Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 547 Gwen's POV The family TV room was small and cozy, completely different from the common area where the guests gathered. It had a big, sagging couch covered in wool blankets, an old but working TV mounted on the wall, and shelves filled with Bella's DVDs and toys. It was clearly a private, intimate space. A place the Valemont family retreated to when they wanted privacy. Bella was already wrapped up in a blanket on the couch when I arrived, remote in hand, scrolling through episodes of Miraculous with the skill of someone who had watched the series a thousand times.

"Gwen!" she called excitedly. "Come, come! I'm putting on my favorite episode. It's the one where Ladybug and Cat Noir get stuck together and they almost find out who they really are, but then they don't because... well, I won't tell you or it'll ruin the surprise!" I laughed and settled beside her, feeling the soft cushions sink under my weight. Bella immediately tossed half the blanket over my legs and snuggled against my side, warm and small. "Ready?" she asked, already hitting play without waiting for an answer.

The episode started with that upbeat theme song that would probably be stuck in my head all day. Bella hummed along, gently swaying to the rhythm. I tried to follow the plot. Something about a villain who turned people into wax statues and the heroes had to save them. But I found myself paying more attention to Bella. To the way her eyes lit up whenever something exciting happened on screen. To how she grabbed my hand without realizing it when a scene got tense. To how she laughed with total abandon whenever Cat Noir made a silly joke. It was impossible not to fall in love with that child.

We were in the middle of a particularly intense action scene when I heard footsteps in the hallway. I turned and saw Nick standing in the doorway, watching us with an expression I couldn't quite read. Maybe surprise. Or something softer. Something more tender. "Hey," I said, smiling at him. "I thought you went to take the guests on the tour." Nick stepped inside, running a hand through his damp hair. "It started snowing hard," he explained. "We had to cancel today's tour. It's not safe to drive that truck with the road like that." "Oh," I said, genuinely disappointed.

"That's too bad." "I already put wood in the fireplaces in the main hall and the dining room," he went on, leaning against the doorframe. "Everyone's settled in. And now... I came to check if everything was okay here." 1/5 Chapter 547 +25 Bor Bella immediately paused the episode and turned to her father with those big, pleading eyes that probably worked ninety

calculating how many things he still had left to do. "Maybe for a little while," he agreed at last. Bella squealed with joy. Nick walked over and sat down on a smaller couch near the

He stood up and came over, sitting on our couch on Bella's other side, exactly as she had planned. "Happy now?" he asked, ruffling his daughter's curls affectionately. "Almost," Bella replied. Then she grabbed the big blanket and tossed

said, leaning forward to pull the blanket up and spread it out more evenly. My hands brushed against Nick's as he tried to do the same thing from the other side. Our fingers touched, and that familiar spark shot through my

of Nick's body so close to mine. She obeyed immediately, and the episode picked up where it had left off. But now it was different. 2/5 Now Nick was there, and I was hyperaware of every little movement he made. Of how his arm rested along the back of the couch behind Bella, almost touching my shoulder. Of how he shifted occasionally. Of how he glanced

funny parts. At one point, she turned to tell me something about Ladybug and leaned more into me, her little head resting on my shoulder. Without thinking, I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. And that's when I realized something. Nick's arm was still stretched along the back