Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 463 Marcus' POV "What?" I asked, genuinely stunned by what she'd just said. "You think I'm projecting Aria onto you?" The question came out loaded with disbelief. How had she even reached that conclusion? What had I done or said that could have given her that impression? Madeline looked at me with an expression that mixed exhaustion and deep sadness, like she was explaining something obvious that I'd refused to see all along. "Maybe you don't see it. Or maybe..." She paused, her voice turning thoughtful, as if she were organizing ideas that had been forming for a while now.

"Maybe it's not exactly that. But maybe you see me as your redemption project. A way to make up for a past that still haunts you." It felt like she'd punched me straight in the gut. Redemption project? Was that really how she saw our relationship? Like some half-baked psychological experiment? "And maybe..." she went on, hesitating, as if bracing herself to say something she knew would hurt, "maybe you tried to love me the way you loved Aria.

And you won't admit-to yourself or to me-that that isn't love." Her words echoed through the silent apartment, each one cutting into my chest like a blade. It was as if she were dissecting our entire relationship and finding only artificiality where I'd believed there was something real. "But now I understand," she said with a finality that sent a chill through me. "Now I know." I stood there, frozen, trying to process what I'd just heard. She understood? Because now I was the one who didn't understand-at all. How had she arrived at such devastating conclusions about my feelings?

permanently shapes how you understand loss. Yes, I had loved Aria with all the intensity of a teenage boy.

sheltered and innocent, Madeline had fought battles I could barely even comprehend. And yes, I loved her. Not the way I'd loved Aria, with that idealized, adolescent passion, but in an adult way. A complicated, real way. I loved her strength when

laughed at something genuinely funny. I loved how she cared about the people around her, even while fighting her own demons. I loved how she'd found the strength to rebuild her life after everything Dominic had done to her. I loved how she managed to be brave even when she was afraid. This had nothing to do with Aria. Nothing to do with redemption or saving anyone. 1/2 It was just love-messy, imperfect, real. "Madeline, it's not like that..." I began, desperate to explain, to make her understand just

hear my explanations. "Too tired to talk about this right now." There was a deep exhaustion in her voice that went far beyond physical fatigue. It was as if this entire situation -every conversation, every