New beginning: Billionaire love story (Claire and Alex) novel Chapter 316

Claire sat across from her lawyer, her fingers tapping lightly on the polished table. “I’m ready to proceed,” she said with a confident smile. “I want Lisa captured. This has gone on long enough.”

The lawyer gave a firm nod, closing the file in front of him. “Understood. I’ll head to the police station and get things moving. They’ll be on it soon.”

Claire’s smile grew. For the first time in weeks, she felt like everything was finally under control. Lisa had been causing her endless headaches, but soon, that would all be in the past. “Thank you,” she said, standing up. “It feels good to finally take action.”

As the lawyer left, Claire turned her focus to the press release she had to prepare for next week. Her mind buzzed with ideas, but there was a little knot of anxiety in her chest. “I’ve never done a press release,” she muttered to herself. “The closest thing was that announcement about the robot project with Alexander...good thing it went well."

Her team was working hard to make sure the almost malfunctioning robot would not happen again. They were already making progress on the second robot, and this time, Claire had double-checked everything herself. No accidents. Not again.

Meanwhile, Lisa had been stuck inside her mom’s house for weeks. She wasn’t about to go outside. Not after what had happened. She was scared out of her mind that someone would try to kidnap her again.

She knew she had been kidnapped before, though no one believed her. She remembered Claire sitting in front of her, asking all these questions, and then—nothing. The next thing Lisa knew, she woke up in her room, with no memory of how she got back.

The police hadn’t believed a word she said. No evidence, no proof. They called her crazy, told her what she was saying didn’t make any sense. That had frustrated her even more.

And to make things worse, her mom wouldn’t stop nagging her. “Lisa, get out of the house! Get a job!” she’d say every day, pushing her to do something, anything. But how could Lisa go out when she knew something bad might happen again?

Suddenly, a loud scream rang out from downstairs. Lisa’s heart skipped a beat. She rushed to the top of the stairs and called out, “Mom? What’s going on?” But she stopped dead when she saw four police officers walking into the house.

Their eyes immediately locked onto her, standing frozen halfway down the stairs. They started moving toward her, and Lisa felt her stomach drop. Without even thinking, she turned and bolted back up the stairs, heart pounding so hard she thought it might burst. She slammed her bedroom door shut and dragged her desk in front of it, trying to block them out.

“What is happening? Why are they here? What do they want?” Lisa’s thoughts were spinning out of control as she glanced around her messy room.

There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to go except for the window. She could feel the panic rising, and she wasn’t thinking straight. The police were now banging on her door, trying to break it down. Her breathing grew ragged as tears streamed down her face.

The police banged on her door. “Lisa, open up!”

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” Lisa screamed to herself, her body shaking with fear. “They can’t take me!” she cried, tears streaming down her face.

Just as the door finally crashed open, Lisa scrambled toward the window, ready to jump out. But before she could even get one leg out, a strong arm grabbed her waist, pulling her back inside. She screamed and kicked, trying to fight her way free.

“Let me go! I didn’t do anything! I didn’t do anything!” she shouted, thrashing against the officer’s hold.

Her mother appeared in the doorway, her face pale and shocked. “What are you doing to my daughter? You can’t take her like this!” her mom yelled, trying to push her way toward Lisa, but the officers blocked her.

As Lisa continued to struggle, a man in a sharp suit stepped into the room. He held up some papers and handed them to her mom. “Ma’am,” he said calmly, “your daughter has been linked to several crimes. She planned them herself. We have more details, but this will be discussed in court.”

Her mother stood there, frozen, the papers trembling in her hands. “Crimes? What are you talking about? My daughter wouldn’t—she’s innocent! She wouldn’t do that!” Her voice was shaky, not sure what to believe.