Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 371 Madeline's POV Our trip back to Verdania had lasted more than 30 hours-counting the international flight, the endless ayovers, and the airport waits that felt like they stretched on forever. And through all of it, we were wrapped in a suffocating silence. It wasn't the comfortable silence we'd learned to share during our week in paradise. This one was heavy, awkward, loaded with everything that hadn't been said and everything that couldn't be said. We exchanged only short, polite phrases: if the other party wanted some water, if they were comfortable, and thank you. Nothing more.

I could feel the tension radiating off him with every passing minute, like he was constantly on the verge of breaking that wall of silence and trying to convince me again. And I stayed rigid, staring out the airplane window or pretending to sleep, because I knew that if I looked straight at him, my resolve might completely fall apart. The bubble of paradise we'd built in the Maldives had truly burst. Now we were just two strangers sharing airplane seats, polite but distant, carrying the weight of an intimacy that could no longer exist.

When we finally landed in Verdania, the heaviness didn't lift. We walked side by side through the airport corridors, our rolling suitcases making the only sound between us, along with the constant murmur of other passengers. It was when we were almost at the exit of the arrivals area that Apollo finally broke the silence. "Don't do this," he said, his voice low but urgent. "You don't have to go back to that life. You don't have to marry him.

need you telling me what I should or shouldn't do," I replied with calculated coldness, knowing every word was like a knife, but also knowing it was necessary. I had to be cruel on purpose. I had to push him away without leaving cracks, without giving hope, without creating any chance

in sharply. "And fantasies end when you come back to reality." We stood there in the middle of the flow of people, staring at each other in silence. I could see the pain in his eyes. It was the same kind of pain that was tearing my chest apart from

way. Less painful. Apollo simply nodded, his eyes heavy and resigned. I turned to walk away, every step a battle against the urge to run

face. "Marcus," I said when he stopped in front of me, slightly out of breath.