Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 159 The days passed in a strange mix of calm and anticipation. Christian was constantly busy, splitting his time between following up on the investigation, managing Kensington business, and making sure Joseph kept up with his medical appointments. The recovery had gone better than anyone expected-Joseph was following every instruction to the letter and regaining his strength with astonishing vitality for an eighty-three-year-old man. was much bigger now, I had officially entered my twenty-eighth week of pregnancy, the start of my seventh month.

My belly and the baby moved so often and with such energy that it sometimes took me by surprise. It felt like he couldn't wait to see the world-or maybe he was just impatient, like his father. The Vintara launch party was scheduled for the upcoming weekend and my team had been working nonstop to make sure everything was perfect. It would be the first major Kensington event since the entire scandal with Edward and Sunvale, and we wanted it to be remembered for all the right reasons.

That Wednesday morning, I had my prenatal checkup and ultrasound scheduled-one of the most important appointments so far, since the doctor would be doing a full developmental evaluation at this key stage of pregnancy. "I'm really sorry, love," Christian said over breakfast, looking genuinely torn. "I wanted so badly to go with you, but Joseph has that cardiac follow-up today, and he gets nervous if I'm not there with him." "Christian, it's fine," I said, reaching across the table to touch his band. "Annie's coming with me-you know she loves these appointments as much as you do.

And Joseph needs you right now. "I've gone to every single one of your appointments since the beginning," he said, clearly frustrated with himself. "I hate missing this one." "You're not missing anything big," I lied, knowing full well that this could turn out to be a special visit for a reason he didn't yet know. "It's just a routine check. Joseph comes first today." Christian stood, came around to my side, and kissed the top of my head before crouching to kiss my belly. "You behave for your mom today, all right?" he said to the baby, and as usual, there was a small kick in response.

Dr. Whitmore, my obstetrician, took his time checking every measurement and confirming that everything looked perfect. "Everything's great, Zoey," he said with a smile as he moved the

heart was pounding, "you know how you always ask if we want to know the gender, and we always say no? Well... today I'm thinking differently." "Ah!" he laughed, clearly amused. "Changed your mind after holding out so bravely

squeezed my hand as he wrote down the answer, sealed the envelope, and handed it to me with a conspiratorial grin. "I'm sure you two are going to be very happy," he said with a mysterious wink. The whole ride home, I held that envelope like it was the most precious treasure in the world. Annie tried to convince me at least fifteen times to take "just a tiny peek," but I stayed strong. When Christian got home later that afternoon, I was sitting

closer and immediately noticing my expression. "And why do you look like you've been up to something?" 1/3 Chapter 159 "It was perfect," I said, waving the envelope at him. "And I know we agreed to wait until the baby's born to find out the gender... Christian stopped in the middle of taking off his tie, his gaze locking onto the envelope.

I trusted you!" I burst out laughing at his dramatic performance. "Are you actually mad?" "Of course I am!" he said, keeping up the act-but only for a moment before his smile broke through.

wait." I squealed and bounced on the bed, clutching the envelope. "Seriously? Then let's end this torture already!" Christian sat down beside me, taking the envelope from my hands. We stared at it together for a long moment, as if we were about to open something that would change our lives forever-which, in a way, we were. "Let's open it together," he said, holding it up so we could both