New beginning: Billionaire love story (Claire and Alex) novel Chapter 459

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."

The line went dead before she could respond.

Claire slammed her phone onto the desk, her hands trembling. Her mind raced. 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 him?

Before she could spiral further, Sandra poked her head into the room, holding a clipboard. “Ms. Peterson? You okay?”

Claire blinked, quickly masking her emotions. “Yeah, I’m fine. What’s up?”

"You have a meeting with Mr. Andrew, Ms. Peterson in 30 minutes."

Claire shut her eyes close and inhale deeply. "Can't we just cancel it for today?"

Sandra shook her head. "Unfortunately, we can't. We have been postponing his meeting for a while now."

"Then make up some excuse. I am not in the mood to talk about business right now."

“Claire, if you reschedule one more time, he might walk,” Sandra had said just yesterday, standing in the doorway with her no-nonsense expression.

“Let him,” Claire had muttered under her breath, but Sandra’s pointed look made it clear that wasn’t an option.