Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 542 I went inside the villa, following the sound of voices coming from the dining area. The room was alive with the usual breakfast bustle. Guests talking in low voices, the smell of fresh coffee and warm bread filling the air, the soft clink of cutlery against porcelain. And there, at a table near the window overlooking the snow-covered vineyards, was Gwen. Bella sat beside her, gesturing animatedly as she talked. Gwen smiled, completely focused on my daughter, nodding along and asking questions that only made Bella more excited. Something tightened in my chest at the sight.

I walked closer, and Bella spotted me first. Her little face lit up. "Daddy!" she called, practically bouncing in her chair. "I was telling Gwen about Miraculous! You know, the cartoon with Ladybug and Cat Noir?" "Oh, yeah," I said, pulling out a chair and sitting down with them. "And did she like it?" "She promised to watch it with me!" Bella announced triumphantly, like she'd just won the greatest victory of her life. "And I'm gonna ask Grandma to make popcorn!" I looked at Gwen. She was smiling with that soft, patient expression she used with Bella. It wasn't forced.

It wasn't polite obligation. It was genuine. "Sounds like a great plan," Gwen said, lifting her coffee cup. "It's been a long time since I watched a cartoon." "You're gonna love it!" Bella went on, unable to contain herself. "Ladybug is super cool and Cat Noir is funny but sometimes annoying but deep down he's nice too and they fight Hawk Moth who's the villain and-" "Bella," I interrupted gently, resting a hand on her head. "Breathe." She stopped, took an exaggerated deep breath, then laughed. "Sorry. I talk a lot when I'm happy!" "I noticed," Gwen said, smiling.

the compliment, her grin somehow growing even wider. "Bella," I said, glancing at the clock on the wall, "why don't you go upstairs and brush your teeth? Then you can choose which episode you two are going to watch later." "Okay!" She jumped down from the chair, kissed my cheek.quickly, then ran to Gwen and did the same before taking off toward the stairs. "Careful on the stairs!" I called after her, but she was already gone. 1/3 The silence that followed was filled by the soft

She paused, thinking, her eyes going distant for a moment as if she were searching her own mind for something. Then she shook her head. "No. Nothing." I took a slow breath. I needed

said that getting involved in activities you like, or things that are part of your everyday life, might help. Sometimes it can trigger memories." Gwen looked at me, clear frustration in her blue eyes. "That's the problem," she said, exhaustion weighing down her voice. "I don't remember anything. I don't know what I like. I don't know what's normal for me. I don't know anything." Then, like a switch flipping, she smiled. It wasn't forced. It was hopeful. Confident. "But you

really engaged, I would know. I'd know her favorite foods, her favorite movies, what kind of music she loved, how she spent her weekends, what she dreamed about, what scared her, what she hoped for. Everything would be so much easier if that were true. If I actually knew her beyond the basic information on the reservation form. First name. Last name. Date of birth. City of origin. When I answered, I tried not to lie.