Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 365

Chapter

Three Days Ago, Madeline

“Did you see that?” My voice came out bar

“Calm down!”

Did you see that?!” I screamed this time.

“Calm down!” my mother shouted back.

Clarisse Sullivan, immaculate as always in her hand-embroidered navy-blue dress, made me sit on the couch and handed me a glass of champagne. Even in the middle of chaos, she maintained the aristocratic composure that defined her.

“You knew?” I asked, shock numbing me into an eerie calm. “You knew?”!

“I suspected it,” she admitted, smoothing an imaginary crease in her skirt. “Your father did too.”

“Why did you let me go through this?”

My mother moved closer and sat beside me, her perfectly manicured hands gripping mine with unsettling

firmness.

“Honestly, Madeline…” she sighed. “Because we needed this marriage just as much as Dominic needed us.” “What do you mean?”

“The parks, dear. We were bankrupt. Completely bankrupt. Your father…” She paused, as if gathering courage. Your father had two heart attacks in the past six months. The doctor said another serious bout of stress could be fatal.”

The ground disappeared beneath my feet.

“Mom…”

“Dominic offered a solution. The casinos needed a new address, and the parks were perfect. With our name as a front, no one would suspect anything. It was risky, yes, but it was that or losing everything.”

“Illegal casinos, Mom! That’s a crime!”

“It was survival!” For the first time, I saw Clarisse Sullivan lose her composure. “Would you rather see your father die? See our family ruined? Watch everything the Sullivans built over generations disappear?”

Hot tears streamed down my face, ruining the makeup that had been retouched just minutes earlier.

“But you heard what he said… He planned to leave me once he got what he wanted and be with Vivian.”

“Not if we didn’t let him,” my mother said, something dangerous flashing in her eyes. “We would get rid of her. One way or another, Vivian would be removed from the picture. And Dominic… well, men can be controlled when you know where to apply pressure.”

The chill that ran down my spine had nothing to do with the air-conditioning.

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“I can’t get married knowing all t

“You could and you would.” S

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stood, her rigid posture returning instantly. “I’ll call the makeup artist. That face needs fixing. And Madeline…” Her gaze hardened. “Think of your father. Think of our family. Some battles were won with strategy, not impulse.’

About twenty minutes later, with my makeup flawless again and no sign I’d been crying, I stood before the red

pet leading to the altar. Dominic Blackwood waited for me there, in his tailored suit, standing tall and imposing.

The ceremony was outdoors. Everything was decorated with flowers, statues, ribbons, and bows. On either side of the red carpet, rows upon rows of chairs were filled with faces I barely recognized. I tried to focus on family members, who looked at me with what I now knew was false pride.

‘It’s fine. I can do this.’ I repeated the mantra with every step I took, my arm linked with my father’s as we walked toward my fate. ‘It’s fine. I can do this.’

“Take good care of her,” Alfred Sullivan said when he handed me over to Dominic. I could see the sweat on his forehead, the effort it took for him to hold himself together.

“With my life, sir,” Dominic replied, and it made me want to vomit.

When my father stepped away and I stood alone with Dominic for a few seconds before turning toward the priest, I looked straight into his eyes.

How had I never seen it before?

There was no love there. No emotion. No awe at seeing me dressed like that.

It was never about us.

It was just business.

“You look so beautiful,” Dominic said.

The compliment sounded hollow.

I nodded in thanks, unable to respond. We walked toward the altar, and the ceremony began. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t hear a single word the priest was saying. My gaze drifted, eventually landing on the bridesmaids.

Vivian.

She was smiling broadly at me, and the urge to punch every one of those teeth out nearly made me dizzy. Instead, I looked away, toward my mother. She gave me a small, encouraging nod.

“Madeline Sullivan, do you freely and willingly accept Dominic Blackwood as your husband?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but no sound came out. My throat was bone-dry. My hands were sweating again. I stayed frozen for several long seconds, staring at the priest.

“Madeline?” Dominic prompted, and I turned my eyes to him. “You need to answer, sweetheart.”

“Huh?”

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“The priest,” he chuckled. “I know you’re nervous with happiness, but you need to answer the priest.”

A few people nearby laughed softly. I laughed too–a sharp, nervous sound that didn’t belong to me at all. Then the priest asked again, “Madeline Sullivan, do you freely and willingly accept Dominic Blackwood as your husband?”

I thought of my sick father. Of my bankrupt family. The illegal casinos. Vivian. Of the plan to use me as a front,

d discard me afterward.

“No.”

The word slipped out before I could stop it.

“What?” Dominic sounded genuinely confused.

“No,” I repeated, this time steady. “No, I do not.”

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And before my mind could catch up with my body, my feet were already moving-running the entire length of the red carpet in reverse. Even in heels, even lifting my dress, I had never run so desperately in my life.

“Madeline! Madeline!” I heard voices shouting behind me before footsteps followed.

I ran through the gardens toward where I remembered the gate to the property was, screaming for someone to open it. I flew through the gate and found myself standing on a sidewalk in the middle of an avenue.

I stopped for one second. Just one.

I looked left. I looked right.

Where now?

A motorcycle slid to a stop in front of me, parking just inches away. The rider held out a helmet.

“You planning on just standing there?”

And that was how I met the mysterious man I would end up taking on my honeymoon.

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