Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 699

Chapter 699

Gwen’s POV

When the elevator doors closed, I ran back inside the apartment, grabbed my purse, and pulled out my phone with the same reflex I use when a contract is on fire.

I needed to solve, not feel.

The school answered on the first ring.

“Good afternoon, administration.”

“This is Gwen Kensington,” I said, no preamble. “I need to speak to the principal. Now.”

A brief pause. The kind where the world decides if you’re important enough.

I knew I was.

“One moment.”

I heard the click. The waiting. Forced myself to breathe. In the background, children’s voices. Footsteps.

A distant bell.

Normal life.

“Ms. Kensington?” the principal came on the line, voice controlled.

“I need today’s security footage,” I said immediately. “From the gate and the entrance area. I need the exact time Isabella Valemont usually arrives and the exact time you realized she hadn’t entered.”

“Ma’am, that-” she started, slipping into bureaucracy.

I cut in without raising my voice.

“This is an emergency. You can handle this the bureaucratic way, or you can handle it the easy way for both of us. Isabella is missing. Her father is on his way to the police right now.”

The word missing does something to people who love procedures.

It changes their tone.

“Oh my God,” the principal said, real fear breaking through. “We… we’ll pull the footage.”

“Email it to me,” I said, already opening my app to dictate. “And I want the link the moment it’s ready.”

“We’ll send it as fast as possible.”

1 need as fast as possible to mean fast,” I replied. “And call to confirm when it’s sent

Thung up before she could add anything else.

1/5

I turned in place, staring down the building hallway like I could see Nick descending through concrete and walls. He’d gone to the police. He was doing what he needed to do.

And I needed to do what I was good at.

I dialed the building’s front desk.

“Concierge.”

“This is Gwen from apartment-“I gave the number and my name, hearing instant recognition. I hate being recognized. I love what it gives me. “I need today’s security footage from the lobby and the street.”

“Did something happen, Ms. Gwen?”

“Yes. Isabella is missing.”

Silence.

“We might need to… I should speak to the building manager…”

“You can speak to him later,” I said. “Right now, you pull the footage and send it to me. I’ll formalize the request in writing if you want. But I need the video.”

He swallowed.

“I’ll… check the system.”

“Email it,” I repeated, dictating the address like I was giving rescue coordinates.

When I hung up, I paused for half a second.

I knew Bella couldn’t have made it there alone.

Florentia wasn’t Montelira.

But I wasn’t operating on probability. I was operating on the kind of desperation that makes a child

outrun logic.

I wasn’t leaving a single gap open.

I searched for Paula’s number. She still lived there. She was still a place Bella might think to go.

She answered on the second ring.

“Gwen?”

“is Bella with you?” I asked, skipping any warm-up.

“What? Not heard a door opening on her end. Footsteps.

I closed my eyes for half a second

“Listen,” I said carefully, choosing clarity over comfort. “She ran from Renee. From school. She tried to get back to her dad.”

Silence.

“Oh my God…” Paula breathed. Real shock. Honest.

“I need you to check her favorite places in Montelira,” I continued. “The gelato shop. The square. The entrance to the estate. Anywhere a child might think she can wait for her father. Can you do that?”

“I’m going now,” Paula said without hesitation. “Right now.”

“Call me if you see anything. Anything, Paula.”

“I will.”

I hung up and opened the mental checklist of someone who doesn’t have time to fall apart.

Nick at the police station.

Paula searching.

Renee… I pushed Renee onto an internal shelf for a few minutes. I refused to waste energy on her poison

while Bella wasn’t safe.

I called Cross.

He answered the way he always does. Too fast for someone who supposedly has a life.

“Gwen.”

ng the custody

“Nick is going to file a missing person report. Bella ran. Renee is accusing him order,” I said quickly, summarizing. “I need you to tell me exactly what he should say so this doesn’t turn into a custody dispute’ in the report.”

Cross took one measured breath.

“Okay, First: he does not discuss support, custody, or relationship issues. He reports an objective fact. Isabella is missing. Second: he mentions the principal’s call and the note as evidence she ran. Third: he formally requests that the police obtain the school footage and pull public camera feeds. Fourth: he does not accuse the mother of negligence in the heat of the moment. That comes later, if necessary.”

I memorized it without paper.

“And if the officer tries to turn it into a ‘domestic issue’?”

“He repeats ‘This is not a domestic issue. This is a missing child” Cross said. “As many times as necessary?

I closed my eyes

“Okay”

Chapter 699

“Gwen…” Cross added. “Tell him to send me the address and wait. I’m on my way.’

“Thank you.”

I hung up and texted Nick everything.

Then I walked into the kitchen and stood there for two seconds, listening to my own heart pound too hard. The apartment felt too big. And somewhere out there, a small child was too small for the world.

My phone vibrated.

Email.

I opened it so fast I missed the first tap.

‘Footage – Gate/Entrance Cameras’

There was a link.

I clicked.

A basic player opened. Grainy image. The school gate. Children filing in with colorful backpacks. Staff in reflective vests. Parents in a hurry.

I fast-forwarded.

Skipped ahead.

Went back.

Forward again.

I searched for a specific jacket. Specific hair. Specific backpack.

And then I saw her.

Bella.

Small, wearing a backpack that looked too big for her, walking toward the gate like she was doing exactly what she was supposed to do. She paused for a second and looked to the side, and my chest tightened because I recognized that gesture.

The moment a child decides.

She shifted.

Halfway there, Bella turned her body and ran in the opposite direction. Like she was fleeing something.

I stopped the video.

Rewound

Chapter 699

Pressed play again.

And then I saw what I didn’t want to see.

Before Bella left the camera frame, someone stepped into view.

An adult.

A larger shadow.

They spoke to her.

Bella hesitated.

And then-

Then Bella disappeared from the frame.

And the adult disappeared with her.

My finger froze on the screen.

Someone had intercepted my stepdaughter.

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