Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 481 Madeline's POV I was lying in bed beside Marcus, the soft glow of the bedside lamp casting gentle shadows across the room. My seven-month belly made it hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in, but it wasn't the physical discomfort that kept me awake that night. "Since my father's funeral, I haven't seen my mother," I said, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between us. Marcus turned to look at me, his attention fully focused on me. "He said in the letter that I should forgive her," I went on, the words coming out more hesitant than I'd meant them to. "And...

I want to try." I paused, gathering the courage to ask the question that had been haunting me. "Do you think I'm stupid for that?" Marcus took my hand in his, his thumb tracing slow, comforting circles against my skin. "No," he said, with a sincerity I knew was real. "I understand that sometimes we're not ready to let go of certain relationships, no matter how much they've hurt us-especially when we still believe they can be fixed." I bit my lip, thinking over his words before asking what truly scared me. "But am I naïve for thinking I can fix her?

After everything she's done?" Marcus sighed, and I could tell he was choosing his response carefully. "Maybe you'll never be best friends," he said honestly. "But you can try to reconnect if that matters to you. Especially knowing that Dominic may have been behind much of what she did. In her own way, she was a victim too." I fell asleep that night still thinking about Marcus's words, and woke up the next morning with renewed determination. I needed to at least try. My parents' house was in an upscale neighborhood in Belmonte, a mansion that had always felt more like a museum than a home.

went there with one of the security guards discreetly accompanying me, as had become protocol since we returned to Verdania. I rang the doorbell and waited, my heart pounding. When the maid opened the door and recognized me, genuine surprise crossed her face. "Ms. Madeline! Your mother wasn't expecting-" "I know.

wrinkled, stained pajama set. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, and her face had a sickly paleness that scared me. "Madeline?" she said, her voice hoarse with surprise-and something that

back with two cups and sat at the dining table off the living room. My mother joined me reluctantly, accepting the coffee with slightly trembling hands. From my purse, I took out a white, elegant envelope. The invitation to the reopening of Sullivan Parks, printed on high-quality paper with gold

about to strike. "Why?" she asked, her voice heavy with a self-pity I recognized-and that also irritated me. "I was a terrible mother." I sighed, forcing myself to hold on to the calm and honesty I'd promised myself before coming here. "Yes, you were," I agreed, not softening the words. "But I'd really like you to be a great-grandmother. I don't want you out of my life, Mom. Not now that Dad is

same thing to happen between us." My mother grabbed my hand across the table with surprising strength, her cold fingers gripping mine almost desperately. "You never should've had that ridiculous idea of saving the parks," she said urgently, catching me completely off guard. "You should've sold everything and left. Gone far away." I felt stung. After being so honest, after reaching out and trying to build a bridge