New beginning: Billionaire love story

Chapter 296 It’s a Trap

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Revenge? You mean this is all because of Alexander Harris?" She threw the name out like a grenade, waiting to see if it would blow up in Lisa's face.

It did. Lisa's eyes lit up for a second, and then she smiled, a wide, unhinged grin spreading across her face. "Oh, I see you're not as clueless as you look."

Claire's lips curled into a smirk, enjoying the slight power shift, even if she was tied to a chair. "You're pathetic, you know that? Even after Alexander rejected you not once, but twice, you're still stuck on him. He doesn't even care about you." Her words were sharp, designed to cut deep.

Lisa's smile faltered, her expression going icy in an instant. Claire could tell she'd hit a nerve. Good. She needed to keep Lisa distracted, and off-balance. Sure, being tied to a chair in the middle of a deserted shack wasn't ideal, but Claire wasn't about to sit there quietly and wait for things to get worse.

Lisa, trying to shake off the blow, crossed her arms. "He does care about me," she said defensively. "He moved me to the VIP room at the hospital when I had that accident."

Claire snorted. "Please. Do you mean the accident that you caused? Don't act like it wasn't part of your plan. That venue didn't just go up in flames by itself, Lisa."

Lisa's lips twisted into a smug smile. "Maybe your brain needs a little break from overthinking, Claire."

"Ha!" Claire leaned back in the chair, knowing she'd just gotten confirmation. "I knew it. You're so easy to read, Lisa."

Lisa narrowed her eyes. "Oh, really? If I'm so easy to read, then what am I thinking right now?"

Claire pretended to ponder for a moment, then answered with a casual shrug. "You're thinking about how you're gonna get Alexander. You've got this whole twisted plan mapped out in that psycho brain of yours."

Lisa nodded, mockingly impressed. "Wow, Claire, you can really read minds." Then her tone turned deadly serious. "And you're right. But there's one part you're missing-I'm also thinking about how I'm going to kill you."

caught Claire off guard for

completely thrown.

you said that. Like, oh,

by a cold, challenging glare. "But let's

She hated being underestimated. Without thinking, she stormed over to Claire and slapped her hard across the

slowly turned back to Lisa with a mocking grin. "If you're gonna hurt me, you'll have to

close, her breath hot with anger. "No one's going to find you here, Claire. This place is in the middle of nowhere. By

arched an eyebrow, unphased by the threat. "Let me guess, that's not the only reason you kidnapped me,

Claire on the head, her voice dripping

What's your angle? Do you

another sly grin. "You think I'm doing this for Alexander? Sure, he's part of it. But I'm not that stupid, Claire.

like a predator. "You've always been in the way, haven't you? Always the perfect one, always in control. Everyone loves Glaire-the smart, capable Claire. Well, I'm tired of living in

of crime and kidnapping? Wow, Lisa, your future's

anger. "You think you're better than me, don't

smirk never leaving. "I don't think. I am better than you

enough to push Lisa over the edge. Her hand swung out and slapped Claire across the face, but Claire barely flinched. Instead, she chuckled, which only made Lisa more

smiling through

clearly not amused. "You

said with a shrug, as best as she could while tied to a chair. "I mean, look at this. You can slap me as much as you want, and I can't do anything back. That's not really a fair

point," Claire

if you were really confident, you'd untie me. We could settle this, woman to woman, see who's actually better. But I get it," she added with a mock sigh. "You're scared I'll kick your