Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire

Chapter 707

Gwen’s POV

I woke up feeling like I’d swallowed glass. Tension sat in places that shouldn’t even exist in a body. Behind my eyes. At the base of my skull. Between my ribs. I lay still for a few seconds, listening to the quiet apartment, trying to decide what the first emergency of the day would be.

The answer came on its own. All of them. I turned my head. Nick was sleeping on his side. Not real sleep. The kind where the body shuts down from exhaustion but the mind is still somewhere else. His arm was stretched toward the empty space in the bed. The space where Bella had slept just hours ago.

The bed felt too big without her. I got up slowly, careful not to make noise, and went straight to the bathroom. I took a cold shower, like cold water could strip off what had clung to the night before. I tied my hair back. Put on lotion. My hand drifted to my stomach mid-motion. Habit more than tenderness. I was still trying to function. In the closet, I opened the section with my work clothes and pulled out a blazer. And froze.

The image hit me like something absurd. Me. Putting on a blazer. As if I hadn’t been accused of kidnapping a child on every screen yesterday. I took a slow breath. I was reaching for a blouse when my phone rang. The screen lit up with Christian’s name. This early here meant the middle of the night there. That couldn’t be good. I answered on the second ring.

“Gwen.” His voice was direct.

Low. The tone he uses when he’s already handled five crises and doesn’t have the energy left to fake calm.

“I saw,” he said before I could.

short silence. Heavy with everything siblings

you?”

“Florentia.”

Bella?” My throat

mother last night.” I closed my

current

heard him exhale

even Christian saying shit felt more human

“Listen,” he began.

because… you’re going to hear this anyway. I’d rather it come from me.” I braced my hand against

“Say it.”

met. I tried to hold it

to suspend you. Temporarily.” A cold hollow opened in

I asked, voice steady.

authority. Signatory power.

he was reading from a memo. Administrative precaution.” I closed my