Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 389 Madeline's POV Zoey invited me to sit with her in the armchair by the window while Matt played on the rug at our feet, stacking Corful blocks with the intense focus only small children can manage. "Gwen didn't explain much about the details," I began, watching as Zoey automatically picked up and reorganized the toys Matt scattered. It was a maternal gesture so natural it made me think about my own future.

"She just said Marcus is doing everything he can to figure out how to protect me and the baby." Zoey nodded, her hands pausing for a moment before she went back to arranging the blocks. "Marcus is mobilizing every resource he has," she confirmed, her voice carrying a seriousness that hadn't been there before. "Christian is involved too, using his business connections to better understand who you're dealing with." The way she said you made my throat tighten. As if Marcus and I were already a unit. A couple. Something established.

When in reality, I was still trying to process how I'd ended up here at all. "But why does that involve a wedding dress?" I asked, remembering Gwen's cryptic words back at the apartment. "Like Gwen mentioned?" Zoey laughed, the sound a mix of amusement and familiar exasperation. "Gwen isn't exactly subtle," she said, shaking her head fondly. "She probably wanted to build some dramatic suspense instead of just explaining it." Right on cue, Matt knocked over the entire tower of blocks he'd built, clapping happily at the destruction.

The crash of plastic echoed through the room, and for some reason, that innocent sound made me smile for the first time in hours. "The wedding dress is..." Zoey hesitated, clearly choosing her words carefully. "It's because the strongest legal protection Marcus can offer you is marriage." My stomach twisted. Marriage. The word that had haunted me for months. A word tied to Dominic, to manipulation and traps. And now it was being presented as a solution. As salvation. "You can say no," Zoey added quickly, noticing my expression. "No one is going to force you into anything.

moving to my still-flat stomach. "Exactly." I took a deep breath, trying to organize the thoughts crashing through my head. The logic was solid-I could see that. But the idea of marrying someone I'd known for such

a shadow of concern crossing her face. "Madeline..." "You said I could ask if I needed anything," I cut in, reminding her of her words from only minutes earlier. "And ts is what I need. I need to know my cousin is safe." Zoey sighed, lifting Matt into her arms as

give away your location." Tears of frustration burned behind my eyes. Olivia had been my anchor through this entire storm-the only person who had stood by me unconditionally when I learned the truth about Dominic. And now

the baby in her arms watching me with those curious blue eyes, at the genuine sincerity in her expression. I nodded, but a bad feeling spread through

knew well, I'd been betrayed on every side. Still, it didn't feel good. This constant sense of drifting, of my life becoming a series of choices made by other people, even if they claimed it was for noble reasons. It felt like being caught in an ocean current-you could swim with it or fight