Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 97 - I have no breath to waste on someone like you

Ravyn felt the trap closing around him almost the moment the question left Seraphine’s mouth, because the danger hidden inside that seemingly simple challenge became painfully obvious the instant he began considering what would happen if he answered it the wrong way.

He understood very clearly that repeating the threat he had made earlier about cutting off business ties would not intimidate anyone sitting in this room the way he had once believed it might, because the investors gathered inside the private club possessed enough power and influence to retaliate in ways that could destroy Walker Global Enterprise before he even had time to react.

If those powerful figures chose to withdraw their investments together, the consequences would crash into the company’s stock value with ruthless speed, sending prices spiraling downward while Ravyn stood there forced to watch years of careful expansion and relentless ambition crumble in front of a room filled with witnesses.

A thin, controlled smile slowly appeared on Ravyn’s face as he leaned back in his chair, forcing an appearance of calm confidence that did not match the storm building inside his mind, because his pride refused to allow the slightest hint of vulnerability to appear even while the ground beneath his authority felt dangerously unstable.

"You know what," Ravyn said after a moment of tense silence while keeping that rigid smile in place, "I think I just changed my mind, so let’s see how this stupid game of yours actually works."

A quiet breath escaped Voren the instant he heard those words, because at least Ravyn had enough intelligence to step back from the cliff he had nearly thrown himself over before the situation reached a point where recovery would become impossible.

Before Seraphine could respond to Ravyn’s reluctant acceptance, a voice rose from across the room with sudden clarity that sliced through the low murmur of the gathered crowd.

"Thirty billion."

The amount hung in the air like a gauntlet thrown across the floor, and Seraphine released a soft chuckle the instant she recognized the man behind the offer.

toward him as she dismissed the proposal

carried across the room with unmistakable firmness. "I told you earlier that even if you begged me, I would never

not the slightest possibility that she would step back from that position, because Gray had made his choices long ago

other side of the room, warm and confident in a way that made it sound as though Gray found the entire situation

replied with casual amusement coloring his voice. "Before we walk out of this room today,

confidence came from the fact that he had no intention of playing fairly, because unlike Ravyn, Gray had already decided that winning mattered

answered him without hesitation, her tone cool enough to cut through the

to waste on

words that no one else in the room could hear, and the man responded immediately by rising from

the man announced

because the man now standing near Gray’s

displayed during previous encounters, his conduct toward women had never been particularly respectful either, and the only real difference between the two men rested in the fact that Riven disguised his arrogance behind polished manners and

him, Seraphine remembered

happened to be one of Ravyn and Gray’s closest associates, which made his sudden interest feel less like a genuine investment opportunity and more like another

after a brief pause, her voice polite