New beginning: Billionaire love story (Claire and Alex) novel Chapter 360

Claire leaned back in her chair, her excitement from their recent victory evaporating in an instant as she stared at her screen. The message was simple, just two words, but they sent a chill down her spine,

“Miss me?”

The line went quiet on the other end of the phone call with Matthew. He paused, clearly sensing something was off. “Uh, Claire? You still there?” he asked, his voice concerned.

Claire cleared her throat, trying to shake off the weird feeling crawling up her spine. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“What’s up? You went all quiet.”

She hesitated for a second, then exhaled sharply. “I just got a message.”

“A message?” Matthew repeated. “From whom? What does it say?”

Claire's eyes flicked back to the screen, her lips twisting in irritation. “It’s only two words, Miss me?”

Matthew’s tone immediately shifted. She could almost hear him sitting up straighter, the playful vibe gone. “Whoa. That’s... weird. Did you track it?”

“Yeah,” Claire muttered, clicking through her system, her fingers flying over the keys. “I tried. But all it leads me to is the message. Nothing else. Whoever sent this is playing games.”

Matthew’s foot hit the floor with a heavy thud, now fully alert. “Do you know who it could be? Do you have any idea?”

Claire bit her lip, thinking it over. Her mind raced through possible suspects. Then something clicked, and her eyes narrowed. “Don’t tell me it’s that Eligos guy.”

Matthew went silent on the other end for a moment before speaking carefully, “Eligos? You sure? I mean, it could be anyone, especially since you’ve been posting on the hacker boards. You might’ve pissed off some random.”

Claire thought about it, gnawing on her lips as she considered his words. He wasn’t wrong, but something about this message felt personal. The way the hacker left that creepy little note—it just screamed Eligos.

He was always cryptic like that.

“Yeah, maybe.” she finally admitted. “But this feels like him. You know how he is, always leaving breadcrumbs, just to mess with me.”

Matthew sighed. “If it’s Eligos, you need to be careful. He’s not exactly someone to mess around with.”

“I know,” Claire muttered. She hated that he was right. Eligos wasn’t just another hacker. He was the kind who enjoyed toying with people, and if he had her in his sights now, that meant trouble. Big trouble.

Matthew’s voice softened, a bit of concern creeping in. “You want me to help track him down?”

“Nah,” Claire said, waving it off even though he couldn’t see her. “It looks like this guy’s targeting me. I’ll handle it.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll figure it out.” She drummed her fingers on the desk, deep in thought. “I’ll dig around for a while. See what I can find.”

Matthew was quiet for a beat, then, “Good luck, Claire.”

“Thanks. I’m gonna need it.”

And so, Claire dove into the digital abyss, her mind spinning with possibilities as she worked her way through every possible lead. For hours, she stayed glued to her setup, her fingers dancing across the keyboard in rapid-fire as she sifted through layer after layer of encrypted nonsense, trying to find any crack in the firewall of whoever sent the message.

But this wasn’t your average hacker firewall. It was like a digital labyrinth, and every time Claire thought she was making progress, another roadblock would spring up, taunting her. She cursed under her breath, leaning in closer to the screen.