Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 532

Chapter 532

Gwen’s POV

The knock on the door was soft. It was three quick taps, followed by a pause.

“Come in,” I called, expecting to see Nick.

Instead, Bella opened the door, holding a stack of white towels that was almost as big as she was. Her little face peeked out over the pile, brown curls slipping free from a messy braid, and that wide smile that showed the baby tooth starting to wobble.

I couldn’t help smiling back.

“Towels?” I asked, genuinely surprised.

Bella stepped into the room carefully, clearly focused on not dropping her precious cargo.

“I like helping Grandma,” she explained with the seriousness of someone on an important mission. “She said you needed extra towels, and I asked to bring them because I wanted to see your room.”

I took the towels from her hands and set them on the bed, feeling the soft fabric and breathing in the fresh lavender scent.

“Thank you so much, Bella. You’re very helpful.”

I left the door slightly open. Not fully closed, but enough to give a sense of privacy while still keeping things appropriate. After all, she was just a child.

Bella wasted no time. Her curious eyes wandered around the room, taking in every detail with the intense focus only kids have. She drifted over to the desk where I’d left a few things scattered, lightly touched the cover of my notebook, and looked at my bag hanging from the chair.

“You’re very pretty,” she said suddenly, turning to face me. “Like a princess.”

I laughed, feeling an unexpected rush of affection for this tiny human.

“Thank you, sweetheart. You’re very pretty too.”

“And you have princess clothes,” Bella went on, pointing at my open suitcase where some of my clothes were still visible. “Your clothes are shiny and soft. Grandma has clothes like that too, but she only wears them to church on important days.”

I glanced at the suitcase, seeing it through her eyes. Cashmere. Silk. Fabrics that were clearly far too expensive. Another inconsistency my scrambled brain couldn’t explain.

“I like dressing nicely,” I said, because it was the only answer I had.

Bella moved closer, climbing onto the edge of the bed and sitting there with her legs swinging in the air. She watched me with those big, honest brown eyes, completely unfiltered.

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“You make Daddy laugh,” she said softly, and there was something almost reverent in her voice.

“I do?”

“You do,” she insisted. “I saw you guys outside.” Her legs swung faster. “He was laughing. Like, really laughing. Not that tiny laugh he does when he’s being polite with guests. A real laugh.”

Something warm expanded in my chest.

“You like it when your dad laughs?”

“I really like it,” she said emphatically. “He doesn’t laugh much. He’s always busy and serious and worried about boring grown-up stuff. But when you got here, he laughed.” She tilted her head, studying me. “I liked that.”

I didn’t know what to say.

That simple, honest statement from a six-year-old hit me harder than I expected. I sat down beside her on the bed, feeling the mattress dip slightly under our combined weight.

“I’m glad to hear that,” I said finally.

“Are you going to live here when you marry Daddy?” Bella asked, jumping to the next topic with the speed only kids have. “Are you going to be my new mommy?”

My heart clenched. The question was so innocent. So full of hope. And yet it carried a weight I wasn’t ready to hold.

“I… don’t know yet how everything will work,” I answered honestly. “But I’d really like to get to know you better, Bella.”

She seemed satisfied with that, nodding enthusiastically.

“You have pretty hair,” she announced, changing the subject again. “It’s long and dark. And your eyes are blue like the summer sky. Grandma said you look like a movie star.”

I laughed again, touched by her genuine sweetness.

“She said that?”

“She did.” Bella grinned mischievously. “I always hear everything.”

We spent the next few minutes talking about random things. Bella told me about her school, about how she was learning to read and could already read “big kid books” with just a little help. She told me about her favorite cartoons, about the orange kitten I’d seen in the courtyard, about how she helped Grandma make bread every Sunday morning.

Talking to her was easy. Natural. There was no judgment. No complicated questions about my past or my broken memory. It was just… connection. Pure and simple.

“Oh! I forgot!” Bella suddenly hopped off the bed and dug into the pocket of her stained pink dress. “I

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made something for you!”

“For me?”

“Uh-huh.” Her tongue peeked out between her teeth as she searched.

She pulled out something colorful and delicate. When she held it out to me, I saw it was a necklace made of beads. Plastic beads in bright colors. Pink, blue, yellow, green, purple. All threaded onto a thin

cord and tied in a careful little knot.

“You made this?” I asked, taking it gently, like it was the most precious thing in the world.

“I did!” Bella bounced with excitement. “Grandma only helped with the knot because it’s hard, but I picked all the colors and put it together! It’s a present!”

My throat tightened, emotion rising fast and unexpected. It was just a child’s bead necklace. It probably cost a few cents and took twenty minutes to make. But it was so sincere. So full of care and honest effort that I couldn’t stop the tears from stinging my eyes.

“Bella… it’s beautiful,” I said, my voice thick. “Thank you so much.”

“Put it on! Put it on!” she insisted, clapping her hands.

I slipped the necklace on immediately, feeling the light weight of the plastic beads against my skin. It was ridiculously childish and didn’t match my silk blouse at all.

And it was absolutely perfect.

I caught my reflection in the dark window and smiled. Then, without thinking too much about it, I lifted my hands to my neck and removed the necklace I was wearing. A simple, delicate chain with a small star pendant.

“So this,” I said, turning back to Bella, “is a present for you too.”

I placed it around her neck carefully, fastening the tiny clasp while she held her hair up. The star settled perfectly at the center of her chest, glinting softly against the pink fabric of her dress.

Bella touched the star with curious fingers.

“Like a friendship necklace?” she asked, her eyes going wide.

“Like a friendship necklace,” I confirmed, smiling.

Then she hugged me, throwing her little arms around my neck with surprising strength for someone so small. I hugged her back, feeling her warm little body against mine, and something inside me tightened.

An image flashed through my mind.

There was a pregnancy test in my hand. Two bright pink lines. Me, years younger, laughing, celebrating, showing it to a man beside me. I tried to see his face, to focus on his features, but everything was blurred, like someone had smeared the image on purpose. When I tried to hold onto the memory, to pull

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