New beginning: Billionaire love story (Claire and Alex)

Kayla chuckled, the sound almost evil. "Oh, you know exactly why. That's what you get for lying," she said, her tone dripping with satisfaction. Lisa's eyes widened, but she quickly tried to play dumb, her mind racing. How much did Kayla know? She couldn't possibly have figured it all out, right?

Kayla crossed her arms and gave Lisa a look that screamed, "You can stop the act." With a smirk plastered on her face, she leaned in a bit closer, her voice dripping with accusation. "Everyone knows, Lisa. You're the woman who attempted suicide." Lisa froze. The words hit her like a ton of bricks. How did they know? She had gone over that blurry picture a hundred times, and it was barely recognizable. Her pulse quickened as she slowly got to her feet, her anger bubbling up through the humiliation. "Why did you trip me?" Lisa demanded, her voice shaking slightly with rage.

Kayla shrugged, the picture of nonchalance. "Because you lied to me."

"What lie?" Lisa asked, even though her heart was thumping hard in her chest. She was pretty sure she knew where this was going.

Kayla scoffed, clearly losing patience. She stepped closer, so close Lisa could feel her breath on her ear as she whispered, "You lied about Alex and Claire."

A shiver ran down Lisa's spine. How in the world did Kayla find out? Just two days ago, Kayla had been eating up everything she said. Now this? Lisa stammered, trying to find the right words. "H-how did you...?"

Kayla raised an eyebrow, her smirk deepening. "Oh, so you are confirming it?" She then added in a mocking tone, "Don't worry, everyone here just thinks you're the one who tried to jump off Metacortex, not your relationship with Alex." Kayla's smirk turned into a wicked grin. "Claire Peterson told me everything."

Of course, it was Claire. She could feel the cafeteria walls closing in as the shame washed over her. Without another word, she stormed out of the cafeteria, her fists clenched so tight her knuckles were white. Claire had sabotaged her wedding, and now she was going after her career, too? Unbelievable!

Lisa dashed into the bathroom to clean herself up from the food earlier. She scrubbed her dress, but the stain wasn't going anywhere, much like the sense of humiliation that was eating her alive. Her appetite gone, she headed back to her desk, simmering with anger. Just as she sat down, her manager's voice crackled over the intercom. "Lisa, my office. Now."

Great. Just what she needed.

She dragged herself to his office, hoping against hope that this wasn't going to be as bad as she thought. But as soon as she stepped in, his eyes immediately went to the giant stain on her dress. He frowned. "What happened to you?" "I, uh... tripped," Lisa mumbled, her eyes avoiding his.

The manager didn't seem convinced, but he moved on. "There's something I need to discuss with you. I've been hearing some rumors."

Lisa's heart plummeted. She could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead despite the cool blast from the air conditioner. "Rumors?" she repeated, trying to keep her voice steady.

"Yes, Lisa. Rumors about you... and some incidents at Metacortex. Something about an attempted suicide."

Lisa felt her breath hitch. Her mind was racing, desperately trying to think of a way out of this mess, but she came up blank. The manager raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting for an explanation, but she had nothing. Nothing but panic. "The other employees seem pretty sure it's you," he continued. "They say they got their information from a reliable source."

Lisa's mind immediately went to Claire. Of course, it was her. Who else would do this? The manager sighed, breaking Lisa out of her thoughts. "Listen, Lisa. I've always admired your work, but we can't have this kind of thing in the company." Lisa's eyes widened in fear. She knew where this was going, but she didn't want to believe it. "What... what do you mean?"

The manager sighed again, this time looking genuinely sorry. "I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go."

It felt like the floor had dropped out from under her. Lisa stood there, numb from head to toe. Fired? This couldn't be happening. But it was. And there was only one person to blame.

Lisa's hands balled into fists at her sides. She couldn't feel anything except a red-hot fury building up inside her. This was it. Claire had ruined her love life, and now she'd destroyed her career.

