Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 643

Chapter 643

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Nicholas’s POV

Spending the night alone in Gwen’s apartment was one of the strangest experiences of my life.

I tried to make myself as invisible as possible, even though there was no one there to see me.

I didn’t want to leave traces. Didn’t want to disturb anything. Didn’t want it to look like someone had invaded her space.

I took a quick shower in the massive marble bathroom, using the bare minimum and putting everything back exactly where I found it.

I made something simple for dinner with what I found in her perfectly organized pantry. Pasta. Jarred tomato sauce. A little grated cheese. Afterward, I washed every dish carefully and returned each item to its precise spot.

I slept in the guest room, not hers. That felt like too much of an intrusion.

Even so, it took me hours to fall asleep. The bed was too comfortable. The silence too deep. Her

absence too loud.

Eventually, exhaustion won.

The next morning, I woke before sunrise.

The sky was still dark when I got up, already preparing myself to head back to the hospital the moment visiting hours allowed it.

I grabbed my phone to check the time.

That’s when I saw Paula’s message.

Sent at 5:43 a.m. Apparently, she hadn’t been sleeping either.

“Nick, I confirmed it. KWJ Holdings is a Kensington subsidiary holding. I’m so sorry. Call me if you need

to talk.”

I read the message three times.

So Renee had been right.

Gwen had bought my debt.

And she hadn’t told me. Not even when I asked her if there were any secrets left between us,

Something tightened painfully in my chest, but I forced myself to shove it aside.

Not now. I couldn’t deal with that now.

Gwen was in a coma, fighting for her life. That was what mattered.

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The rest could wait.

I went downstairs to the kitchen and figured out how to operate her overly complicated coffee machine The coffee came out strong enough to wake the dead.

I was halfway through my first cup when the doorbell rang.

Not the building intercom. The actual apartment doorbell.

Which meant whoever it was already had access to the building. Family, probably.

I walked quickly to the door and opened it.

Zoey stood there, offering a tired but genuine smile.

“Good morning,” she said. “Sorry for showing up this early. I came to grab some of Gwen’s documents. The hospital needs them. ID, insurance card, all the boring paperwork.”

“Of course,” I replied immediately, stepping aside to let her in. “It’s probably in her bedroom or maybe the office. The bedroom’s upstairs, last door on the right. And the office… I actually have no idea where that

is.”

Zoey laughed softly.

“First floor, end of the hallway, before the winter garden.”

She walked in like she knew the place by heart.

“Christian and I used to stay here when we came to Florentia,” she explained. “Before Gwen moved here permanently. I think… when she was still living in England. Or was it Longmin back then? Or somewhere else entirely.”

She laughed at her own uncertainty.

I just nodded, genuinely stunned by the casual information.

Gwen had lived in England? In Longmin? How many other places had there been that I didn’t even know

about?

“It’s kind of intimidating, isn’t it?” Zoey said gently, studying me. “The Kensington world.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I know that look,” she continued, her tone softening. “I felt the exact same way at first. Like an outsider Completely out of place. I think I understand you better than they do. Better than Christian, Dante, Mia they were born into all of this.”

I looked at her more carefully now.

“I didn’t grow up with money either,” Zoey said. “Not even close. My dad had debts. We almost lost everything at one point. And when I met Christian… all those differences. Status. Wealth. Completely

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different worlds. They weighed on us too, in the beginning.”

I knew she was trying to give me perspective. Trying to make me feel less alone.

But it wasn’t the same.

“It’s different,” I said carefully. “You’re… the woman. I’m… I’m supposed to-”

“You’re supposed to stop repeating structural sexism,” Zoey interrupted gently but firmly.

“What?” I asked, a little offended.

Zoey smiled patiently.

“Nick, love is supposed to matter more than money,” she said gently. “More than who earns more, who pays for what, who provides. All those social rules about the man being the provider and the woman being dependent? They’re constructs. Not absolute truths.”

“I’m trying to understand that,” I admitted. “But I don’t want to feel… useless. Like I can’t provide. Like I can’t give her what she deserves.”

“Gwen has never needed a financial provider,” Zoey said plainly. “And she never will. You have to understand and accept that if you really want to stand beside her.”

“I get it rationally,” I said. “But I still want to feel like I belong in her world. In a real way.”

“You learn that with time,” Zoey assured me. “With experience. With acceptance. With love.”

I let out a heavy breath.

“It doesn’t help that my estate is drowning in debt,” I said bitterly, “and I just found out Gwen bought that debt. She literally bought me.”

Zoey made a dismissive sound, almost amused.

“When Christian and I first met,” she said calmly, “he paid off my father’s massive debt. If he hadn’t, we probably would’ve lost our house. Do you know what I had to give in return at first?”

I waited.

“A contractual relationship,” she revealed. “A set time frame. Rules. Conditions. Do you know what people usually call getting involved for money?”

I did.

But I wasn’t going to say it.

“Prostitution,” Zoey said for me. “Which it wasn’t, obviously. It was an agreement. But his world made sure to remind me of that constantly. Including his mother, who refused to accept me. And his ex, who made my life a living hell.”

She paused and looked straight at me.

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“But then we actually fell in love,” she continued, her voice softening. “And none of that mattered anymore. Because the only thing that mattered was that we were willing to face the entire world if that’s what it took to be together.”

She stepped closer.

“Is that how you feel, Nick?” she asked directly. “Like you’d face the world to be with Gwen?”

I thought about it for a long moment.

Then I exhaled.

“Yes,” I said honestly. “That’s exactly how I feel. I love her so much I’d take on the entire world for her.”

Zoey smiled.

“Then start by facing your own internal ghosts first,” she advised. “You want to be a provider? Then provide what Gwen actually needs. Which definitely isn’t money.”

She turned and started up the elegant staircase toward the second floor.

“I’ll start looking for the documents in her bedroom,” she called over her shoulder.

“Wait,” I said quickly.

She stopped and turned back.

“What exactly does Gwen need?” I asked, genuinely lost. “She has everything.”

Zoey looked at me like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

“You,” she said simply. “Bella. A real family. Isn’t that obvious?”

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