Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 347 I don't know how long I lay there on the hotel bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to process all the possibilities spinning through my head. It could be pregnancy. It could be anxiety. It could be the treatment hormones wreaking havoc on my system. It could be everything, or nothing at all. The beep of the hotel key card snapped me out of my thoughts. Zoey burst in like a hurricane, carrying a pharmacy bag and wearing that conspiratorial smile I knew all too well. Mission accomplished!" she announced. "You went out like that?

In pajamas?" "Oh..." She looked down at herself, like she was only just noticing. "That explains the weird looks," she said, dumping the contents of the bag onto the bed. Three different pregnancy test boxes landed on the comforter. I stared at them, then at Zoey, who had an expression that was equal parts amused and nostalgic. "Three tests, Zoey? Seriously?" "Of course," she said, lining the boxes up in a perfectly straight row. "How could I not?" And that's when it hit me. Her smile. The three tests. The careful way she arranged them.

She was deliberately recreating the moment when I'd been the one standing beside her as she found out she was pregnant with Matt. I started to laugh. "You're doing this on purpose.' "Doing what?" she asked, with a fake innocence that fooled absolutely no one. "Recreating the scene. The three tests, the dramatic presentation. You remember exactly how I did it back then." Zoey couldn't keep a straight face and laughed too. "I might not remember the exact words, but I remember how it felt. How you turned something terrifying into something...

manageable." She picked up the first test, studying the box. "This one's the basic one. It works. No drama, no nonsense." She grabbed the second. "This one's digital. Because sometimes you need the words spelled out for you to actually believe it." Then she lifted the third with a flourish that made me burst out laughing. "And this one is the... what did you call it again? The Rolls-Royce of pregnancy tests?" "You remember!" I exclaimed, laughing so hard I almost cried. "You actually remember that ridiculous expression." 1/4 "How could I forget?

ease with the familiarity of the moment. "It's weird how you managed to get the tone exactly right." "I learned from the best," she said softly, looking at me with affection.

full circle." "It's beautiful," Zoey corrected softly. "It means we've always been there for each other. And we always will be." I looked at the three tests, my chest tight with a mix of gratitude and nerves. "We'll wait until tomorrow morning," Zoey said,

was dark, yet I could feel that Zoey was still awake too, staring at the ceiling. "Zoey?" I whispered after a few

she said simply. "And again, if you have to." "But it's so much money. So much emotional strain..." "Annie," Zoey interrupted gently, "you can handle it. Financially. Emotionally. You're young, stable. It's not like this is

that's what it takes. You deserve to be parents, Annie. And you will be-one way or another." Little by little, exhaustion finally beat out anxiety, and we drifted off to sleep. The next morning, I woke up with that familiar pressure in my bladder. I checked the time. It was almost seven