Hired a Gigolo Got a Billionaire (Zoey and Christian) novel Chapter 702

Chapter 702

Chapter 702

“Gwen?”

Her voice was small, coming from deep inside the cellar, like she was afraid even the echo might scold

her.

“Are you sick? You screamed.”

I froze for a second. It was like my brain had forgotten how the world worked.

Bella was standing there, half-hidden behind a row of barrels, her backpack still on her shoulders, her face smudged with the kind of dirt you get from trying to be brave all day. Her eyes were too big, too alert

for a child.

“Bella!” The word tore out of me, raw with relief.

I ran to her.

The stone floor was cold and damp, but I didn’t feel any of it. All I felt was the weight of panic cracking open when I reached her and wrapped my arms around that small body so tightly I scared myself.

“Oh my God…” I whispered into her hair, like I needed to confirm she was real. “Oh my God, sweetheart…”

She went stiff for half a second, then her arms locked around me with a strength that didn’t match her

size.

I swallowed back a sob.

“Everyone’s been so worried about you,” I managed, pulling back just enough to check her hands, her knees, her skin. Everything. “Your dad… he-”

or face. I wanted to

“Are you okay?” she cut in, serious, almost accusing. “You screamed.”

I blinked fast.

1 laughed, but it came out wet and broken. I brushed away a tear with my thumb like it was something

simple.

I’m okay, sweetheart,” I said. “It’s just that… Thunder or Princess Glitter got really worried.”

Bella frowned.

“What?

I took her little hand and placed it against my belly.

“Put your hand right here”

She obeyed with complete seriousness, like she’d just been invited into a secret

We stood there for a few seconds

1/8

Chapter 702

Nothing.

And I thought maybe it had just been my imagination. Just something my body invented so I wouldn’t

fall apart.

Then it happened.

A small, decisive kick.

Bella’s eyes went wide.

And just like that, her face lit up.

“What was that?” she asked, laughing.

“That,” I said, surprising myself with the certainty in my voice, “is your sister loving you. She’s trying to get out of there to come find you.”

Bella laughed again, louder this time, and leaned closer, whispering to my stomach like the baby could hear every word.

“I’m here.”

My throat tightened.

I pulled her into me again, holding her even tighter, like I could make up for the hours she’d been gone just by squeezing hard enough.

With my other hand, I pulled my phone from my pocket and typed fast, my fingers shaking.

[She’s with me. Barrel cellar.]

I sent it to Nick.

I took a breath.

I had to be the adult now.

1 eased Bella back just enough to look into her eyes.

“Why did you run away, sweetheart?”

She pressed her lips together, and her gaze dropped for a second, like she was deciding how much she was allowed to say.

wanted to go home,” she said. “To Daddy.”

Really?” I kept my tone gentle, not accusing “And why didn’t you call your dad?”

She shrugged, but it wasn’t light. It was heavy. Learned.

“Mom said Daddy is too busy to talk to me.’ she answered ‘And that I can’t call all the time

Chapter 702

My chest tightened.

“Bella…” I started, because I had no idea where to put that sentence without breaking something.

But she kept going, like she’d already braced herself for my reaction.

“But I know Mom lies to me.”

I blinked.

“Lies?”

“Uh-huh.” Bella nodded with certainty. “She said she was going to play with me and didn’t. Said she’d take me for gelato and didn’t.”

She paused, and for a second she was just a child again.

“Daddy sometimes had to go out, but he always stayed with me after.” Her voice thinned. “I wanted to… go back to him.”

And then, like it mattered just as much, she added, “And to you.”

My eyes burned.

I cupped her face in my hand.

“Sweetheart…” I said softly. “You know you can’t do that, right?”

She looked at me seriously.

“Can’t do what?”

“Go out by yourself.” I chose my words carefully, like I was arranging glass. “It’s dangerous. There are a lot of strangers out there. Some people might want to… hurt you.’

She didn’t look convinced.

She frowned.

“But there are strangers at Mom’s house too.”

I froze.

“What?”

it wasn’t the question of someone digging for information. It was the question of someone who hadn’t been prepared for that sentence to exist.

Belia stepped closer to me, like the walls might be listening

“Mom tells me to stay locked in my room until they leave,’ she said, like she was talking about rain. “A bunch of strange men”

The air in the cellar turned colder.

I opened my mouth and closed it again.

“Bella…” I tried, and her name came out small.

She looked at me with a direct plea.

“Can I come back, Gwen?”

The answer rose inside me instantly.

Yes. Of course.

Yes, right now.

Yes, forever.

But I couldn’t.

Lying to a child who was already learning how to recognize lies would be the quietest kind of cruelty.

I took a slow breath.

“I don’t know, Bella,” I said, giving her the bare truth, the kind that hurts. “But I promise we’re doing everything we can to help you come back soon, okay?”

She tightened her grip on my hand.

“Soon is today?”

I swallowed.

“Soon is… soon,” I said, squeezing her fingers. “You’re not alone. Not ever.”

Footsteps pounded outside.

And then a voice I would recognize anywhere, torn apart by fear.

“Bella!”

Nick burst in, her name breaking out of him again like saying it might pull her back into the world.

Bella’s smile was so wide it made me furious at everything that had tried to steal it.

“Daddy” she yelled.

She ran to him.

The impact of that hug was almost physical. Nick dropped to his knees and gathered her up, holding her like he was trying to fuse her to his chest, like he could stop the air from ever taking her again.

“It’s okay, princess,’ he said, his voice cracking halfway through. I’m here. I’m right here with you.”

Chapter 702

Bella buried her face in his neck.

I watched Nick close his eyes for a second.

And over the top of her head, he whispered to me, too low for anyone else to hear.

“Thank you.”

I stepped closer, my body still trembling, and answered without hesitation.

“We’re family.”

And I let that sentence stand there, solid and unshakable, like the only thing that mattered.

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