Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 252 Nathaniel's POV I'd been sitting in my office for twenty minutes, staring at my phone like it might magically deliver the solution to the mess my life had become. Annie's message had arrived hours after I told her about the suspension, and every word hit with the precision of a knife. Annie: When I chose to trust. Because I think vulnerability is that: trusting someone to catch you... and realizing they choose not to stay when the fall starts. It works for love, friendship, even work. Because in the end, it all feels the same. The 'funny' part?

They always say being vulnerable is brave. But no one warns you that sometimes courage comes with a broken heart or a suspension letter. I read the message for the fifth time, feeling the weight of every line. She'd written it thinking she was opening up to some anonymous, understanding stranger-someone who could comfort her from a distance without fully grasping what she was going through. But I understood. I understood every reference, every layer of frustration. The "suspension letter" wasn't a metaphor for her. It was real.

It was the document I'd had to hand her myself, watching the trust in her eyes collapse into disappointment. And the part about "trusting someone to catch you" cut deeper than I expected. Because that was exactly where I'd failed her. When she needed me most, I hadn't protected her. I hadn't been the person who stayed when the fall began. As Nathaniel, I was bound by corporate protocol and internal politics. As Wanderer, I was just a bodiless voice, powerless to give her the real comfort she needed. It was a cruel irony, being split between two identities and useless in both.

I started typing a response more times than I could count, deleting it every time. What could I say? That I understood perfectly because I was the one who'd caused part of that hurt? That I wanted to comfort her but couldn't reveal I knew the exact details of her situation? I was drowning in that frustration when I heard determined footsteps coming down the hallway. Not Margaret's soft steps or Gwen's quick ones. These were sharp, precise heels I knew far too well. Alexandra walked into my office without knocking.

situation in her favor. "Nathaniel," she said, closing the door behind her as she approached my desk. "We need to talk." I shoved my phone away and

about the supposed leak." "It's not supposed. The logs are clear." Alexandra laughed softly. It was a sound that made my hands clench. 1/3 "Oh, Nathaniel, do you really think this is about system logs?" She leaned forward, slipping into that condescending tone that always made my skin crawl. "This is about you and her. About the rumors circulating. About what everyone knows but nobody says out loud." My jaw

rumors would those be?" "That the two of you are involved," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That she got her position because she slept with the company's COO. That you protect her in meetings and give her access to privileged information." Each word came out like a

can't appear to be a company where personal relationships influence professional decisions." Something cold spread through my chest. "Is that a threat?" "It's an observation." Alexandra smoothed a hand over her hair, every gesture calculated. "But you need to do something. Distance yourself from her publicly, maybe. Show there's no favoritism involved."

you, Nate," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Isn't it obvious?" I laughed. It was a short, bitter sound that bounced off the walls. "If you really cared about me, you would've thought twice before spreading

Nate. It only took basic math to figure out who she was." Ice flooded my veins. She knew. She'd known all along exactly what happened on that plane. "If you've known the truth this whole time," I said, forcing

2/3 Something snapped inside me. All the bottled-up frustration, the anger I'd been shoving down since the Board meeting, the raw outrage of watching Annie get torn apart by someone else's dirty games... Everything erupted at once. I shot to my feet, my chair scraping loudly across the floor. "Get out," I said, pointing to the door. Alexandra blinked, clearly not expecting that reaction. "What?"