New beginning: Billionaire love story (Claire and Alex) novel Chapter 340

Alexander dropped into his office chair with a sigh, still feeling the weight of his conversation with Claire hanging over him like an overcast sky. He wasn’t entirely thrilled about the situation, but duty called. Claire wanted him to reach out to Claudia again, and like it or not, he’d have to comply.

With a quick glance at the clock, he picked up the phone and dialed Claudia’s number. To his surprise, it only rang once before her voice came through.

“Finally!” Claudia's voice snapped over the line before he could even get a greeting out. “I’ve been waiting for you to call. Delete it, Alexander. Delete that damn recording from last night.”

Alexander leaned back in his chair, unable to stop the amused smirk that tugged at the corners of his lips. There it was—deja vu. Every conversation with Claudia somehow circled back to demands and accusations, but there was something almost charming about her fiery nature. Almost.

“Nice to hear from you too, Claudia,” he drawled, leaning back a little more. “But I can’t just delete it, not yet anyway.”

“Why not?” Claudia barked, her impatience coming through loud and clear. “You have no right to keep it, and you know it.”

“I’ll delete it,” Alexander replied smoothly, “but you’ve got to do something for me first.”

There was a beat of silence, followed by a disbelieving scoff. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Claudia spat. “Clarify it to the media? What for? People will forget about it in a few days anyway. It’s not a big deal.”

Alexander's smirk faded, and his expression grew serious. “It is a big deal, Claudia. That press release? It’s not just on some obscure website that’ll vanish in a week. It's on YouTube, and on social media. People can re-watch it over and over. Not to mention, your cryptic talk during that Q&A session has already stirred the pot. The journalists are curious. They’re asking questions. It’s only a matter of time before things spiral.”

Claudia rolled her eyes so hard that Alexander could practically hear it through the phone. “Oh, so now you care about what the media thinks?” she shot back, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “You’ve barely paid attention to the Wright family in years. Why start now?”

Alexander’s brows furrowed, and his tone hardened. “That matter was resolved, Claudia,” he said, irritation seeping into his voice. “You have no right to drag it up again.”

“Right, right,” Claudia cut in, waving him off even though he couldn't see it. “You’re the one who started this whole thing in the first place.”

This was getting old, fast. Alexander pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Look, are you going to clarify things or not? Because if not, then this call is a waste of time.”

Claudia was silent for a moment, her irritation simmering on the other end of the line. She knew Alexander was right, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. The last thing she wanted was to face the public again, especially not now. For reasons she wasn’t about to share, the idea of being in the spotlight made her skin crawl. But this punk, Alexander, was pushing her into a corner.

“Fine,” she hissed, her voice tight with anger. “Fine. I’ll do it. But don’t think for a second that I’m doing it for you.”

“Wouldn't dream of it,” Alexander replied dryly, relieved but unsurprised by her eventual concession. He knew Claudia well enough to expect resistance, but he also knew she wouldn’t let things spiral out of control if she could help it.

“I mean, you’re the CEO, Alexander! You act like you’re just a spectator in all this. But everything that’s happening—this chaos with Claudia? It’s on you. It’s your business, your responsibility,” Claire fired back. There was no hesitation in her voice, just pure frustration. “You should’ve had a better handle on this from the start. I don’t get how you didn’t know what was going on in your own company. It doesn’t make sense.”

Alexander could feel his jaw tighten as Claire’s words hit a nerve. It wasn’t like he enjoyed being in this mess either. “It’s not my fault,” he shot back, his voice rising a little. “I didn’t know she was going to say all that. You’re acting like I planned this whole thing, but I didn’t even know about it until it was too late.”

“Exactly!” Claire snapped her tone now cutting through the air like a knife. “You didn’t know, and that’s the problem. You’re the CEO, Alexander! How can you not know what’s going on? Either you’re not paying attention, or someone’s playing dirty right under your nose, and you’re just... oblivious.”

Her words stung more than he wanted to admit. Alexander felt a sudden rush of heat as his frustration boiled over. He gripped the phone tightly, resisting the urge to just hang up. “It’s impossible to talk to you like a normal person. Every time we speak, you’re just... impossible.”

“Impossible?” Claire huffed, clearly unimpressed by his jab. “Look, it doesn’t matter how you feel about me right now. What matters is that Claudia needs to make a statement—an apology. And you,” she emphasized, “need to make one too. This isn’t just her mess, Alexander. It’s yours too. So you both need to own up to it. Got it?”

Alexander opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything, the line went dead. Claire had hung up on him.

For a moment, Alexander just sat there, staring blankly at his phone screen, disbelief etched across his face. What had gotten into Claire today? Sure, she was always tough, but this felt personal, like there was something else bothering her, and he was just unlucky enough to be in the line of fire.

He slumped back in his chair and rubbed his temples. As if this whole situation with Claudia wasn’t stressful enough, now Claire was throwing gasoline on the fire. He glanced at his phone again, half-expecting her to call back with some final remark, but of course, nothing