Lisa walked out of the manager's office in a daze, her mind swirling with thoughts of revenge. Claire had gone too far this time. There was only one thing left to do.NôvelDrama.Org owns all © content.

She would kill Claire for sure this time.

Two weeks had flown by since the robot design competition ended, and Claire was knee-deep in the

aftermath. She was sprawled out on her office floor, surrounded by heaps of paper, each one boasting a unique robot design from the

participants. There were around 100 submissions, and Claire was starting to get cross-eyed from staring at them. Each design had something special, and choosing a winner felt like trying to pick her favorite star in the night sky-pretty much

impossible.

As she was squinting at yet another design, the door to her office creaked open, and Matthew strolled in. He paused, blinking at the sight of Claire amidst what looked like a paper explosion. "What in the world are you doing down there?" he asked, half-amused, half- concerned. Without looking up, Claire waved a dismissive hand in his direction. "Picking a winner," she said.

Matthew leaned casually against her desk, watching her with a smirk. "Is this that competition you hosted?"

"Yup," Claire responded, her eyes still glued to the design in front of her as if it held the secrets of the universe.

"You know," Matthew began, tilting his head, "you could do all this on your laptop. Just saying."

Finally, Claire tore her gaze away from the paper to stare at him. "This is easier," she declared, waving at the mess around her. "I can compare them better this way. It's like... a visual buffet."

Matthew chuckled and shook his head before pushing himself off the desk and squatting down next to her. He peered at the designs, then turned to Claire with a mischievous look. "You're not gonna get Alex involved in this?"

Claire's hand hovered above a paper,

hesitating for a moment before she

picked it up. ll show him the

options I like best," she replied, trying to sound nonchalant. But in truth, she really didn't want to work too closely with Alex after that

nov

conversation they had a few days

ago. She figured it was best to keep

her distance-strictly business.

Matthew raised an eyebrow, catching the undertone of her words. "Uh-huh, keeping it professional, I see."

"Exactly," Claire said, nodding as if to convince herself more than him. Then she turned to Matthew with a sudden idea. "Oh, by the way, you're going to the final meeting for Cortex 2.0 on my behalf." Matthew pointed at himself, his eyebrows shooting up. "Me?"

"No, the other Matthew in the room," Claire said, rolling her eyes with a grin. "Of course, you!"

"But you're the important one," Matthew protested, a bit flustered.

Claire gestured to the mountain of papers around her. "I'm busy, as you can see. I want to get this done today because once Alex gives the green light, I need to contact the robotCompany in Japan. Building these robots will take ages, and the hotel's supposed to open in eight months. No pressure or anything."

Matthew sighed dramatically, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. "Fine, I'll go. But you owe me, Claire."

Claire chuckled, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Of course. I'll even throw in a free coffee."

Matthew got to his feet, shaking his head as he headed for the door. "Better be the fancy stuff," he called over his shoulder.

"Only the best for you!" Claire shouted back, laughing to herself.

As the door clicked shut behind him, Claire let out a deep breath and refocused on the task at hand. She meticulously sorted through the designs, her mind whirring like one of the very robots she was trying to bring to life.

Hours passed, and it wasn't until the sky outside had turned a deep shade of purple that Claire finally stretched and looked up. She had narrowed it down to three designs-three robots that she believed not only stood out but also perfectly matched the vibe of the hotel. Each one was sleek and modern.

"Finally," Claire muttered to herself, feeling a wave of relief wash over her as she surveyed the mess she'd created in her office. Just as she was about to lean back and take a much-needed breather, her phone buzzed on the desk.

It was a message from Matthew.

Software's good to go. The team's testing it tomorrow. Also, you still owe me that fancy coffee.

You'll get your coffee, don't worry. And maybe a cookie if I'm feeling generous.

You spoil me, Boss.

Shaking her head with a smile she stood up, stretching out her stiff muscles.

"Alright," she said to herself, surveying the mess one last time. "Time to clean up this disaster zone."