Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 374

Chapter 374

Madeline’s POV

My hands were shaking so badly I almost dropped the pregnancy test onto the bathroom floor. Two lines. Two

mistakable lines that were about to change my life.

Olivia stood frozen in the doorway, watching me with an expression that blended fear and tenderness, like she wanted to pull me into a hug and, at the same time, shield both of us from what those results meant.

“And now?” I whispered, still staring at the test.

“Now…” Olivia began, but she was cut off by the sound of the apartment door opening without warning.

“Madeline! Olivia! Where are you?” Vivian’s artificially cheerful voice echoed down the hallway.

My blood turned to ice. Vivian had a key to the apartment as Dominic had insisted on it “for emergencies.” I looked desperately at Olivia and tried to hide the test. But it was already too late.

“You’re pregnant!” Vivian exclaimed, snatching the test from my hand before we could react. “Dominic is going to be so happy when he finds out!”

The look Olivia and I exchanged was heavy with unspoken meaning. What if it wasn’t his? The question hovered between us like a dark cloud, but neither of us dared to voice it in front of Vivian.

“It’s… it’s very early,” I managed, trying to regain control of the situation. “I haven’t even told Dominic yet.”

“How wonderful!” Vivian clapped her hands, as if she were watching a play. “Actually, I came to pick you up for your dress fitting. I know how late you always are, so I thought it’d be better to come get you myself.”

I frowned. I was never late, at least not significantly. It was just another one of Vivian’s many small lies, excuses to justify her control over my life.

“You don’t need to worry. I was going to go,” I protested weakly.

“Of course I need to worry!” she laughed, but there was something cold beneath her cheer. “I’m your maid of honor. It’s my responsibility to make sure everything goes perfectly this time.”

“This time.’ As if the first canceled wedding had been my fault.

On the way to the atelier, sitting in the passenger seat of Vivian’s car, I tried to keep up normal conversation, but every word she spoke sounded like surveillance disguised as concern.

“You seem calmer now,” she remarked as she drove. “Are the therapy sessions helping?”

“A lot,” I lied, thinking of the sessions I was being forced to attend.

“I’m glad you’re following medical recommendations,” she continued. “Dominic worries so much when you’re not well.”

“I’m fine,” I answered automatically.

“Of course you are!” she smiled. “And now, with the pregnancy, I’m sure everything will fall perfectly into place. There’s nothing like a baby to bring stability to a marriage, right?”

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The way she said it sent a chill through me. As if the baby were just another piece on the board. Another way to keep me trapped.

When we arrived at the atelier, the seamstress greeted me with professional smiles and led me into the fitting room. I had to admit the dress was beautiful. Pure silk, flawless cut, every detail designed to create the illusion of the perfect bride.

“You look stunning,” Vivian commented when I stepped out. “Everything needs to be exactly where it belongs… including the bride, right?”

The seamstress laughed, thinking it was a joke. I understood the message perfectly.

“The veil is a little crooked,” Vivian said, stepping closer to adjust it. “One detail out of place can ruin the entire ceremony. We can’t let anything go wrong this time.”

Her hands tugged at the veil with more force than necessary, and when our eyes met in the mirror, I saw the veiled threat clearly reflected there. One misstep. One attempt to escape. And there would be consequences.

I stood frozen in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection dressed as a bride, and the irony hit me like a wave. There I was, possibly carrying a life inside me that might be the result of the real love I’d lived with Marcus while being prepared like a decorative object for a marriage to a man who represented everything I despised.

The dress was beautiful on the outside, but inside I felt like I was suffocating. As if every layer of fabric was another chain binding me to a fate I hadn’t chosen.

“You know all of this is dangerous for you too, right?” I dared to say, watching Vivian through the mirror. “What happens when Dominic gets tired of you?”

Vivian stopped adjusting the veil for a second. Then she quickly rearranged her face into one of innocent confusion.

“What are you talking about?” she pretended not to understand. “You really need to stop these fantasies… or the clinic will become necessary again.”

The threat was delivered in the same sweet tone she’d use to comment on the weather, but its impact was crushing. The clinic. The place that had never truly existed-but could easily become real if I didn’t cooperate.

“I’m not imagining things,” I whispered.

“Of course you are,” she smiled, smoothing a strand of my hair with false tenderness. “Pregnancy stress can cause mental confusion. But don’t worry. We’ll take good care of you. And the baby.”

The way she said we’ll take care sounded far more like a promise of captivity than protection.

I kept staring at my reflection-a woman dressed in white, pregnant, surrounded by people who called themselves family and friends, but who were, in truth, her jailers. The seamstress kept making adjustments. Vivian kept smiling. And I stayed there, motionless, like a doll being prepared for display.

The tension of it all exploded in the cruel subtext Vivian had left hanging in the air. Either I cooperated fully, followed the script they’d written for me… or I’d be sent back to the “clinic.”

I looked at my reflection one last time and felt every remaining ounce of fight drain from my body.

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+25 Bonus

Maybe this was it. My fate.

Marry Dominic. Raise whoever’s child this was, inside this lie. Spend the rest of my life playing the perfect wife

while they used my name to fuel their dirty business.

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