Semua Bab Hired a Gigolo, Got a Billionaire: Bab 661 - Bab 670

Renee's POV Driving to Florentia was a humiliation I swallowed with clenched teeth. Not because of the road. Castoria was too beautiful to deserve people like me. Or people like them. It was the symbolism. Before, Bella came to me. Now I was the one crossing hills, toll booths, signs, winding curves to "pick up my daughter" in her city. Their city. The city where Gwen Kensington breathed like oxygen had been invented specifically for her lungs. Every other weekend. Like I was a calendar appointment. Like I was a visitor. I parked with surgical precision, turned off the engine, and stayed there for a moment with my hands on the steering wheel. The leather still held the warmth of my fingers. The car smelled like expensive perfume and old resentment. 'Calm down, Renee.' I checked myself in the rearview mirror. Lipstick perfect. Hair flawless. Eyes sharp enough to cut glass. I would not lose control. Not today. Today was Bella's day. And Bella was the only

Nicholas' POV Renee was already gone by the time I could actually breathe, but the damage stayed behind like crushed glass on the floor. Invisible. Impossible to step on without getting cut. Bella wouldn't stop crying. This wasn't a dramatic tantrum. This was fear wrapped in anger, like someone had yanked the ground out from under her and she was fighting with her whole body not to fall. "Princess…" I tried again, kneeling to her level. "Look at me." She jerked her face away and wiped her tears on her sleeve, like she was embarrassed to be crying. "You lied to me!" she shouted. The word hit me square in the chest. "I didn't lie. I just…" I stopped. Because in her language, "I just didn't tell you" meant exactly the same thing. "I messed up. I should have told you." Her lip trembled. Her chin followed. Her eyes were huge. "You're going to leave me," she repeated, her voice smaller now, barely steady. "You're going to leave me and stay with the baby." My instinct wa

Renee's POV My lawyer called before I even got home. I saw his name flash across the dashboard and smiled without showing teeth. Perfect. I answered on speaker, both hands on the wheel, wearing the calm expression of a woman who had done nothing but exercise her "rights as a mother." "Renee," he said, "I just received a message from my associate. About the situation at Mr. Valemont's residence." "Situation." I loved how lawyers call a fire a "situation." "Situation is a lovely word," I replied sweetly. "Bella had a meltdown. Child stuff. But I imagine what I call 'child stuff' you might call… evidence." He was silent for half a second. Calculating. "You mentioned rumors about a pregnancy." "They're not rumors," I corrected smoothly. "I saw enough to be sure. And I didn't have to invent anything. The news leaked. Gossip accounts. Comments. The entire city talking." I could almost hear the mental click as pieces locked into place for him. "You're telling me we

Gwen's POV The municipal building wasn't romantic. It was beautiful in its own way. Old stone. A wide staircase. A flag drifting lazily outside. But it wasn't the kind of place you chose because you wanted a "setting." It was the kind of place you chose because you had to. And right now, I had to. I carried the documents in a slim folder, as if paper alone could hold an entire home upright. My heels echoed down the tall corridor, and I found myself noticing things I'd normally ignore. The sharp click of my steps. The scent of waxed floors. Sunlight filtering through stained glass without ceremony. Nick walked beside me. Not in a perfect suit. Not like the man he could be at some glossy magazine party. Just put together in the way he did when he wanted to look calm and absolutely wasn't. Light shirt. Dark jacket. That quiet, capable energy of someone who builds things with his hands, even if today's fight was different. Christian trailed behind us, tapping at his phone with

Gwen's POV My head exploded before Zoey even finished the sentence. Problem. That word was a key. It unlocked every door I'd been trying to keep shut. Bella. Renee. The hearing. Gossip. Leaks. The kind of tragedy that shows up uninvited. My whole body went rigid. "What?" I asked, my heart already racing. "What happened? Is it Bella?" Zoey blinked like I'd just skipped twenty chapters. "No. No!" She grabbed my arm again, almost laughing. "Relax. It's nothing like that." "Then just say it," I demanded, hating the edge in my own voice. Zoey inhaled with ridiculous solemnity, like she was about to announce a war. Then, with the seriousness of someone confessing a crime, she said: "The cake… it's not the right chocolate. It's not your favorite." I stared at her. One second. Two. Until reality clicked back into place. "You…" I started, and the sentence died because I burst out laughing. A real laugh. The kind that hits so suddenly it almost makes you dizzy. "You