Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 293 Nate's phone was right there, in plain sight, sitting beside his elbow on the corner of the table, it hadn't buzzed with a new message, hadn't lit up with any notification. No sign at all that it had received anything, in the minutes since I'd sent my devastating question. I watched it discreetly while pretending to follow the lively conversation around us. Every passing second without a response gave me this fragile, misleading sense of relief, as if the silence alone could somehow undo the truth that was slowly crystallizing in my mind.

"Is your phone on 'Do Not Disturb'?" I asked casually, breaking my own silent observation. Nate stopped mid-bite and looked at me with genuine surprise. "No," he said, brow creasing slightly, "Why? Did something happen?" My heart started racing as I scrambled for a response that sounded natural. "Just... in case Alexandra tries to contact you," I explained quickly, trying to sound breezy, "If she needs to change the plans again or something" Nate nodded, seemingly satisfied with the explanation, though a flicker of curiosity still lingered in his eyes.

"Let's hope she does change them," he joked. And then almost on cue, as if the universe were determined to shred what remained of my sanity-a loud, sudden notification ping cut through the noise of the restaurant. I actually jumped in my chair, my body reacting before my brain could. Nate immediately set his hand over mine in an instinctive, grounding gesture, concern tightening his expression. "Hey," he murmured gently, his thumb tracing small soothing circles over my skin. "You okay?" But the sound hadn't come from his phone. It was Sarah's.

She was already picking it up, smiling down at the screen as she typed a quick reply. "Sorry," she said, not looking up. "My sister. She's sending pictures of the kids in their Christmas outfits." Nate's phone remained completely still and silent on the table. I drew a long breath, feeling muscles I hadn't even realized were clenched finally start to unwind. It wasn't him. It was just another bizarre coincidence. Maybe I really was being paranoid, stringing together dots that weren't actually connected, building some elaborate conspiracy out of strange but explainable accidents.

on physical appearance, personality, or social status. 1, apparently, fell for men who... favored the same obscure pizza flavor. It was almost funny, if it weren't so deeply unsettling That was when another ringtone sliced through my thoughts. And this time I recognized it immediately. It was my

a cheerful chorus of "Merry Christmas!" from a handful of beloved voices. The screen showed my whole family gathered in the mansion's living room with my mom and dad on the sofa, Zoey holding Matt, and Christian half visible at the edge of the frame. "Merry Christmas to you too!" I

drooling on his fist. "Say 'Aunt' to Annie, Matt. Aunt!" Matt looked straight into the camera with those big, curious eyes, opened his mouth, and let out a string of completely jumbled syllables that sounded nothing like "aunt," yet managed to melt my heart on the spot. "Bah-dah-gah," he announced solemnly, like he'd just delivered the most important declaration

including me, and a wave of homesickness hit me so hard it almost hurt physically. "Where are you, sweetheart?" my mom asked, leaning closer to the screen, clearly trying to identify the background behind me. "That doesn't look like your place. Looks like a restaurant." I hesitated for a few seconds, then chose honesty. "I'm... spending Christmas with Nate's family." The silence that followed lasted only a moment, but it carried weight. I watched my mom's eyebrows lift slightly, and Zoey gave me that I knew it face

leaned in a little with a questioning

natural British charm to win my parents over. "We're at a pizzeria in Bath," I explained. "Nate's family brought me