Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 675 Gwen's POV If this event hadn't been scheduled months ago, with printed invitations, blocked calendars, confirmed RSVPs, and a fully aligned team, | wouldn't have gone. | would have come up with an elegant excuse. An unavoidable meeting. A sudden migraine. A "last-minute emergency" delivered with the ease of someone who, honestly, could afford to disappear for a night. But it wasn't just a night. It was a stage. A microphone. A photo. A title: Women and Leadership.

And in the last few days, my life had turned into a series of small survivals that didn't fit neatly into a panel discussion. | stood in front of the bedroom mirror, adjusting a simple earring, when Nick appeared behind me. He didn't say anything right away. He just watched me with that look that always seemed to know what | wasn't saying He stepped closer and rested his hands on the vanity on either side of me, without trapping me in. It was a simple gesture, and still, | felt like someone had set a comforting weight on my ---- shoulders. 'You're not alone.' "It matters to you," he said.

"And to those women. You're an example, Gwen." | gave a small smile, but the exhaustion slipped through anyway. "I know. I'm just not in the right headspace to be anyone's example today." He kissed the back of my neck, "Then go anyway. Not to prove anything. Just to remember who you are." | turned my face slightly, meeting his eyes in the mirror's reflection. So serious. So steady. A man who carried guilt without theatrics, who carried his daughter in his chest like he was protecting an exposed heart. "lwish you were coming with me," | admitted before pride could stop me.

Nick smiled, and there was a soft kind of tiredness in it. "| would love to sit in the audience and drool over you like a teenager," he said, and | couldn't hold back a laugh. "But..." ---- "But you promised Bella," | finished. He nodded, his gaze darkening slightly. "| did. And | want to keep that promise. | want to talk to her calmly. See what's going on in her head. Reassure her. No rush." "You're right," | said quietly. "She needs you. Dad and daughter." Nick pulled me in by the waist and rested his forehead against mine.

"No," I cut in gently, already knowing what he was about to say. Something like she's going to love you the same way again. Something like this is just a phase. Something like Renee hasn't won. | didn't want promises. | wanted a plan. And right now, the plan was simple. He stayed with Bella. | went to speak to women trying to carve out space

the middle of chaos. "Go," he murmured against my lips. "Knock them

The event was at a sleek, modern venue near downtown. The kind of place with too much glass and lighting designed to make everyone look like approachable success. At the entrance, a giant panel displayed the project's

felt like something | was learning how to wear. When they called my name, | walked onto the stage with a posture that was almost instinct.

to be the toughest woman in the room, and the first time | realized that toughness without purpose is just armor. | talked about contracts. About crisis. About how "balance" is a ---- dishonest word, because no one balances everything all the time. You lear to prioritize without hating yourself for it. And | saw