New beginning: Billionaire love story

Chapter 417 Out of London

Eligos sat in his dimly lit apartment, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he scrolled through information on Claire's whereabouts. News had just reached him that Claire Peterson was jetting off to Las Vegas. That meant only one thing-Cryptonic and Metacortex were off her radar for now. He smirked to himself, fingers tapping rhythmically on his desk.

"Well, well... Claire's on a little vacation," he muttered, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the desk. "Means Cryptonic and Metacortex are unattended. Perfect." He drummed his fingers in thought, torn between going for a more elaborate plan or just diving straight into the fun of hacking her software.

"Ah, why bother planning?" he said with a grin. "I'll just go for it."

"Maybe something flashy, maybe a bit chaotic?" He finally grinned, deciding to go for it but with a little patience. "Tomorrow, once she's in Vegas," he mused aloud, "she'll be miles away and too busy to stop me. Let's see her sweat."

"This is going to be fun," he mused, already savoring the thought.

Meanwhile, back at Metacortex, Matthew was trying to keep things running smoothly without Claire around. Normally, he was right beside her, listening to her sharp, no-nonsense plans and getting things done. Without her there, he had no clue where to start. He scanned her desk, the meticulously organized files, and the faint scent of Claire's distinct perfume still lingering in the room.

He meandered around her office, glancing at the mountain of paperwork on her desk. "I seriously don't know how she does this," he mumbled, shaking his head as he grabbed a stack to sort through.

"Alright, focus," he muttered to himself, grabbing a stack of documents. "She'll need these sorted before the deadline. No slacking, Matthew."

After a few minutes of sorting through contracts, technical specs, and some papers with big, bold "Confidential" stamps, he decided to take a breather. As much as he respected Claire's work ethic, he had no idea how she managed to stay focused in that office all day without getting totally bored.

After a solid hour of paperwork, he decided he'd earned a break and strolled down to check on the team's latest project.

"Hey guys, how's it going?"

"It's going great, sir and we are confident the robot will be done at the ed of the month."

Stephen at the shoulder. "Hey, Stephen! My man. How's our bot coming along?" he asked cheerfully as he walked into the tech lab. Stephen, hunched over his workstation, waved a hand in greeting. "Oh, hey, Matt! Pretty good, actually. We've updated the software and added a

"Great, let her know as soon as she's back. Maybe it'll be the

team before heading back to Claire's office. Settling back at her desk, he thought he'd dig into a side project-figuring out who'd tipped off the police about Claire. He hadn't had the chance to ask them directly, and it still gnawed at him. He opened his laptop, ready to get back into his investigation, but within moments, things took a

its own. He blinked, mouth hanging open. "What the-? What the heck is going

with bizarre shapes and colors. Instead of shutting down the laptop, he squinted, almost fascinated by it. When the animation ended, a message appeared: "Enjoy the show?" And just below that, he saw a notification for a download in

you don't," he hissed,

But by the time he yanked the power cord and shut the laptop, he had no clue how many of his files had been taken. He felt

arms, feeling like a kid who just won a prize. Sure, the download hadn't been completed, but he'd snagged enough

do

first file. To his surprise, it wasn't exactly what he expected. The document was full of notes, labeled "Claire and Matthew's Private Investigation." Eligos raised an eyebrow. He

detective mission laid

"Detective work, huh? Claire

playing Sherlock. Oh,

adorable," he laughed.

a man named Allen and seemed to contain

document labeled "Allen." He raised an eyebrow,

new mystery wasn't in his original plans, but he had to admit, he was more than a little curious

Meanwhile, thousands of miles

and her

stepped

down in the bright, chaos that was Las