Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 431 Madeline's POV The darkness inside the elevator felt thicker with every passing minute. Even with the little red light blinking on the panel, I could barely make out anything around me. I was sitting on the floor, my back pressed to the rear wall, trying to control my breathing the way Marcus had taught me over the intercom. His voice had calmed me for a few minutes, but now that he'd stopped talking to deal with the technician, the panic was creeping back in. Every small sound the elevator made, the low electrical hum, the occasional creak of the cables, sent my heart racing.

That was when I heard a different noise coming from above. A metallic sound, like someone was working on the top of the elevator. My blood went cold. In my terrified mind, every worst-case scenario rushed in at once. What if the elevator was about to fall? What if the structure was giving way? "No, no, no," I murmured, pressing myself harder against the wall. The noise continued, now unmistakably the sound of something being opened above me. In the near-total darkness, I heard metal scraping against metal, followed by a faint rush of air that hadn't been there before. I started screaming.

"Help! Aiuto!" I shouted in English and Valentian, the only words I could manage. "Please! Someone!" "Madeline!" Marcus's voice came from above, clear and close. "Calm down. It's me. Stay calm!" "Marcus?" I whispered, still shaking. "Yes, it's me. I'm coming down there with you, okay?" I heard movement overhead, and then I saw a silhouette lowering itself through the opening that had been created in the elevator ceiling. Seconds later, Marcus was there with me, on the elevator floor, pulling me into his arms without hesitation. I buried my face in his chest, breathing in his familiar scent.

you." "But... aren't they going to get me out?" "They're working on it," he said, adjusting our position so I could lean against him more comfortably. "For now, you just need to calm down. You're not alone anymore." 11

gently. 1/3 I nodded against his chest. "My dad drank a lot, for a while," I began, surprising myself by continuing. "When the parks started going downhill and the money wasn't what it used to be. He and my mom fought all the time because he was cheating on her too, so the house was always full of shouting." Marcus didn't say anything. He just kept stroking my hair, giving me the space to talk.

his voice stayed gentle when he asked, "And your mother?" "Sometimes she defended me," I said with a heavy sigh. "Sometimes she seemed... too broken to try. It depended on the day. On how hurt she was herself. On how

the thought that had been haunting me for months. "I don't know if she actually agrees with everything about Dominic and the plans he and my father have... or if she's just too broken to protect me." Marcus pulled me into an even tighter embrace. "You don't need to worry about that right now," he said firmly. "It's not your responsibility to save your mother or

inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small, elegant box. "Fudge balls," he announced. "To help calm you down." I couldn't help laughing, even with tears still clinging to my lashes. "You brought