Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 45 – Did you do this?

"My first wife died of cancer when Leon was just eleven," James said, his voice carrying that quiet, heavy weight of memory, the kind that settles deep in the chest and refuses to move no matter how much time passes.

Seraphine felt a pang in her chest, an unspoken ache that made her stomach tighten, and she murmured softly, "I’m sorry."

"No, it’s fine," James replied, shaking his head as if trying to cast the sorrow aside like a shadow he had learned to live with. "I waited five years before I married Mila, and don’t read her wrong.

She’s forty-two, and she’s been everything a man could ask for in these years we’ve had together. We struggled with childbirth until Tyler came along, but the difficulties, the heartbreak, the things that happened to Leon’s mother... all of that shaped him, gave him a passion, a fire for medicine that I’ve never seen in anyone else.

It started as a drive, something personal, but even he, with all his knowledge and determination, couldn’t find a remedy that truly mattered for Tyler’s condition, until you came along. That’s why he’s so fascinated by you."

Seraphine smiled softly, feeling a warmth in her chest that had nothing to do with the sun shining through the windows. "You have a beautiful family," she said, her words gentle, carrying an understanding that seemed to make the space around them quieter, almost sacred.

A few days later, after a quiet meal, Seraphine decided she needed a nap, the kind where the body sinks into the mattress and the mind hovers somewhere between consciousness and dream. But just as she began to drift, a knock on the door jolted her awake.

"Pete, Voren’s assistant, is asking to see you," Corvine announced, his voice carrying that faint edge of amusement that suggested he already knew she wouldn’t be thrilled.

a frown that contoured her otherwise perfect face. "Is that why you woke me?" she asked, her voice laced with sleepy

up his mess," she added, the sharpness in her tone slicing through the room

slammed the door before

she returned to her usual routine, trading for the Stone Group on the stock market,

Desmond ensured funds were available at a moment’s notice, but even that couldn’t contain the growing margins, which seemed to climb higher no matter how she

of numbers and screens, she stumbled upon Daisy’s message again, and an idea sparked, impulsive, thrilling, and

that familiar thrill of power at

to

discerned her actions so quickly was suspicious. Was

her side, even subtly, brought a sense of relief that loosened the tension in her shoulders. ’Great, I’ll clear every trace of our communication each time,’ she

awe and apprehension flickering across his face. "Sera, isn’t this too much?" he asked, the question almost trembling, though no real answer came from

if daring him to disagree. "If Daisy is comfortable with me watching it, then everyone else can, right?" she said, each

came out, the weight of her certainty pressing down too heavily

Nicole’s name flashed on the screen, and Seraphine’s expression softened as she answered, voice lighter now, more human, more alive. "Nicole,