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

jaw tightening. "Because I had been there before. You know, when I

jaw

was no big deal. "Wish I was. Long

warehouse, Claire was testing the limits of her patience and her wrists. The ropes digging into her skin weren't exactly comfy, but she wasn't about to sit around waiting to be

from various bindings the fastest. At the time, it had

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 skin,

was a

gave way. "Yes!" she whispered fiercely,

stretched, wincing at the soreness in her wrists. Now came the hard

at Cryptonic, Adrian followed him to the parking garage, where Matthew's car was waiting. Sliding into the driver's seat, Matthew barely gave Adrian a chance to

raised his brows. "You are

gripping the door handle as if

when it's an emergency," Matthew replied,

least pretend to

of London. It's a long drive, and I don't

through the

Adrian, who had long since given up trying to reason with Matthew's driving, focused on the

London, if I'm honest." "Great,"

like the obvious choice, but it also

a rusty nail. But before she could make a move, a

a

many people manage to get out of those

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