Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 674

Chapter 674

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Chapter 674

Gwen’s POV

The letter stayed in Nick’s hands like it had a pulse of its own.

He stood in the middle of the living room, shirtless, his hair still messy from sleep, and somehow he looked… official. As if his body understood that our home had just turned into a courtroom.

His hands were trembling. Barely. Almost imperceptible.

But I saw it.

I always saw everything when it came to him.

I leaned against the kitchen counter, trying to keep the air inside my lungs. The coffee I’d just started brewing suddenly felt wrong. Like it belonged to a different world. A world that didn’t exist anymore.

My phone vibrated on the marble.

It was a video call from one of the lawyers.

His name flashed on the screen, and for a second, I considered letting it ring. As if ignoring it might buy us a little more time before reality hit.

Nick looked up at me. In his eyes, a silent command.

‘Answer it.’

I accepted the call.

“Mr. Cross,” I said, already trying to steady my voice.

His face appeared on screen. Framed too neatly. Background too neutral. The kind of image that already carried bad news. He didn’t smile.

“Ms. Kensington. Mr. Valemont.” He took a measured breath. Professional. “I’m afraid I have… less than pleasant news.”

“Yeah. We know. The notification just arrived.”

Behind me, I heard the paper crumple slightly. Nick had tightened his grip, like he could crush the idea and shove it back inside the envelope.

The lawyer blinked slowly. As if confirming what he suspected.

“She moved quickly,” he said. “And she did it strategically.”

Nick stepped into frame from the side, like the camera was a doorway he was about to storm through.

“What does she want?” he asked, his voice low and tight. “Exactly what does she want?”

The lawyer held his gaze. Unshaken. That was his job.

“She filed an emergency request. A temporary injunction. In simple terms, Renee is asking the court to make an immediate temporary change to custody while the main case is pending.”

Nick went completely still.

Something cold slid down inside me.

“Temporary how?” I asked before his anger turned into something we wouldn’t be able to contain.

Chapter 674

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“Temporary as in… the child spending a period of time with the mother. Or expanded visitation for her. Until the judge makes a final custody determination.”

Nick let out a dry, disbelieving laugh.

“She thinks she’s going to pull that off with a tantrum and a rehearsed line?”

The lawyer ignored the jab. He shifted into the script I knew he’d already prepared.

“Here’s what happens next. The court schedules an urgent hearing. At the same time, the judge may request a formal evaluation. A psychologist. A social worker. An assessment of the family environment.”

My stomach tightened.

“An evaluation in our house?” I asked.

“It’s possible,” he said with a nod. “It could be a home visit. It could be interviews. It depends on the judge and what was alleged in her petition. She’ll try to frame this as emotional instability. She’ll use the incident at school. She’ll use the move to another city. She’ll use anything that can be interpreted as ‘turbulence.””

Nick closed his eyes for a moment, and I saw the muscle in his jaw jump. When he opened them again, he wasn’t the same man.

“And she’s going to use Gwen,” he said, like he was spitting the word out. “She’s going to say I brought a ‘stranger’ into Bella’s life and that it’s destroying everything.”

I didn’t correct him. I didn’t have the energy to defend myself. I just ran my hand down his back, a small touch that said: I’m

here.

“Mr. Cross,” I said, steady. “The real question is how much weight does this have? What can she actually accomplish?”

He looked at us for a second that felt too long.

“Your chances are good,” he said plainly. No sugarcoating. “As long as your position is very clear and very consistent: stability, bond, routine, care. And most importantly… if the child expresses a desire to remain with her father.”

The word “most” hung in the air like something sharp.

Nick leaned closer to the camera, like the answer might change if he got nearer.

“Is her opinion decisive? One hundred percent?” he asked. And underneath it, I heard what he didn’t say. Tell me she can’t be turned against me.

The lawyer didn’t soften it. But he wasn’t cruel.

“It’s not one hundred percent,” he said slowly, in that careful, explanatory tone. “Her age matters. Younger children can be influenced, and the judge knows that. However… it carries significant weight. It truly does. The court always looks at the ‘best interest’ of the child, and when a child verbalizes fear, discomfort, or refusal… that becomes part of the decision.”

I felt Nick’s entire body go rigid.

“So Renee is…” he began.

“She’s trying to build a narrative,” the lawyer finished for him. “A narrative in which the girl appears emotionally unsate in her father’s home. A narrative where the mother is the safe harbor. It’s simple and it’s old. She wants the judge to see the mother as stability and the father as risk.”

A low sound escaped Nick’s throat, like he was swallowing a scream.

I gripped his shoulders with both hands, like I could physically keep the ground from shifting beneath us.

“So what do we do now?” I asked. “Practically. Today.”

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“Today you do two things,” the lawyer replied immediately. “First: do not react impulsively. No messages to Renee. No written arguments. No confrontations in front of the child. Second: document everything. School reports. Daily routines. Schedules. Who drops off and picks up. Medical appointments. Behavior. Any proof of consistency.”

He paused briefly, then added,

“And you need to prepare Bella for an honest conversation. Not about ‘the case.’ About safety. She needs to feel secure. Because if she stands in front of an authority figure and repeats fear… that carries weight.”

Nick took a deep breath, but it sounded like the air didn’t reach his lungs.

“Okay,” I said firmly, even with my throat tight. “Then we’ll do it right. No drama. No scenes. No reactions. We just… take care

of her.”

My hands were still on Nick’s shoulders. I felt him glance at me, like he wanted to lean into me but wasn’t sure he was allowed

I squeezed once more.

“It’s okay,” I said to him, not the lawyer. “We’re safe, then.”

The words came out with a confidence I had no right to promise.

Because I could still hear the lawyer’s condition echoing in my head like a stamp pressed into paper:

As long as the child expresses a desire to remain with her father.

And in that moment, I understood something with terrifying clarity.

Renee wasn’t trying to win on paper.

She was trying to win with the words of a child.

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