Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 481

Chapter 481

Madeline’s POV

I was lying in bed beside Marcus, the soft glow of the bedside lamp casting gentle shadows across the room. My seven-month belly made it hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in, but it wasn’t the physical discomfort that kept me awake that night.

“Since my father’s funeral, I haven’t seen my mother,” I said, breaking the comfortable silence that had

settled between us.

Marcus turned to look at me, his attention fully focused on me.

“He said in the letter that I should forgive her,” I went on, the words coming out more hesitant than I’d meant them to. “And… I want to try.”

I paused, gathering the courage to ask the question that had been haunting me.

“Do you think I’m stupid for that?”

Marcus took my hand in his, his thumb tracing slow, comforting circles against my skin.

“No,” he said, with a sincerity I knew was real. “I understand that sometimes we’re not ready to let go of certain relationships, no matter how much they’ve hurt us-especially when we still believe they can be fixed.”

I bit my lip, thinking over his words before asking what truly scared me.

“But am I naïve for thinking I can fix her? After everything she’s done?”

Marcus sighed, and I could tell he was choosing his response carefully.

“Maybe you’ll never be best friends,” he said honestly. “But you can try to reconnect if that matters to you. Especially knowing that Dominic may have been behind much of what she did. In her own way, she

was a victim too.”

I fell asleep that night still thinking about Marcus’s words, and woke up the next morning with renewed determination. I needed to at least try.

My parents’ house was in an upscale neighborhood in Belmonte, a mansion that had always felt more like a museum than a home. I went there with one of the security guards discreetly accompanying me, as had become protocol since we returned to Verdania.

I rang the doorbell and waited, my heart pounding. When the maid opened the door and recognized me, genuine surprise crossed her face.

“Ms. Madeline! Your mother wasn’t expecting-”

“I know. May I come in?”

She hesitated for a moment before stepping aside, murmuring something about letting my mother know.

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Chapter 481

I found her in the living room, and what I saw shocked me to my core. My mother had always been impeccable-perfectly styled hair, flawless makeup, elegant clothes even when she was just at home. But the woman standing before me now was unrecognizable.

Her hair was messy and lifeless, clearly unwashed for days. She wore a wrinkled, stained pajama set. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and her face had a sickly paleness that scared me.

“Madeline?” she said, her voice hoarse with surprise-and something that sounded like shame.

“Hi, Mom.”

Without asking permission, I went into the kitchen and made coffee for both of us. It wasn’t something I ever did in that house as there were always staff for that, but I felt like we needed this moment alone, without witnesses.

I came back with two cups and sat at the dining table off the living room. My mother joined me reluctantly, accepting the coffee with slightly trembling hands.

From my purse, I took out a white, elegant envelope. The invitation to the reopening of Sullivan Parks, printed on high-quality paper with gold detailing.

“I’d like you to be there,” I said, sliding the invitation across the table toward her.

She stared at the envelope as if it were a snake about to strike.

“Why?” she asked, her voice heavy with a self-pity I recognized-and that also irritated me. “I was a terrible mother.”

I sighed, forcing myself to hold on to the calm and honesty I’d promised myself before coming here.

“Yes, you were,” I agreed, not softening the words. “But I’d really like you to be a great-grandmother. I don’t want you out of my life, Mom. Not now that Dad is gone and we never had the chance to fix everything. I don’t want the same thing to happen between us.”

My mother grabbed my hand across the table with surprising strength, her cold fingers gripping mine almost desperately.

“You never should’ve had that ridiculous idea of saving the parks,” she said urgently, catching me completely off guard. “You should’ve sold everything and left. Gone far away.”

I felt stung. After being so honest, after reaching out and trying to build a bridge between us, this was her response?

“Why?” I asked, my voice coming out colder than I meant it to.

My mother looked at me for a long moment, and there was something in her eyes that told me what

came next would matter.

“Dominic killed your father,” she said simply, the words dropping between us like bombs. “And I might be

next.”

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It took me a few seconds to absorb the blow. My mind refused to fully process what she had just said:

“But… Dad died of a heart attack, didn’t he?” I managed, my voice sounding distant even to myself.

“It’s easy to cause a heart attack in someone with a history of heart problems who’s already on medication,” she replied, her tone turning almost clinical. “An extra dose of certain drugs, something mixed into a drink… and it looks natural. What really happened in that hospital-we’ll never know for sure.”

The world spun around me. Dominic had killed my father. Not just pushed him toward death with debt and pressure, but actively murdered him.

“No… it’s not going to happen,” I said, hearing my own voice sound stronger and more determined than I felt. “I won’t let him do anything to you.”

My mother shook her head, sadness settling over her face like resignation.

“Now that you have the parks and you’re pregnant, he doesn’t need you anymore either. Just the direct heir. Once that baby is born-especially if it’s his-you’ll be just as disposable as your father was. As I

am.”

She squeezed my hand again, her nails digging lightly into my skin.

“Leave, Madeline. Take your husband, take that child when it’s born, and get out of here. Go to Valentia, go anywhere Dominic can’t reach you. But leave.”

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