Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 222

Chapter 222 Monday morning hit like a slap of reality. The second I stepped into the office, I felt the looks. Not direct ones, but those quick glances followed by whispers and half-hidden smiles that twisted my stomach. The story of my disastrous night had spread through the office like wildfire. "Good morning, Annie," Margaret said as I passed reception, but there was something in her tone that hadn't been there on Friday. A mix of pity and thinly veiled amusement. "Morning," I answered, trying to hold on to whatever dignity I had left as I walked the halls to my desk.

James was talking with two guys from finance near the water cooler, and when they saw me, they switched topics fast. But not before I caught something about "fake professors" and "never seen anyone run out of a party that fast." "How was your weekend?" Gwen asked once I sat down, her voice carefully neutral. "I survived," I muttered, turning on my computer a little harder than necessary. "Do you want to talk about...?" "No." Gwen nodded softly and went back to her work, though I could feel her worry. Around ten, when I went to grab coffee, I found a small crowd gathered around the machine.

James, Margaret, two people from marketing, and Sarah from HR. The conversation died the moment they saw me. "Hi, Annie," Sarah said with a smile that was way too sweet to be real. "How are you feeling after... well, the party?" "I'm great, thanks," I said, grabbing a cup and pouring coffee like it was the most normal thing in the world. "Must have been... interesting," Nick said, clearly fishing. "I heard there was some kind of incident." I felt every pair of eyes in the room on me, waiting. For a second, I considered running. Hiding. Letting the shame swallow me until people got bored.

But then something in me snapped. Why should I be the only one embarrassed? Why should I carry the weight of one terrible date alone? "Oh, yeah," I said lightly, stirring sugar into the coffee. "It was a spectacular disaster. The guy made up an entire academic career. Said he was a medieval history professor but didn't even know when the Middle Ages happened." "Wow," Sarah murmured, fully invested now. "And that wasn't even the worst part," I went on, realizing I had their full attention.

Margaret looked genuinely offended on my behalf. "Speaking of bad dates," James jumped in, "do

then ordering a double bacon burger on the first date," Margaret added, making everyone laugh. The conversation turned into a full-blown competition of terrible date stories. Each

evaluation criteria for potential partners. She literally graded me during dinner." "No way,"

on their profiles," Sarah sighed. "Or if there were a filter to weed out compulsive liars," James added. "If there were, the apps

session worked," Gwen said when I sat down. "It was surprisingly cathartic," I admitted. "Still, I think I'm done with that app." "Seriously?" Gwen raised a brow. "That was a short saga.' "Feels like it was a whole season,"

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