New beginning: Billionaire love story (Claire and Alex) novel Chapter 386

Claire sighed as she leaned back in her chair, taking a brief break from her never-ending pile of work. She hadn’t been able to visit Adrian because of the hordes of journalists lurking outside her building and the hospital.

It was like they had all decided to turn her life into the world’s most public spectacle, and the last thing she wanted was to drag Adrian into it. So, instead of seeing each other in person, they had settled on Face Timing whenever they could.

Her phone buzzed, and Adrian’s name popped up on the screen. She smiled, swiping to answer the video call. Adrian’s face appeared, a little pale but smiling, as always. “Hey, how’re you holding up?” he asked, his voice gentle but filled with concern.

Claire waved him off with a casual shrug, trying to look nonchalant. “Everything’s fine. You know, just dealing with work stuff.” She said it like it was no big deal, but Adrian could tell. She wasn’t fooling him, not one bit.

“Uh-huh, sure,” Adrian said, narrowing his eyes at her through the screen. “You’re really gonna sit there and act like everything’s peachy? I heard what happened with you and Matthew. Finding a body in a car trunk? Claire, that’s not fine.”

Claire groaned, resting her head in her hand. “Ugh, don’t even mention it. It makes me sick just thinking about it.” She shot him a look, but there was no real heat behind it—she was too tired to be mad.

“I’m worried about you,” Adrian said softly, his expression serious now.

“You’re worried about me?” Claire scoffed, leaning closer to the screen. “You’re the one who’s in the hospital, Adrian. I’m fine. You should be worried about yourself, not me.”

Adrian smiled a little, but his eyes still held that worried look. “I wish I could be there with you, you know. Give you some support, at least.”

Claire softened, her eyes meeting his. “Hey, just hearing your voice is enough for me. Knowing you care... that’s all I need right now.” She was about to say more when she suddenly heard a door open on Adrian’s end, followed by a loud, cheerful voice.

“Adriaaaan!” The shout was so loud that Claire winced, frowning as she tried to figure out who the voice belonged to. Before she could ask, a familiar pair of eyes popped onto the screen, grinning mischievously.

“Edward,” Claire said with a playful eye roll. “Why am I not surprised?”

Edward waved enthusiastically at Claire, his grin wide as ever. “Hey, Claire! Miss me?”

“Not even a little,” Claire teased back. “Have you gotten any better with your flirting, or are you still terrible at it?”

Before Edward could respond, a deep chuckle came from the background. “Better give it up, man,” Henry’s voice said, clearly amused.

Edward pouted dramatically. “I didn’t even do anything this time! And, hey, for the record, I didn’t interrupt anything, right, Adrian?”

Adrian just shook his head, trying not to laugh as he watched the two of them banter. “You kinda did, Edward.”

Edward shot Claire a mock glare, then looked back at Adrian with a smirk. “You guys can’t live without each other for five minutes, can you?”

Claire grinned, not even pretending to argue. “Adrian, I’ll call you back later. I’ve got a meeting I need to get to.”

“Alright,” Adrian said with a soft smile. “But don’t work too hard, okay? Take care of yourself.”

“Frank, you’ve gotta be patient with them,” Robert said, trying to soothe his friend’s temper. “They’re working hard, you know. This kind of stuff takes time.”

“Time?” Frank turned to him, disbelief written all over his face. “Robert, if they were working hard, we’d have results by now! This is ridiculous. If they were really capable, we wouldn’t be having these malfunctions every five minutes.”

Robert sighed, knowing Frank wouldn’t be easy to calm down. “Look, I get it. But shouting at them isn’t going to help. They’re nervous enough as it is.”

Frank grumbled, running a hand through his hair. “I need results, Robert. We’re running out of time. Metacortex is miles ahead of us, and with Claire Peterson caught up in some scandal, this is the perfect time to strike. But how can we do that when our own employees can’t even get a robot to function properly?”

Robert nodded, thinking for a moment. “You’re right about the opportunity. But firing everyone won’t solve the problem. Maybe we should look for some outside talent, someone who can help us get things moving faster.”

Frank’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. “Exactly! That’s what I’ve been saying. If you find someone more capable than this lot, don’t hesitate. Bring them in. We need the best if we’re going to take down Metacortex.”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do,” Robert said, though he wasn’t entirely sure where he’d find this miracle worker Frank was hoping for.

“Good,” Frank replied, his frustration still simmering beneath the surface. “Because we’re not going to get another chance like this. If we don’t act now, we’ll lose everything.”

As Robert watched Frank storm off again, he couldn’t help but feel the pressure mounting. Venus AMD had to succeed. They couldn’t afford another failure—not with the competition as fierce as it was.