New beginning: Billionaire love story

Chapter 459 Annoying Client

Claire stared blankly at the stack of untouched files on her desk, her thoughts elsewhere. The day had been a blur of phone calls and hospital visits, and the weight of Matthew's condition sat heavily on her chest. The relentless buzzing of her phone snapped her out of her daze.

She glanced at the screen and felt her stomach twist. The caller ID wasn't a number she recognized, but something about it screamed trouble.

"Private number," she muttered, her gut telling her exactly who was on the other end. Eligos.

For a moment, she considered ignoring it. She had enough on her plate without dealing with his games. But the phone buzzed persistently, almost taunting her. With a sharp inhale, she swiped to answer. "What do you want?" Claire snapped, skipping any semblance of politeness.

A low, amused chuckle echoed from the other side. "Ah, Claire. Always so direct. It's one of your more charming qualities."

She rolled her eyes. "Save the flattery, Eligos. I'm not in the mood."

"Clearly," he replied, his voice dripping with faux concern. "You sound... tense. Let me guess. All those hospital visits taking a toll? Poor Matthew. Such a tragedy."

Claire's grip on the phone tightened. "Don't you dare talk about him."

"Why not? He's practically family to you, isn't he?" Eligos's tone turned colder, sharper. "Tell me, Claire, how does it feel knowing your trusted right-hand man is lying helpless because of you?"

Her jaw clenched, her heart pounding in her ears. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come now," he said, feigning innocence. "You think his accident was random? Nothing in your world ever is. You should know that by now."

Claire's breath caught. The insinuation was clear. "You... you did this."

"I didn't do anything," Eligos replied smoothly. "I merely... nudged things in the right direction." "You're a monster," Claire hissed, her voice shaking with fury.

"And you're predictable," he shot back. "Running to the hospital every day, pouring your heart out to a

man who can't hear you. Touching, really. But you should be focusing on what's coming next. This is only the beginning, my dear."

"I don't have time for your cryptic threats," Claire said, her voice steady despite the fire burning in her chest. "If you think I'm going to crumble because of this, you don't know me as well as you think." Eligos chuckled again. "We'll see about that."

went dead before she

Andrea? What did he mean by that? She hadn't seen Andrea in years—until their unexpected encounter days ago. Why would Eligos even care about

poked her head into the room, holding a clipboard. "Ms. Peterson?

blinked, quickly masking her emotions.

a meeting with Mr. Andrew,

deeply.

can't. We have been postponing his

in the mood to talk

might walk," Sandra had said just yesterday, standing in the

him," Claire had muttered under her breath, but Sandra's pointed look made it clear that wasn't an

ticked closer to the hour, Claire sighed and pushed herself up from her chair. She smoothed her navy

room

a state-of-the-art screen mounted on one end. Claire entered

His cologne was overpowering, a mix of cedar and

smile. She gestured for him to sit

making the time to meet," he said, his tone somewhere between gracious

for the delays," Claire replied, keeping her tone professional. "It's been a hectic few weeks." "Understandable," he said, though the

Claire nodded. "Please."

of the meeting went smoothly enough. Mr. Andrews outlined his proposal for a partnership between Metacortex and his company, an up-and-coming tech firm specializing in Al-driven

paper, it was

drifting to Matthew, still lying unconscious in the hospital, and the nagging feeling that Eligos was lurking

saying,

The potential for scalability

Claire nodded absently. "Interesting."

Andrews leaned forward slightly, his expression sharpening.

I sent

making a mental note to actually look at them

I'd encourage you to take a closer look. The data

roll her eyes. "I'm