Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 594

Chapter 594

Nicholas’ POV

It was Wednesday morning, and I was thinking about Gwen.

In truth, I hadn’t stopped thinking about her since I’d let her walk away like that. Since I’d watched her head back into the house, her back straight despite the pain I knew she was feeling. Since I’d heard her car leave the property a few hours later without us exchanging another word.

I had been holding my phone for fifteen minutes, the message screen open to her name.

The cursor blinked in the empty text box, taunting me. Mocking my inability to type something. Anything.

“I’m sorry.”

“You were right.”

“I messed everything up.”

Any of those would have worked.

But my fingers wouldn’t move.

Because deep down, I knew she had every right to be angry with me. For not owning up to what was clearly growing between us. For calling her “just a friend” when we both knew it was so much more than that.

But what else could I do?

What, exactly, did I have to offer Gwen?

An unstable life where she had to take on debt in her own name to save me? Moving to a rural estate in Castoria when she was clearly a city girl? Giving up her life in Florentia for a broke man with a young daughter and endless problems?

No.

This was better. Staying just friends. Business partners. Nothing more.

I locked my phone and set it down on the desk harder than necessary.

That was when I heard the front door open.

I stood up from my chair at the reception desk, frowning. We weren’t expecting any new guests today.

A man walked in wearing an impeccable dark suit despite the heat. He had a black leather briefcase tucked under his arm and a serious expression that came from years of doing a job no one was ever happy to receive.

My stomach dropped before he even spoke.

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“Mr. Nicholas Valemont?” he asked, his voice formal and professional.

“Yes,” I replied, already bracing myself.

“I am court officer Dominic Cruise,” he said, pulling a thick envelope from his briefcase. “I have a formal notice that must be delivered to you personally.”

He held out the envelope.

1 took it, trying to keep my hands steady. They were shaking slightly.

“It is a formal request for visitation,” the officer explained, his tone neutral but not unkind. “Ms. Renee Sandler is requesting legal visitation rights with the minor Isabella Valemont. All the details are in the document.”

I opened the envelope on the spot and pulled out the papers.

The words seemed to jump off the page: Maternal rights. Supervised visitation.Best interests of the minor. Objection must be filed in writing within fifteen days.

“Do you understand everything, Mr. Valemont?” the officer asked.

“Yes,” I lied.

Because I didn’t understand anything.

I didn’t understand how Renee could do this. I didn’t understand how the system allowed it. I didn’t understand how I was supposed to deal with it.

And yet, by late Friday morning, we were sitting in a gelato shop in the center of Montelira.

Me. Bella. And two cups of gelato slowly melting on the table between us.

I took her small hand in mine, squeezing gently.

“I’m going to be right here with you the whole time, okay?” I said for the tenth time since we’d left home. And if you want to leave at any point, you just tell me.”

“But I already want to leave,” she whispered.

“Let’s at least try to finish the gelato,” I said, forcing a smile. “You like gelato, don’t you? Pistachio is your

favorite.”

Bella didn’t answer. She just picked up her small spoon and stirred the gelato without really eating any of

That was when the door of the gelato shop opened.

Renee walked in.

Fifteen minutes late, yet making her entrance like it was a grand arrival. Tight dress. High heels. Designer handbag. Oversized sunglasses covering half her face. Elegant in a way that felt studied.

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Calculated to impress.

She removed her sunglasses with a dramatic motion and smiled when she saw us.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said as she walked toward our table. “Traffic was terrible.”

There was no traffic in Montelira, especially not on a Friday morning.

She sat in the empty chair and set her expensive bag on the floor beside her.

“Hi, Bella,” she said, her voice softening, turning more maternal. “How are you?”

Bella didn’t answer. She looked at me, then at her gelato, then anywhere except at Renee.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the table.

“So…” Renee tried again. “How’s school? Do you like

your teacher?”

“Yes,” Bella murmured, almost too quietly to hear.

“And your classmates? Have you made new friends?”

“Some.”

“That’s great!” Renee said with forced enthusiasm. “And tell me, did you have fun at your birthday? I know

I arrived at the wrong moment, but your dad said it was a beautiful party.”

Bella didn’t answer this time. She just went back to stirring her melting gelato.

Renee glanced at me, frustration beginning to crack the edges of her controlled expression.

“Has she always been this shy?” she asked, as if Bella weren’t sitting right there.

“She doesn’t know you,” I replied, forcing my voice to stay neutral. “You’re basically a stranger to her. She needs time.”

“I’m not a stranger,” Renee said sharply. “I’m her mother.”

I didn’t answer.

Because technically, she was right. Biologically. Legally.

But in every way that actually mattered…

Renee leaned forward and placed her hand on my arm on the table.

“Nick,” she said, her voice lowering, growing more intimate, “I know this is hard for everyone. But I’m trying. I really am trying to do things right this time.”

Her fingers moved slightly, stroking my arm.

I discreetly pulled away, using my gelato as an excuse.

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“Bella,” Renee tried again, turning back to her daughter, “how about we go out together one day? Just the two of us. We could go shopping. Buy new clothes. Toys. Whatever you want.”

Bella finally looked up, her eyes fixed on me with something close to desperation.

“Can Daddy come too?” she asked in a trembling voice.

“Well,” Renee began, clearly frustrated, “it would be nice if it were just us…”

“Gwen!”

Bella’s shout cut through the air. It was filled with genuine relief.

I turned automatically in the direction she was looking.

And there she was, standing on the sidewalk outside the large glass window facing the street.

Sunglasses pushed up on her head. Staring straight into the gelato shop, at us.

She was staring at me, Bella, and Renee, whose hand was still extended toward me, frozen mid-gesture in a way that probably looked far more intimate than it actually was.

I saw the shock on Gwen’s face.

I saw the exact moment she took in the scene.

I saw something close off in her expression.

日

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