New beginning: Billionaire love story

"Excuse me," Claire said, her voice icy. "What did you just call me?"

The woman, who had crossed her arms over her chest in a way that screamed arrogance, met Claire's gaze without flinching. "You heard me," she retorted, her tone dripping with disdain.

Claire felt a headache forming. Of all the ways her morning could go wrong, this wasn't even on the list. She stared back at the woman, her eyes narrowing. "And what exactly is the reason you felt the need to call me that?" Claire asked, her patience wearing thin. The woman rolled her eyes and huffed as if she couldn't believe she had to explain herself. "You stole my best friend's boyfriend," she snapped her expression a mixture of irritation and accusation.

For a moment, Claire was too shocked to respond. Stolen a boyfriend? Who even says that?

"What?" Claire finally managed to say. "I didn't steal anything, let alone someone's boyfriend. You must have me confused with someone else."

The woman frowned, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinized Claire more closely. "Aren't you Claire Peterson?" she asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice.

Claire nodded slowly, still trying to wrap her head around the accusation. "Yes, I am, but-"

"Then I'm not wrong," the woman cut her off, her tone resolute.

Claire was still utterly puzzled by the whole situation. "Look," she said, raising a hand in a plea for clarity, "why don't you start from the beginning and explain this to me?"

The woman sighed heavily, as if this was all a great inconvenience to her, and then began, "You stole Lisa's boyfriend, Alex. That's why I called you a bitch."

That was the last thing Claire had expected to hear, and she couldn't help it-she burst out laughing. The sheer absurdity of the accusation was too much.

The woman's face flushed with anger. "What's so funny?" she demanded, looking as if she might throw something at Claire next

Claire took a moment to catch her breath and then gave the woman a good, long look. That's when it clicked. She remembered the woman's face from that one time she had accidentally bumped into Lisa at a cafe. This must be one of Lisa's friends, though Claire couldn't recall her name.

"Wait a second," Claire said, crossing her arms over her chest in a mirror image of the woman's stance. "You're one of Lisa's friends, aren't you?"

The woman nodded, though her expression was more irritated than before.

Claire couldn't help but scoff. This was ridiculous. Turning to the bakery staff, she offered a quick apology. "Sorry about the mess," she said with a small, apologetic smile.

The staff member just nodded, offering a polite, "It's fine."

Claire returned her attention to the woman, her demeanor shifting from slightly amused to downright icy. "I don't have time to waste on Lisa's minions," she said sharply.

She made to walk away, feeling like this encounter had already taken up too much of her time. But before she could take more than a few steps, the woman grabbed her wrist. Claire immediately yanked her arm back, her glare intense enough to freeze lava. "Don't touch me," she warned, her voice dangerously low.

The woman looked a bit startled but quickly recovered. "Why did you steal Alex from Lisa?" she pressed, clearly not ready to drop the subject.

Claire let out an exasperated sigh. "I didn't steal anyone," she repeated, more firmly this time. "Lisa is lying to you. What's your name again?" "Kayla," the woman said, frowning. "We met at the cafe."

Claire nodded slightly, now fully remembering the encounter. "Well, Kayla," she continued, "what Lisa told you is a complete lie."

Kayla's frown deepened, her confusion evident. Claire wasn't stammering or even batting an eye. She was dead serious. "How do I know you're not the one lying?" Kayla challenged, though there was a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

Claire rolled her eyes, clearly done with the conversation. "Frankly, I don't care what you think," she said coldly. "You've already ruined my day."

She turned to leave once more, but Kayla stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "Wait," Kayla said, her tone a bit softer now. "What do you know about Lisa?"

Claire paused, glancing at Kayla with a raised eyebrow. A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You really want to know the truth about your precious Lisa?" she asked, her tone almost playful.

Kayla hesitated but then nodded. "Yes, I want to know."

Claire's smirk widened as she leaned in slightly, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Just don't get mad when you hear the truth."

.....

The next day, Lisa found herself back at her workplace after months of being away. As she sat on the crowded bus, she couldn't believe she was actually on her way to work. Her once-comfortable life had taken a turn, and she knew exactly who to blame-Claire. If it weren't for Claire, she wouldn't be squished between a sweaty guy with questionable hygiene and a woman who was practically yelling into her phone.

"Stupid Claire," Lisa muttered under her breath, gripping the metal bar so hard her knuckles turned white. "This is all her fault." She was so close to pulling her hair out right there on the bus.

As she approached her office building, she passed on what she hoped was a sweet, innocent smile. "Fake it till you make it," she reminded herself.

She stepped into the elevator,

pressing the button for her floor with

more force than necessary. As the elevator doors opened, she was hit with an unsettling wave of stares Her colleagues were all staring at her as if she had done something scandalous, like, say, sleeping with the CEO. People whispered behind their hands, their eyes darting away whenever she looked at them.

Lisa's stomach did a nervous flip. Did she have something on her face? Was there a rogue piece of breakfast clinging to her teeth? She hurried to her desk, fumbling for her compact mirror. She inspected her face closely. Nope, no toothpaste smears, no mascara disasters. So, what was with the staring?

She barely had time to stew in her paranoia before Kayla appeared at her desk, eyebrows raised in that trademark judgmental way. "Well, well, well, look who decided to show up," Kayla said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Lisa forced a smile, one she hoped looked natural. "Yeah, I'm back. Anyway, what's with the staring?" a confused look crossed her face.

Kayla leaned against Lisa's desk. "Everyone's just surprised, that's all. Don't mind them."

Lisa's eyes flicked around the room. "Surprised? That's one way to put it," she thought. Out loud, she asked, "Are you sure there isn't something on my face?"

Kayla waved her hand dismissively. "You're fine. They're probably just curious about where you've been. Let's grab lunch later, yeah?"

Lisa nodded, trying to hide her discomfort. "Sure, sounds good."

As Kayla walked away, Lisa turned back to her computer, trying to dive into work. Except... she had no idea what she was doing. The tasks that used to be second nature now felt like a foreign language. She stared at the screen, then at the papers on her desk, trying to piece together how to do her job.

Every few minutes, her eyes would drift to her phone. She scrolled through X, her feed filled with glamorous women living lives she could only dream of. There they were, jetting off to Paris, sipping lattes in Milan, all while their boyfriends paid for everything.

She stumbled across a photo of

Claire-of course, it had to be Claire-leaving a Chanel boutique, bags in hand, a hired helper trailing behind her. The envy bubbled up inside her like a volcano ready to erupt. That was supposed to be her life. Luxurious, and carefree, with people to carry her shopping bags.

Just as she was about to lose herself in another spiral of jealousy, a knock on her cubicle wall startled her back to reality. It was Kayla, grinning. "Ready for lunch?"

Lisa plastered on her best smile. "Yeah, let's go."

The two of them walked to the cafeteria, where Lisa couldn't shake the feeling that everyone was staring at her again. She tried to keep her head high, to pretend that the whispers didn't bother her. But inside, she was screaming. What was their problem?

They got in line for food as they took

their order, Without warning, Kayla's foot shot out, catching Lisa's ankle. It was like slow motion-Lisa felt herself losing balance, the tray slipping from her hands. Food went flying, splattering across the floor and all over her dress. She landed

oogel.ne

with a thud, right in the middle of the

mess.

The cafeteria, which had been buzzing with chatter, went dead silent. All eyes were on Lisa, her dress covered in what used to be her lunch. She looked up at Kayla, a disbelief look etched on her face. "Why did you do that?"