"Actually," Gwen went on, "Christian, who used to be really close to Nate, especially when he spent more time in London, even encouraged some kind of Carter–Kensington union. But let's be real, after everything that happened with Anthony, that side of the family isn't exactly popular anymore. And that's coming from the bastard daughter, mind you."

"So she's the one who spread this?" I asked, though I already knew.

"Probably. Alexandra has always been… strategic about the information she shares. And if she saw you two in a compromising position…"

"But that's not what she saw!" I snapped, frustrated. "It was a complete misunderstanding."

"Then tell me what actually happened." Gwen leaned forward. "Because from the hallway gossip, you were in a very… suggestive position."

I sighed and told her everything. The spilled coffee, Nathaniel taking off his shirt, our conversation about him teasing me, me kneeling to grab the papers, the elevator jolt that threw me against him, and Alexandra showing up at the worst possible moment.

"It really was just a misunderstanding?" Gwen asked when I finally finished.

"Yes! But now the entire office thinks I'm some opportunist who slept her way into the job."

"Annie…"

"No, Gwen. You don't get it." My voice wavered with frustration. "I'm already the CEO's sister-in-law. I've worked so hard to be taken seriously here. I've delivered perfect reports, offered solid insights, dedicated myself completely. And now? Now every time someone looks at me, they'll think I'm only here because I spread my legs for the COO."

"That's not true, and you know it."

"It doesn't matter what's true," I hissed, lowering my voice before anyone overheard. "What matters is what people believe. And apparently everyone believes I'm a woman who uses sex to get ahead."

Gwen went quiet for a few moments, taking in everything I'd said.

"Okay," she said at last. "So what are you going to do? Sit back and let a rumor destroy everything you've built?"

"I don't know what to do!" I ran both hands through my hair, exasperated.

"Annabelle, stop tearing yourself down. Go there, be professional, and handle this like the intelligent woman you are."

I looked at the message again, trying to decipher anything hidden beneath the formal wording.

"What if he really thinks I want something with him? What if this whole mess gave him the wrong idea?"

"Then you make it clear your priority is your work. You're here to build a career, not have an affair with your boss."

"But what if—"

"No more 'what ifs,'" Gwen cut in. "Tonight you show up, you're impeccably professional, you remind everyone why you deserve to be at that table, and you make it clear the rumors are false."

"You think that'll fix it? You think people will stop talking?"

"Eventually, yes. Office gossip dies fast when something juicier shows up. But only if you don't add fuel to the fire."

"Which means I need to stay away from Nathaniel."

"It means you need to be professional. There's a difference."

I glanced at the clock. Three p.m. In four and a half hours I'd be sitting across from Nathaniel Carter, trying to save my professional reputation and prove I wasn't what everyone suddenly thought I was.

I took a deep breath, trying to gather what was left of my confidence.

"Okay. I'll fix this tonight."

"You will. And tomorrow all of this will feel a lot smaller than it does right now."

I hoped she was right. Because if she wasn't, I might have just destroyed everything I'd worked so hard to build.