Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 700

Chapter 700

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Chapter 700

Gwen’s POV

The drive to Montelira had never felt longer.

I had already spoken to the school, to Cross, to the building staff, to everyone I could reach. Now it was a different phase. Leave the invisible office in my head and step into the real world.

Paula was waiting at the entrance to town, standing beside her car like she’d run out without even finishing putting her coat on. The second I parked, she opened my door before I turned off the engine.

“Gwen, my God…” she said, her voice raw with real urgency.

I wanted to cry.

I didn’t.

“Did you see anything?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“I went to the gelato shop, the square, the pizza place, the road by the estate… I asked half the town. Nothing.”

I inhaled through my nose, gripping the steering wheel a second longer than necessary.

“I brought a still image,” I said.

I showed her my phone. The frozen frame from the school camera. The adult figure in profile, out of focus. Not some obvious villain. Just… a man. Baseball cap. Shadow of a bear

Paula narrowed her eyes, studying it.

“You can’t recognize him,” she said finally, frustrated.

“Then we go somewhere we can,” I replied.

At the school, the gate looked like any other day. Kids walking in. Mothers complaining about being late. Normal life, offensively intact. Paula spoke to someone, and within minutes we were standing in front of

the gate security guard.

He stared at the image longer than I liked.

“I don’t know..” he started.

I kept my face neutral.

Look again,’ I said

He did Scratched the back of his neck. Then, with the cautious tone of someone who doesn’t want

responsibility, he said

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“It looks like… the gelato guy.”

Paula and I looked at each other.

“The gelato guy?” I repeated.

“There’s a man who comes by every morning with a cart,” he explained. “He sets up on the side street near the corner. Sells gelato to the kids. Not part of the school, but… he’s always around.”

I didn’t waste time on moral commentary.

“Where do I find him?” I asked.

The guard pointed down the side street, sketching the direction in the air.

The street was quieter, more shaded, with that small-town silence where any movement becomes a headline. The gelato cart was there, parked neatly. The man behind it was organizing insulated boxes with a calm that irritated me instantly.

He looked up when we approached.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” he said.

“Good afternoon,” I replied, showing him the image on my phone. “Is this you?”

He squinted.

“Looks like me, yes,” he said. “But the camera…’

“Did you speak to Bella this morning?” I cut in.

His expression shifted.

“Did something happen to Bella?” he asked quickly. “Nick’s daughter… from Valemont Estate, right?”

“She’s missing,” I said.

His eyes widened.

“Goodness…” he murmured, gripping the edge of the cart like he needed support. “I didn’t… I didn’t know.”

“Tell me exactly what happened,” I demanded.

He nodded, swallowing.

“She came up to me,” he said. “Asked for two gelatos.”

The number hit like a bell

“Two? Paula repeated.

“Two be confirmed “I asked her why two, and she said. He looked down, replaying it in his mind. “One

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is for my dad.””

I closed my eyes for half a second.

“And what did you do?” I asked, my voice harder than I intended.

He lifted his hands, defensive.

“I sold her the gelato, ma’am. I thought she was with someone.” His urgency was real. “Lots of kids come with grandparents, with nannies… I saw people on the sidewalk, movement. I thought she’d go back into school after. It happens all the time.”

Paula made a low sound, like she wanted to argue that this was not something that “happens all the time,

“but she swallowed it.

I didn’t waste energy arguing.

“Did you see which way she went after?” I asked.

He pointed down the street.

“She went that way. Toward the square.”

Paula shook her head.

“I already went there,” she said, like it was a verdict. “Twice.”

The man lifted his hands helplessly.

“I swear I don’t know anything else…”

I looked in the direction he’d pointed and calculated distance the way I calculat

“Let’s go,” I told Paula.

We retraced, again, the places Bella might choose by instinct. The square. The sunny bench. The pizzeria. The gelato street. Paula called her name over and over. I scanned every corner with eyes

trained for worst-case scenarios.

Nothing

The day moved forward without asking permission..

The sun climbed, dipped slightly, and the rhythm of the town began to shift.

At some point, Nick arrived

He parked crooked, slammed the door, and ran toward us with the face of a man who hadn’t breathed properly in hours

I grabbed tus arm for a second, firm, just to keep him from crossing the street without looking.

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“The police?” I asked.

“They opened a report,” he said, voice hoarse. “But they… they keep following the standard route. Like she might just be at a friend’s house or something.”

By late afternoon, we went to the estate.

If Bella wanted to “go back to Dad” in her mind, the estate was where she understood her father existing. We’d already checked, of course. But maybe she’d still circle back there at some point.

Dante was there.

“Anything?” he asked as soon as he saw us.

I shook my head.

“Nothing.”

Later, Paula showed up with takeout bags from a restaurant.

“The kitchen still isn’t functional, so…” she explained, breathless. Then she looked at me with a soft command. “Make him eat something.”

We sat down with paper containers and the smell of hot food none of us really wanted.

Nick pushed food around his plate without actually eating.

“I never should have left her with Renee. Never.”

“You didn’t have a choice,” I said firmly. “It’s what the court ordered.”

He let out a small, bitter laugh.

“Then I should’ve run away with her.” He looked up at me. “Like… like when Renee left and we pretended we could outrun our problems.”

I placed my hand on his shoulder, slow and steady.

“Outrun our problems?” I asked, half curious, half tender.

He exhaled, and for a second he looked like the man I met before everything fractured.

“You know,” he said. “Bike rides through the vineyards. Gelato at the medieval tower. Hide-and-seek in the barrel cellar. Anything that made a kid smile.”

A tight pressure formed in my chest.

“Nick that’s very sweet,” I said, and the word sweet sounded strange coming from me, but it was true.” But you can’t outrun problems”

He dropped his gaze

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“I know.”

“You can distract yourself with those things,” I Crossnued gently. “But when you come back… they’re still

there.”

Before he could answer, Dante stepped into the room.

“Nick,” he called, direct. “Montelira police are here. They want to speak with you.”

Nick stood instantly, like he’d been pulled by a string. He walked out without touching his food.

I watched him go and realized he hadn’t eaten more than two bites. ‘In a few minutes I’d have to distract him with dessert too,’ I thought absurdly. ‘Finish your dinner and you get gelato.’

Gelato.

Bella bought gelato.

Two.

One was for him.

The thought clicked into place so sharply I felt it in my bones.

I stood up so fast my chair scraped the floor.

“I know where Bella might be,” I whispered.

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