Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 496 Marcus' POV The nurse didn't answer. Her eyes just widened, panic so clearly written across her face that my stomach dropped. She took a step back, then another, her hands visibly shaking. "I... I need..." she stammered, unable to finish the sentence. And then she turned and ran out of the room. For one second, neither of us moved. We just stood there, staring at the empty doorway, as if she might come back at any moment with a logical explanation-Aurora in her arms-laughing it off, saying it had all been a misunderstanding. But she didn't come back. And then Madeline moved.

She threw the covers aside and got out of bed in one abrupt motion. She didn't say a word. Didn't look at me. She just started walking toward the door, fast despite the pain she had to be in. "Madeline-" I started, but she was already in the hallway. I ran after her, catching up in just a few steps. I grabbed her hand-not to stop her, but to go with her. To be there. Whatever was happening. The corridor felt wrong. Even in the middle of the night, there was too much movement. Nurses whispering urgently to one another. Doors opening and closing. A security guard speaking quietly into a radio.

Everyone looked tense. Rushed. Afraid. Madeline walked fast, almost running, her eyes fixed straight ahead. I felt her fingers crushing mine with desperate strength, but when I looked at her face, what I saw scared me more than any scream could have. She was blank. Completely blank. Her eyes were open, but empty-as if she'd disconnected from everything, as if the only thing her brain could still process was: walk, get there, find Aurora. We reached the nursery. The door was open, and through it I saw more movement. More people.

An older woman in a white coat was on the phone, her voice tight with tension. Two nurses were checking something on a clipboard, their hands visibly shaking. 1/4 And the cribs. I could see them through the glass window. Some with babies sleeping peacefully. Some empty. One of them had a small card. I could read it even from a distance. Aurora Kensington. Her crib was empty. My legs nearly gave out. I grabbed the doorframe to keep from collapsing.

walked toward us. She had gray hair and tired eyes,

at least she had the decency to be honest. "She... she is not in the nursery. We're searching all departments, checking if she was taken for any tests without proper documentation, but-" "But you don't think that's what happened," I finished, my voice cold. "Do you?"

2/4 I caught her before she hit the floor, but she didn't seem to notice. She just kept making that sound-that broken, unbearable sound-her eyes locked on the empty crib with our daughter's name on it. "No, no, no,"

in my arms. "We're going to find her," I whispered into her hair, my own tears finally spilling over. "We're going to bring Aurora back. I swear, Madeline. I swear." But even as I said the words, a cold voice inside me asked: How? How were we going to find her?

now. Something fierce. Burning. "Dominic. It was Dominic. I know it was." Dr. Helena approached again, this time followed by two hospital security guards. "Mr. and Mrs. Kensington, if you can give us any information that might help identify