New beginning: Billionaire love story

Eligos sat in his dimly lit apartment, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he scrolled through information on Claire's whereabouts. News had just reached him that Claire Peterson was jetting off to Las Vegas. That meant only one thing-Cryptonic and Metacortex were off her radar for now. He smirked to himself, fingers tapping rhythmically on his desk.

"Well, well... Claire's on a little vacation," he muttered, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the desk. "Means Cryptonic and Metacortex are unattended. Perfect." He drummed his fingers in thought, torn between going for a more elaborate plan or just diving straight into the fun of hacking her software.

"Ah, why bother planning?" he said with a grin. "I'll just go for it."

"Maybe something flashy, maybe a bit chaotic?" He finally grinned, deciding to go for it but with a little patience. "Tomorrow, once she's in Vegas," he mused aloud, "she'll be miles away and too busy to stop me. Let's see her sweat."

"This is going to be fun," he mused, already savoring the thought.

Meanwhile, back at Metacortex, Matthew was trying to keep things running smoothly without Claire around. Normally, he was right beside her, listening to her sharp, no-nonsense plans and getting things done. Without her there, he had no clue where to start. He scanned her desk, the meticulously organized files, and the faint scent of Claire's distinct perfume still lingering in the room.

He meandered around her office, glancing at the mountain of paperwork on her desk. "I seriously don't know how she does this," he mumbled, shaking his head as he grabbed a stack to sort through.

"Alright, focus," he muttered to himself, grabbing a stack of documents. "She'll need these sorted before the deadline. No slacking, Matthew."

After a few minutes of sorting through contracts, technical specs, and some papers with big, bold "Confidential" stamps, he decided to take a breather. As much as he respected Claire's work ethic, he had no idea how she managed to stay focused in that office all day without getting totally bored.

After a solid hour of paperwork, he decided he'd earned a break and strolled down to check on the team's latest project.

"Hey guys, how's it going?"

"It's going great, sir and we are confident the robot will be done at the ed of the month."

"That is nice to hear." He walked to the other side and patted Stephen at the shoulder. "Hey, Stephen! My man. How's our bot coming along?" he asked cheerfully as he walked into the tech lab. Stephen, hunched over his workstation, waved a hand in greeting. "Oh, hey, Matt! Pretty good, actually. We've updated the software and added a few new features. Claire's going to want to take a look."

Matthew gave an approving nod. "Great, let her know as soon as she's back. Maybe it'll be the one bright spot in her week."

He watched them work for a moment, enjoying the upbeat chatter of the team before heading back to Claire's office. Settling back at her desk, he thought he'd dig into a side project-figuring out who'd tipped off the police about Claire. He hadn't had the chance to ask them directly, and it still gnawed at him. He opened his laptop, ready to get back into his investigation, but within moments, things took a strange turn.

The mouse cursor on his screen started moving on its own. He blinked, mouth hanging open. "What the-? What the heck is going on?"

He watched as an animation popped up, the screen filling with bizarre shapes and colors. Instead of shutting down the laptop, he squinted, almost fascinated by it. When the animation ended, a message appeared: "Enjoy the show?" And just below that, he saw a notification for a download in progress. His heart sank as he scrambled to cancel it, but it was too late.

"Oh no you don't," he hissed, snapping into action.

"Come on, come on," he muttered, desperately trying to cut off the connection. But by the time he yanked the power cord and shut the laptop, he had no clue how many of his files had been taken. He felt a knot of anxiety form in his stomach ashe stared at the dark screen. What had just been stolen?

Across town, Eligos stretched his arms, feeling like a kid who just won a prize. Sure, the download hadn't been completed, but he'd snagged enough to pique his interest.

"Well, well, what do we have here..."

he murmured, opening the first file. To his surprise, it wasn't exactly what he expected. The document was full of notes, labeled "Claire and Matthew's Private Investigation." Eligos raised an eyebrow. He smirked at what seemed like an

amateur detective mission laid out

"Detective work, huh? Claire

Peterson, playing Sherlock. Oh, how

adorable," he laughed.

The next file was a bit different, though it mentioned a man named Allen and seemed to contain notes on finding Allen's family.

His smirk faded when he stumbled upon a document labeled "Allen." He raised an eyebrow, suddenly intrigued. Why was Matthew searching for Allen's family?

He paused, his fingers still. This new mystery wasn't in his original plans, but he had to admit, he was more than a little curious to hear what Matthew might say if asked. "Guess I'll find out soon enough," he murmured.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles

away, Claire and her business

associate Alexander stepped off a

plane, touching down in the bright, chaos that was Las Vegas. Claire stretched her stiff limbs andnoveldrama

reached up to the overhead cabin to grab her suitcase, only to feel a hand reaching over her shoulder, taking it down for her. She turned to see Alexander, all smiles, extending the bag to her.

"Allow me," Alexander's voice came from behind her as he grabbed her suitcase.

Claire turned, raising a brow. "I don't need help," she said, her voice curt. "I'm perfectly capable."

Alexander didn't seem fazed, though, merely handed her the suitcase. "Just being polite."

She huffed, clutching her bag tightly, and marched off the plane. When they descended the stairs to the tarmac, she spotted only one car waiting.

"Why is there only one car?" she asked, clearly annoyed.

Alexander smirked. "We're staying at the same hotel. Why waste two?"

He strode ahead, leaving Claire muttering under her breath. "What an ass."

As they slid into the car and headed toward the hotel, Claire's mind drifted back to her projects, her investigations, and that irritating feeling of something slipping out of her control back in London.

As the two settled into their hotel and prepared for their meetings, the scene back in London was anything but quiet. Eligos was thrilled, eagerly opening file after file, trying to piece together what exactly Matthew and Claire were up to. The bits of information he had gathered didn't paint a full picture, but it was enough to make him wonder about this mysterious "Allen" and why they were hunting down his family.

What could be so important about Allen?

After a while, Eligos closed his laptop, leaning back in his chair with a smirk. "Seems like Claire's got her hands full here. And she has no idea I'm digging through her files." He chuckled to himself, already planning his next move.