Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 267

Chapter 267

I reached Nate’s house with my heart pounding, every step down that tree-lined path tightening the knot of determination and nerves tangled inside me.

When I rang the doorbell, he opened almost immediately, leaning against the doorframe like he’d been waiting there. There was something in the way he held himself that told me he already knew exactly why I’d come.

“So you already heard,” he said, completely unsurprised.

“HR told me this morning,” I replied, stopping a few feet from him, trying to keep some physical space between us-space I hoped would help me think straight. “I’m back on Monday, but under supervision.”

Something about the way he stood there bothered me deeply. Too controlled and prepared, like he’d rehearsed this conversation in his head before I even showed up. It was the same professional mask he wore in high- stakes meetings, when he had to negotiate impossible contracts or handle delicate situations.

“Do you even want me to come back?” I asked, going straight to the point, too tired for any more circles or half- truths.

Something flickered in Nate’s eyes. It was a micro-expression gone too fast for me to catch. Like he was fighting himself, choosing every word as if they were explosives. He didn’t answer right away, and the silence itself was already an answer.

“Let’s talk inside,” he said finally, stepping aside. The gesture felt more like an escape than an invitation.

I walked in, my footsteps echoing softly against the polished wooden floors.

“I know you talked to Marcus,” Nate said, cutting straight through the pretense as he closed the door behind us with a sharp click. “He mentioned the transfer proposal to the Imperial City.”

My stomach twisted hard. So they really had discussed my future without me. The confirmation of what I’d suspected hit me like a betrayal, even though part of me knew it was probably inevitable.

“It’s a real opportunity for you,” he went on, still using that carefully neutral tone I’d grown to hate in personal conversations. “More room to grow professionally. Less corporate politics to deal with. Away from all the rumors Alexandra spread.”

I watched him closely as he spoke, looking for the truth behind the controlled façade. Even though his voice stayed calm and rational, his body betrayed him-his shoulders just a little too rigid, his hands curled discreetly at his sides, the way he looked away every time he mentioned me being “away from rumors.”

Every word felt like he was reading off some internal script he’d prepared to convince me that leaving was the best option for everyone involved.

“Is that what you really think?” I asked, folding my arms defensively. “Or is it just easier for you if I’m far away?

Nate finally met my eyes again, and for a split second I caught something sharp-irritation, maybe frustration- before he managed to pull the mask back on.

“It’s not about what’s easier,” he said. His voice was still controlled, but now there was an edge to it, a crack of tension underneath. “It’s logical. And you know it.”

I was seconds from leaving, my hand already reaching for the doorknob, when his voice reached me.

It was lower, rougher, stripped of control-like something inside him had finally cracked open.

“That’s not what I want. But wanting doesn’t always matter.”

I froze mid-step, as if I’d slammed into something invisible. His words hit me straight in the gut. Not because they were cruel, but because for the first time all night, there was raw honesty in them. Honesty and a kind of quiet resignation that made something inside me burn.

I turned slowly to face him, every movement deliberate, fueled by the storm inside me.

The anger that had been building all night finally boiled over. It wasn’t sadness or disappointment, but fury.

Fury at how impossibly noble and self-destructive he was trying to be. Fury that he was making decisions for both of us without even asking what I wanted. Fury because he was acting like I was a chess piece instead of a person with wants and choices of my own.

But above all, fury because I could see in his eyes that he wanted the exact opposite of what he was saying, but he was still clinging to that rational façade that was hurting both of us.

I let go of the doorknob with a hard jerk and crossed the room in quick, determined strides. Before he could react, say anything logical kiss.