New beginning: Billionaire love story (Claire and Alex)
Chapter 101

Chapter 101 Business partner

Clair couldn't help but smile as she heard Alex's response. He finally agreed with her, and that brought her immense relief. Now, she didn't have to resort to Plan B, which she pretested to keep in reserve for future unwanted incidents. 'm really glad to bear it, Alex Tlook forward to us worldng together," Claire said warmly

Alex nodded, standing up along with Claire and Matthew. "When will we continue our meeting?" he asked.

"Il contact you soon," Claire replied. "I need to prepare the project details for you to ensure you're confident in your decision,"

Alexnodded "I'll wait for your call."

Clare smiled and nodded. "Of course Thank you for making the time. I'm sorry if interrupted you

As Claire and Matthew walked out of the meeting rooms and headed to the lift, Claire's smile remained, and she couldn't seem to shake it off.

Matthew noticed and raised his eyebrows. "You seem pretty satisfied with Alex's cesponse," be nemacked.

Claire Laughed softly, "it's a huge reliet, I was worried he might back out, and I didn't want to use Plan B unless absolutely necessary."

"You know you i never actually tell me what's Plan, by the way?" Matthew asked, curiosity piqued.

Claire shook her head with a playful grin. "Now, now, Matthew, as much as I want to tell you, I can't reveal all my secrets. But let's just say it's something I've been holding back incase Alex decided to play duty."

Matthew chuckled, "You always have something up your sleeve. That's what makes you a great leader."

They stepped into the lift, and Claire pressed the button for the ground floor. "Thanks, Matthew. I can only hope this collaboration will work just fine,

"So, what are you going to do next?"

Claire thought for a while pondering. "Well, obviously I have to gather the team and re-create Cortex 2.0 but at the same time I have to uncover the one behind the leaking I can't ignore it for too long. If I did, that person would think they could get away with it. And who knows if they found out about my future project with Harris hotel, they could sabotaged it."

"It means you have to come up with a plan?" Matthew suggested and Claire snapped her fingers.

"Exactly. I need to come up with a plan. But what?"

Meanwhile, Alex remained in the misting room, his mind occupied with the various aspects of his hotel project. He was grateful for Claire's intention to ask him about the business deal Alex first proposed, especially since he was already behind schedule. Alex had planned to fly to Las Vegas at the end of the month to check on the building's development, but now he saw an opportunity to streamline things. He could address everything in one trip

As Alex made his way back to his office, he stopped in his tracks when he passed his secretary

"Ms. Rose." he called out, maling her lookup from her computer.

"Yes, Mr. Harris?" she responded, giving him her full attention.

"Can you schedule a meeting with the interior designer for Friday? I need to brlet them on some changes and updates," Alex instructed.

he nodded, her fingers already flying over the keyboard. "Of course, Mr. Harris, I'll get that arranged right away."

Alex nodded in appreciation "Thank you, Ms. Rose." He then continued to his office, his thoughts shifting back to the partnership with Claire.

Alexstepped inside his office and took a seat on the couch, sinling into the soft cultions. He sighed, feeling the weight of the day already pressing on him. Not even a minute later, the door swung open, and Christian walked in, looking curious "Alex, 1 saw Claire earlier. She was leaving Hamis Company," Christian said, coming to a stop in front of the couch

Alex added, gestoring for him to sit down. "Yes, she was here for a business meeting

Christian frowned as he took a seat across from Alex. "What kind of business meeting?"

Alex leaned back, rubbing his temples for a moment before speaking "Claire was asking about my decision on the collaboration with Metacortex"

Christian's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? I thought she wasn't interested in that collaboration. When we first met with her, she didn't seem to want it at all." Ales chuckled sotily. "I was surprised too. But after much persuasion, 1 finally agreed" Christian shook his head, still trying to wrap his mind around the change. "What made her change her mind?"

Alex shrugged. "She explained that she as interested in our ideas and that she realized the potential benefits for both our companies. Not to mention I need them

Alex leaned forward "Do you think I made the right choice? Lmean does Claire really loolding forward to this business deal?"

Christian shrugged, a smak playing on his lips How am I supposed to low? You're the one married to her. Shouldn't you'll be the one that knows how she is?" Alex rolled his eyes and leaned back on the couch. "You're not helping, you know." Christianchuckled, enjoying the moment. "Despite whatever her intentions are, this is exactly what you've been looking for, right?"

Alex nodded reluctantly, "Yeah, that's why I agreed to it, even though I hate her, and she probably hates me just as much."

Christian tilted his head, a thoughtful look crossing his face. "ron know, I don't think you really late her think you're just confused about your own feelings." Alex's ears perked up at this, but he didn't say anything. He staged at Christian, waiting for him to continue Christian leaned forward, his tone more serious. "Think about it, Alex. If you truly hated her, you wouldn't care so much about what she thinks. You wouldn't be this torn about the deal. There's something more there." Chiple 101 Eness partner

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Alex shook his head as he looked at his best mate with a smirk on his lips. "You're reading too much into it. I think you should go out and have some fun. Don't work too much, mate or you'll be crazy." Rolling his eyes, Christian throw him the pillow to Alex which he dodge while laughing

Later that day, Claire and Matthew were in her office, discussing the next steps, "I still can't believe how smoothly that went," Matthew said, shaking his head in disbelief. Alex agreeing so quickly is a huge relief."

Claire nodded, leaning back in his chair. "It seems like we both need each other. He needed this partnership as much as we did. His hotel project must be putting a lot of pressure on him. But whatever the reasons are, I got him to agree, and the next step is for me to re- create Cortex 2.0."

Then something in her mind click as she looked back to Matthew. "Matt, can you please check the surveillance camera?" A look of confusion was evident in his eyes. "What for?"

"I didn't thought of this earlier but maybe we can get some clues to replace out who leaked the information to our rival." Matthew nodded, "Do you have the exact date that I should be looking for?

"Hm..just look after my first meeting to discuss Cortex20"

"Anything else you need?" Claire shook her head and smiled at him. "No that's all. Thank you so much Matt.

As Matthew leave the office, Claire call her secretary "Sandra, could you please gather the team to the meeting room, please?" *Right away, miss."