New beginning: Billionaire love story

Chapter 248 Convenience not Love

Alexander jammed his hands into his pockets and looked every inch at the child who knew he'd been caught having done something wrong. His eyes flicking up to Claire's, he exhaled a deep sigh. "I'm sorry about last night," he began contritely. "I didn't mean to get drunk.

And I definitely didn't mean for you to have to take care of me."

Claire's eyes narrowed and her eyebrows rose as she looked at him coldly. "Take care of you?" she repeated, and her voice was honey dripping with acid. "I didn't take care of you, Alexander."

Alexander frowned, his head cocking slightly to one side. "Then what did you do last night?" he asked, and in it was the ring of confusion.

Claire fidgeted, staring at her nails in a bored fashion. "Your parents asked me to check on you," she said nonchalantly. "I did not want to make a scene, so I went along with it."

Alexander was really puzzled now. "But you were the one who brought me to the penthouse, right?"

Claire nodded, still disinterested. "Yes, I did. With the help from the hotel staff, mind you. It's not like I wanted to drag you around."

Alexander frowned, slightly annoyed now. "I remember being at the lift. We were already out of sight of my parents. You could've just ignored me and left. So why did you help me?"

Claire let out a very audible sigh; she was tired of this conversation. "Why is it such a big deal to you?" she asked, turning to him exasperated. "I just want to know," Alexander responded back-firm but not aggressive he genuinely wished to comprehend why she would go out of her way to help him when she could have easily walked away.

Claire clicked her tongue in annoyance and crossed her arms tighter over her chest. "I couldn't just leave you sprawled on the floor. We're business partners, Alex. If you ruin your image, Metacortex gets dragged down with you. It's not good for business."

Alexander's shoulders sagged just a little. For some reason, her explanation let him down. He'd hoped, maybe just a little, that she'd helped him because she cared, not because she was worried about her company's reputation.

He nodded, accepting her reasoning, even if it wasn't what he wanted to hear. "Right. Business as usual," he said, his tone flat.

enjoyed pushing until he got his way. But tonight, he seemed to have very little fight left

said finally, genuine in his tone. "For helping me

that radiated from him. Alex had always been aggressive in his pursuit, never leaving her any breathing space. Now he was just. accepting of everything. Which, at best, was odd. "You're welcome, I suppose," she replied slowly,

he confessed. "I guess flying from Vegas and back to London without much sleeping and a lot of work then attending the banquet taken a toll on me." Claire studied him for a moment, then nodded. Claire understands him because she knows how it feels being so stressed out about loads of things and deadlines, and at the same time attending parties,

nodded. "Yeah, don't worry. I

way toward the door. Just as she reached for the handle, the door of

way over to him. "What are you

second. He couldn't exactly tell her the whole truth about why

earlier had been anything but. But, well, Alex was just being Alex, she supposed. Always had a

then perked up even more. "Hey, do you want to see the progress

Claire

her permission. Claire, still standing with her arms crossed

need my

Alex

said flatly. "It's

remember to keep the information

pulled him towards the robotics room, chatting excitedly Claire raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised at the

ve

have yelled at them. Alex wasn't exactly known for

different.

of convenience, not love. Besides, when she'd had amnesia, she had been the one who loved him truly. Now,

thoughts, Claire followed them into the robotics room. Abigail was animatedly explaining something about the robot's latest upgrades, and Alex looked genuinely interested. He glanced at Claire and said, "You've done a good job here, Claire." Claire nodded, accepting the compliment. "Thanks,"