Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 461

Chapter 461

+25 Bonus

Chapter 461

Marcus’ POV

I drove down the winding mountain roads at a speed that bordered on reckless, my mind focused on one thing only-getting home as fast as possible. The car handled the tight curves well, but I knew I was pushing the limits of safety.

“Marcus, slow down!” Mia protested from the back seat, gripping the armrest. “We don’t want to die before we even get home!”

“She’s right,” Luke agreed from the passenger seat, his voice slightly tense. “This road is dangerous even at normal speed.”

I eased off the gas a little, but I couldn’t slow the urgency pounding through my chest. I needed to get home. I needed to find Madeline and understand what the hell was happening.

“Marcus, breathe,” Olivia said, her voice filled with genuine concern. “Tell me what happened between you and my cousin.”

I let out a heavy sigh, trying to organize my thoughts as I took another sharp curve.

“Honestly? I don’t know,” I admitted. “Madeline has been acting strange since the rafting challenge. Actually, since I left the hospital wing. I’ve tried talking to her several times, but she just refuses to talk to me.”

“Maybe she just needed some space,” Olivia suggested gently. “And maybe you were smothering her without realizing it?”

I considered that. Maybe I really had been too insistent. Too present. Too eager to fix whatever problem she was dealing with.

“Maybe,” I agreed. “But it was important. There’s something I… something I need to tell her.”

Olivia met my eyes in the rearview mirror but stayed quiet, clearly waiting for me to continue.

“It’s about her father,” I finally said, feeling the weight of the information I’d been carrying alone. “He’s in the hospital. Heart attack-not the first one. The situation is… delicate.”

The car fell silent for a few seconds, filled only by the sound of the engine and tires on asphalt.

“And

you didn’t tell her?” Olivia asked softly.

“I thought about telling her. Then I thought about not telling her,” I explained, frustration bubbling up again. “I honestly don’t know what the right thing is. I know her relationship with her father is complicated, but still… he’s her father.”

“But?” Mia pressed, clearly sensing there was more.

“But in the end, I think Madeline has the right to make her own decision,” I said, the words coming out heavier than I expected. “She needs to choose for herself whether she wants to go back to Verdania or not.”

An uncomfortable silence settled over the car. All of us knew exactly what that meant. Madeline going back to Verdania would put both her and the baby in direct danger.

1/3

Dominic would be waiting for exactly an opportunity like that.

And it could potentially put me in danger too. On top of already having had a gun pointed at my head, I could be reported-if not as a kidnapper, then for abuse of a vulnerable person, considering Madeline was legally deemed mentally unstable and under her parents’ guardianship.

“Maybe it would be better if I told her,” Olivia murmured thoughtfully. “As her cousin. As someone who doesn’t have all those… complications.”

I sighed, recognizing the logic in what she was saying.

“Maybe you’re right,” I admitted, my voice thick with frustration. “I just don’t like not being able to be her anchor. Not being the person she trusts completely.”

“Sometimes loving someone means letting other people help too,” Olivia said gently. “Especially when you’re emotionally too close to the situation.”

“I’ve always been the one who fixes things,” I explained, keeping my eyes on the road. “At work. In my family. In my personal life. And now I’m in a situation where anything I do could be the wrong decision for the woman I …” I stopped myself before saying the word “love.”

“Welcome to the world of serious relationships,” Mia commented with mild irony. “Where there are no right answers-just attempts to do the best you can.”

“Right now, I just want to make sure she’s okay and safe at home,” I said, pressing the accelerator slightly as we approached the city.

The rest of the drive passed in near silence. Each of us was lost in our own thoughts about the impossible situation we were facing. When I finally pulled up to the building where Madeline and I lived, my heart sped up with a mix of anticipation and anxiety.

My keys shook slightly in the lock, my impatience making even opening the door harder than it should’ve been.

“Madeline?” I called as soon as I stepped inside. “Madeline, are you here?”

Silence.

I moved quickly through the apartment, checking each room methodically. The master bedroom looked exactly as we’d left it-bed neatly made, pillows arranged, my clothes still tossed over the armchair where I’d left them in a rush while packing. The bathroom carried a faint trace of her perfume, but there were no signs of recent use. No damp towels. No beauty products out of place.

In the kitchen, I checked for dirty dishes, any sign she’d eaten something. Nothing. The fridge was exactly as we’d left it, the same items in the same spots. Even the balcony was untouched, the plants she cared for so lovingly showing signs that no one had watered them.

The apartment was exactly the way it had been before we left for the camp.

She hadn’t come home.

Panic began to set in. If she wasn’t here, where the hell was she? Who had given her that “ride”? And why hadn’t she called to tell me she was okay?

2/3

I grabbed my phone and called her number again. Straight to voicemail. I tried twice more, with the same result.

I rushed back toward the door, not knowing exactly where I was going-but absolutely certain I would find her no matter what. It didn’t matter where she was. It didn’t matter who she was with. I would find her.

But when I opened the apartment door, ready to go searching, my heart literally stopped for a moment when I saw who was standing on the other side.

BIG SALE: 3500 bonus free fou you

日

Comments

+2

Support

Share

4

get it

3/3