New beginning: Billionaire love story

Chapter 216 She’s Gone

Matthew's eyes darting around as he searched for Claire. The room was buzzing with chatter and clinking glasses, but there was no sign of her anywhere. He cursed under his breath, frustrated that he had gotten caught in traffic and missed her big presentation. Now, he hadn't seen her at all, and his unease was growing by the second.

"Matthew!" a voice called out from behind him. He turned around to see Adrian striding toward him, looking as concerned as he felt.

"Adrian," Matthew greeted him, shaking his head. "Have you seen Claire? I just got here, and I've been looking for her too."

Adrian's frown deepened, and Matthew could already tell something was up. "Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice tinged with urgency.

Adrian sighed. "I bumped into her a few minutes ago. We talked for a bit, but then her expression changed. She said she was going to the restroom, but something didn't feel right."

Matthew's pulse quickened as a sense of dread settled in his stomach. "We need to find her," he said, already moving toward the exit of the ballroom. Adrian followed closely behind, both of them picking up their pace.

As they were heading out, Alex, who had been deep in conversation with some guests, noticed them. He smiled politely at his companions, excused himself, and hurried after them. Something about Matthew and Adrian's uneasy expressions had caught his attention. "Matthew!" Alex called out, catching up to them. Matthew spun around, his frown deepening when he saw who it was. The last thing he needed was Alex getting involved, but it looked like he had no choice.

"What do you want, Alex?" Matthew snapped, clearly not in the mood.

Alex ignored the hostility and asked, "Have you seen Claire?"

Matthew let out an exasperated sigh. "I should be the one asking you that, not the other way around."

Alex's confusion turned to irritation, and he stepped closer to Matthew, their faces just inches apart. "What do you mean, 'where is Claire'? You're the one who's supposed to be keeping an eye on her." Matthew's jaw clenched, and he looked ready to punch Alex right then and there, but Adrian quickly stepped between them, his expression serious. "Hey, this isn't the time to fight. We need to find Claire." Alex's frown deepened as he looked from Adrian to Matthew. "What's going on?" he demanded.

Adrian's voice was calm but firm. "Matthew has a bad feeling that something's not right."

said, already

anything, I

like he'd rather do anything than accept Alex's help, but Adrian stepped in again, trying to be the voice

hesitated, glancing between Adrian and Alex. Finally, he relented. "Fine. But I'm

him a cold look.

lingered for a moment, watching Alex with a mixture of frustration and

his stride. "Claire's more important," he said,

ballroom hallway, both

Adrian suddenly spotted something glinting on the floor. He stopped in his tracks, squatting down to get a closer look. "Hey, wait

raised. "What did you

held up the clutch. "This is Claire's purse. I

here," he noted. His gaze shifted upwards, and he spotted a surveillance camera mounted on the ceiling. A lightbulb went off in his head. "Alex, you need to check

nodded. "Of course." He headed off down the hallway, already dialing

go, then turned back to Matthew. "You think we should split up? Might find

it for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, let's cover more

in different directions, Matthew grumbling under his breath as he went.

Adrian, meanwhile, was thinking

If someone was

.n

he decided to head to the basement. “If I were a bad guy, I'd probably go somewhere hidden... like the basement," he muttered to himself as he

stepped inside, he was met with a

Alex snapped, causing everyone to freeze. "What the hell

looking more flustered than anyone, stepped forward,