New beginning: Billionaire love story

Lisa sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the bandage on her wrist. It was all still a blur-the trial, the verdict, the decision to place her in a psychiatric ward.

She remembered the moment she purposely hurt herself, just to make the judge believe she was unstable. It worked, but now here she was, stuck in this place, pretending to be crazy. She wasn't crazy. Not at all. She was just... playing the game. But no one else saw it that way. She sighed, running her fingers over the bandage. At least she wasn't in jail. Small victories, right? But this? This wasn't exactly what she wanted either. Being in the psych ward wasn't any better. It wasn't freedom.

It was still a cage, just padded and with softer walls. Her mind drifted back to the trial, where Claire had glared at her from across the room. That face-oh, how Claire had hated her. The frown, the way Claire's eyes bore into her, it all made Lisa uncomfortable. Not because she was scared of Claire-no, it was because Lisa knew deep down that she had nothing left. Not even a satisfying smirk to throw back at Claire. The whole trial had been miserable. Lisa was supposed to be putting on an act, and acting crazy didn't leave much room for gloating.

Her mind wandered further, to the fallout with her mom. It wasn't just Claire who hated her now. Her relationship with her mother was broken, thanks to all of this. Because of Claire. Because of everything. And now? Now she was utterly alone. Well, except for Gretta. But Gretta was a strange kind of ally. A savior, maybe. But Lisa couldn't decide if Gretta counted as a friend. Or if she could trust her.

The sound of knocking on her door startled her, and Lisa jumped. Her heart raced as she looked up. A nurse peeked inside.

"You've got a visitor," the nurse said, her tone cautious, like Lisa was about to bite her or something.

Lisa's mind raced. A visitor? Who in the world would visit her? Panic shot through her. Claire. Oh God, what if it was Claire? Her stomach twisted, and her body felt cold at the thought.

But then, the door swung open fully, and it wasn't Claire. It was Gretta. Lisa exhaled deeply, a rush of relief washing over her. Of course, it wasn't Claire. It was Gretta.

The nurse gave Gretta a side glance. "Be careful with her. No one knows when she might... act up."noveldrama

Lisa clenched her fists under the bed covers, suppressing the urge to snap at the nurse. Act up? She wanted to hiss, but she bit her tongue. The last thing she needed was to blow Gretta's plan by losing her temper. She had to keep the act up. Keep playing the part. The nurse finally left, closing the door softly behind her. The moment the footsteps faded, Gretta pulled a chair over to the bed and sat down, crossing her legs like she had all the time in the world.

"How's life?" Gretta asked casually, as if Lisa wasn't sitting there in a psychiatric ward, pretending to be insane.

Lisa stared at her for a solid five minutes, waiting until she was absolutely sure the nurse had walked far enough away. Once the coast was clear, she dropped the crazy act and shot Gretta an annoyed glare.

"How long do I have to keep up this stupid charade?" Lisa hissed, her voice sharp but quiet.

Gretta chuckled, clearly amused. "Honestly, you're doing such a great job, I was starting to think you really had lost it."

Lisa rolled her eyes, leaning back against the headboard. "I don't have a choice. It was either this or jail, and jail wasn't an option."

Gretta raised an eyebrow, still smirking. "And you play the part so well. Almost convincing, if I didn't know any better."

Lisa groaned, running a hand through her hair. "How much longer do I have to do this? I'm losing my mind in here, and I'm not even actually crazy!"

Gretta's smirk faded a little, and she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "You have to play the part for a while longer. People can't be suspicious. If you break character now they'll throw you in jail faster than you can blink. I'll let you know when it's time."

Lisa sighed, looking up at the ceiling. She hated this. Every part of it. She didn't want to be here, didn't want to pretend anymore.

Lisa was still staring at Gretta with a frown etched on her face. The minutes ticking by slowly.

"When you say 'for a while longer," Lisa began, her tone edged with frustration, "how long are we talking here? Weeks? Months?"

Gretta leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "We're close. Very close. But if we pull the trigger too early, you'll end up behind bars, and neither of us wants that." Lisa groaned, falling back onto the bed. "This is torture."

Gretta chuckled softly, standing up. "Patience, darling. You've come this far. Don't ruin it now. I'll be in touch soon."

With that, Gretta turned on her heel and walked out, leaving Lisa alone with her thoughts.

Meanwhile, over at Metacortex, Matthew was pacing in the IT room, phone pressed to his ear. He'd just finished call with Claire, his mind still buzzing from the conversation. Something wasn't right, and

needed to figure out what was going

on.

He tapped a few keys on his laptop, pulling up the system that Claire had hacked into earlier at Cryptonic. He started typing in the code, just like Claire had shown him, his fingers flying over the keys. But then... nothing.

The screen went blank as the hack had never happened. It was as if no one had ever touched the system. Matthew frowned, sitting back in his chair. "What the hell?" he muttered to himself, typing furiously again, trying to bring it back. But every trace of the hack was gone. No sign of it anywhere.

He rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. "Great, just great. Claire is right. This person seems to be toying with us."

The IT team was busy with their

own tasks, barely paying attention to Matthew's growing annoyance. He slammed his laptop shut and stood up, pacing the small room. Claire had been so sure-so certain they'd find something. And now? It was like the whole thing had vanished into

thin air.

"I need all of you to be aware incase this kind of situation happens. And if it did, please notify Sandra so she can immediately inform Claire. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." They answer in unison as they get back to work,

He pulled out his phone and dialed Claire again, but it went straight to voicemail. Of course. She was busy, probably neck-deep in whatever chaos she was dealing with at Cryptonic.

Alexander ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. He had a feeling this was just the beginning of a much bigger problem. The hacking, the disappearing traces-it all pointed to something more. Something deeper. But for now? He was stuck waiting. And Matthew wasn't a man who liked to wait.