New beginning: Billionaire love story

catching him completely off guard.

Claire stepped out of the helicopter with the wind whipping her hair around and made her way inside Cryptonic. She had barely settled from the rush of the flight when she found herself standing outside Matthew's office. Without hesitation, she pushed the door open, "Claire?" Matthew blinked in surprise, nearly spilling his coffee. "How are you here so fast?"

Claire rolled her eyes, walking over to his desk as she dug into her bag. "I don't have time for pleasantries, Matthew," she said, pulling out a small Ziplock bag. Inside was a phone. "This is Abigail's phone."

Matthew stared at the phone, raising his brows. "And what exactly do you want me to do with it? Make a call or something?"

Claire shot him a look that practically screamed, Are you serious right now?

"No, Matthew," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm hoping you can just magically solve everything by staring at it."

Matthew chuckled, taking the Ziplock from her hand. "Alright, alright. So, what's the deal with this phone?"

"Do you remember those three men in the footage?" Claire crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes. "One of them was holding Abigail's phone."

Matthew's eyes widened slightly, the realization finally dawning on him. "Ohhh, I see where you're going with this."

Claire sighed dramatically. "You see, this is what amazes me about you. How you can be both incredibly smart and incredibly slow at the same time is beyond me."

Matthew rolled his eyes, though a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Well, some people like a challenge." He took the Ziplock bag and gave her a mock salute. "I'll hand it over to the forensic team."

Claire nodded and plopped down on the couch in his office, leaning back as if the weight of the world had just been momentarily lifted. Matthew disappeared for a few minutes, and when he returned, he tossed her a water bottle from his mini fridge. "Here, hydrate yourself, genius."

Claire took the bottle and unscrewed the cap, taking a refreshing sip. "Thanks," she said, before asking the inevitable question. "So, when will the fingerprint scanning be done?"

Matthew leaned against the desk, crossing his arms. "They said around ten hours."

"Ten hours?!" Claire huffed, frowning. "Can't they do it faster?"

Matthew shook his head with a shrug. "That's what they said. Even ten hours is them working nonstop."

Claire leaned back against the couch again, her frown deepening. "Great. Just great."

Trying to shift gears, she glanced over at Matthew. "Where's the location of that apartment Abigail exited?"

"Not far from the accident scene," Matthew replied casually.

Claire thought for a moment, then looked at him curiously. "And what about the driver? The one at the police station? Should we interrogate him?"

Matthew raised an eyebrow. "You want to do that now?"

Claire hesitated for a second, then nodded decisively. "Yeah, why not? We've got time before the fingerprint results come in. Let's see f we can shake something out of him."

With that, the two of them left Matthew's office and boarded the helicopter again, this time heading for Metacortex as their first stop before switching to a car to make the rest of the journey. The ride was relatively quick, and soon enough, they arrived at the police station.

As they stepped out of the car, Claire marched straight to the front desk with Matthew trailing behind. She gave the officer at the desk a polite but firm nod. "I'd like to see the suspect from the car accident involving Abigail Hastings."

The officer raised his brows, glancing between Claire and Matthew. "What's your relation to either of them?"

Claire squared her shoulders. "I'm not related to the suspect, but Abigail is a friend of mine, and I want to know if this accident was legitimate or if it was a setup."

The officer gave her a skeptical look. "The police are already handling that investigation. You can't just walk in and interrogate the suspect."

Claire let out an irritated breath. It wasn't the first time-or the second-that she had dealt with this kind of red tape, and it drove her crazy. "I just need five minutes. That's all I'm asking."

The officer stared at her for a moment, searching her face for any hint of dishonesty. Finally, he nodded reluctantly. "Five minutes. No more."

Claire nodded, relieved, and followed the officer as he instructed another officer to bring them to the suspect's cell.

As they reached the cell, Claire spotted the man sitting on a bench, his head hanging low.

"You can only talk to him from outside. We aren't allowed to open the cell." Said the officer with his firm tone.

Claire nodded. "I won't be long." She took a step forward and the man turned to look at the shadow that shielded him from the lights. ""You," Claire started.

The man's eyes widen as if he didn't expect a guest. "Who are you?"

"I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to find answers." Claire took a deep breath. "Abigail Hastings. Did you plan to kill her?"

He stood up from his sitting spot

and shook his head as he took a step closer to the cell. "No. I did not kill her. I swear to you. Are-are you the woman's family that I crasked my car into?" he said hesitatingly, feeling scared.

"No, I'm not. I'm her friend. So, the crash. It means it wasn't intentional?"

"No, I promise you. I have no idea. I was just driving home when this woman suddenly came out of nowhere and it was raining cats and dogs, and I didn't have the best

reaction time. The next thing knew I

hit her."

Claire's face looked serious as she heard his side of the story. "You don't have any involvement with whatever happening to Abigail?"

He shook his head. Claire searched his face to see if he was lying but his eyes told the truth. The crash wasn't intentional. The man was a black sheep.

"Do you see what happened to her?"novelbin

"No, I didn't. I was too focused on driving."

Claire crossed her arms over her chest. "Please believe me. I didn't hurt your friend." He pleaded to Claire, his eyes glistening with tears. She thought to herself that this man was genuine.

"I believe you. I see what I can do. But if I find that you are lying. It will be your worst nightmare." She said dangerously, her eyes stared directly at his soul.

"I promise you that I am not lying."

The police inform Claire that her time is up. She nodded and turned around, Matthew following behind her. Claire thanked the police, and she exited the station. She stepped inside the car and Matthew drove away. "So, what do you think about him? Is he lying or telling the truth?"

"He's telling the truth. I could see it in his eyes. He was just...caught at the wrong time."

Matthew glances at Claire and then back to the road. "Are you sure? I mean no thief would admit their wrongdoings."

She nodded. "I know it's weird of me

to instantly draw a conclusion that

he is innocent, but he is innocent. I.

could tel and he told me he doesn't have any involvement with whatever happened to Abigail. It means we need to wait for the result

the

fingerprint to find out who is the one behind this."