New beginning: Billionaire love story

Chapter 448 The Chase Begins

Adrian paced around Matthew's small, chaotic workstation, his expensive leather shoes echoing faintly on the tile floor. "How exactly are we supposed to find Claire?" he asked, rubbing his temple. Panic was beginning to edge his voice, though he tried to keep his cool. "It's not like she left a trail of breadcrumbs."

Matthew, hunched over his desk, barely spared Adrian a glance. "Easy," he said, cracking his knuckles. "Every car Claire owns has a tracker."

Adrian blinked, surprised. "What?"

"Yep," Matthew replied, his tone casual as he started typing furiously on his keyboard. His fingers flew across the keys like they had a life of their own. "You know, just in case something like this happens. She knows about it. It's a safety thing. And honestly, if whoever's got her hasn't found the tracker yet, that'll be a piece of cake."

"That's... unexpected or should I say smart? I mean, Claire's a tech genius, for sure, she'd think of something like that," Adrian said, watching the screen flash with lines of code and maps. "But you? I didn't peg you as the hacker type."

Matthew paused just long enough to flash a smug grin. "You'd be surprised. Claire taught me a thing or two back in the day. She said I needed to 'up my game' if I wanted to survive in her world."

"Well," Adrian admitted, leaning closer to the screen, "it's impressive. Not the tracking part-bit creepy-but the skills? I can respect that."

"Thanks," Matthew said, his tone dripping with faux modesty. "What can I say? I had a good teacher."

Adrian couldn't help but grin. "Humble much?"

"Never," Matthew quipped.

Suddenly, a red dot pinged onto the screen. Matthew's grin disappeared, replaced by a frown.

"What?" Adrian asked, alarmed. "What is it?"

"The location," Matthew muttered, squinting at the map. "It's... familiar."

an eyebrow. "Familiar

been there before. You

him, his jaw dropping slightly. "Kidnapped?!

was no big deal.

and her wrists. The ropes

with Matthew. They'd been bored one weekend and decided to see who could free themselves from various bindings the fastest. At the

herself, twisting her wrists this way and that. The ropes were tight, but she knew the trick: wiggle, loosen, pull. It was slow going, and the rope burned against her

pain was a problem

whispered fiercely, immediately moving

at last, she stood and stretched, wincing at the soreness in her wrists. Now came the hard part:

waiting. Sliding into the driver's seat, Matthew barely gave Adrian a chance to buckle up before he slammed his foot on the gas, sending the car rocketing forward. "Whoa!" Adrian yelped as he was flung backward. "Seatbelt!

glanced at him and then raised his brows. "You are fine.

gripping the door handle as if his

Matthew replied, weaving through

"Can you at least pretend to

cheerfully. "We're on the outskirts of London. It's a long drive, and

sped through the

lights fading as they approached the warehouse district Adrian, who had long since given up trying to reason with Matthew's driving, focused on the task ahead. "So this place...it's

tone clipped. "Not my favorite spot in London, if I'm honest." "Great," Adrian muttered. "Really looking

for potential escape routes. The front exit seemed like the obvious choice, but

A pipe, a loose board, even a rusty nail. But before she could make a move, a crackling sound echoed through

voice came from a

many people manage to get out of those ropes. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You've always been

rolled her eyes, trying to mask her unease with dry humor. "ow, thanks for the compliment. I'm flattered. I'll be sure