New beginning: Billionaire love story

Chapter 211 The Winner

Claire review the three designs she chose and took a picture of it before sending them to Alex. After all, Alex is her business partner in which she needs his approval. "Which one of these is the best?" she typed quickly, attaching the three designs. Claire wasn't expecting a reply right away, but before she could even put her phone down, it buzzed in her hand. Incoming call from Alex.

"Oh, great," Claire muttered, her thumb hovering over the green button. Did she really want to do this? After a moment of hesitation, she sighed and answered the call. "Hello?" "Claire, why didn't you call me to choose the best design?" Alex's deep voice rumbled through the speaker, sounding way too serious for something as trivial as design choices. Claire frowned, leaning back in her chair. "I didn't know if you were available," she replied, trying to keep her tone neutral. "And we're on a tight schedule. I decided to do it myself." Alex was silent for a moment, and Claire could practically hear him frowning on the other end of the line. "But you didn't even try to contact me. How was I supposed to know?"

Claire rolled her eyes, tapping her foot impatiently. This was exactly why she avoided phone calls with Alex. They always ended up in some pointless argument. "Alex, we don't have time for this," she said, cutting him off before he could launch into a full-blown debate. "I sent you the designs. Just tell me which one you like best."

There was a brief pause as Alex checked his messages. "Okay, give me a minute," he muttered.

Claire waited, glancing at the clock on her desk. She knew Alex liked to take his time with things, and she was about to remind him of their deadline when he finally spoke up.

"The second one is the winner," Alex declared, sounding a little too pleased with himself. "The first one can be the runner-up."

Claire nodded, even though Alex couldn't see her. "Got it. I'll contact the winner and let you know when we can meet with them."

"Don't leave me out of this," Alex said in his best business tone, which always made Claire roll her eyes. "This is for my hotel, after all."

"Understood," Claire replied, keeping her voice clipped and professional. She was done with this conversation. "I'll keep you in the loop."

"Good," Alex said, his tone softening slightly before the call ended.

Claire stared at her phone for a moment, her thoughts a mix of annoyance and relief. She didn't know why she always ended up feeling so frustrated after talking to Alex. They could argue about the color of the sky if given the chance.

Alex muttered to himself as

was already moving on. She called Sandra, her trusted assistant, and summoned her to the office. A minute later, Sandra appeared in the

three winners of the competition. Here." She walked behind her desk and handed Sandra a piece of paper with the names of the winners. "First, second, and third place. I need you to contact the winner and let

the names. "Got

list. She watched as Sandra headed out the door, her efficient

splashed all over social media. Then, she dove into the details for the first-place winner. Meanwhile, Abigail was blissfully unaware of the flurry of activity her design had caused. She was curled up in

inbox, her curiosity was piqued as she opened it. Her

she read through the email. It was the winner announcement for

at her desk, tapping her fingers on the keyboard as she replied to the

suit and a sleek skirt, she looked like a total boss. Her heels clicked sharply on the floor as she made her way to

she'd just stepped out of a pastel-colored fashion magazine, was a woman in a baby pink dress. Claire blinked, slightly taken aback. This wasn't the image she had conjured up of the

a split second,

professional mask almost slipped,

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face of the unexpected. "Hello, I'm Claire Peterson. The CEO of O Metacortex. Thank you for coming here and congratulations on the

up gracefully and took Claire's hand in a firm handshake. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Peterson. I'm Abigail Hastings. Thank you for choosing me. I did not expect to win at all." she replied, her

slip into her tone. "I have to admit, Abigail, you don't look like the typical

chuckled, a

one who's been a