Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 183 – The woman you underestimated

Santiago frowned the second everything finally began falling into place because he now understood that Seraphine had been working with Voren from the very beginning, and the realization hit him harder than any punch ever could.

Even then, he refused to believe he had already lost because this fortress belonged to him, every room inside it had been built for his protection, and there were still loyal men hidden throughout the property.

If he managed to get rid of Voren, then he could still stop the bomb, protect what remained of his operation, and disappear before the authorities could reach him. If that failed, then he would escape to one of his other fortresses farther away, where he could rebuild everything all over again.

"You talk just like her," Santiago said while forcing himself to stand straighter despite the pain running through his body. "But I do not think this is the end for me. Guards!"

His voice echoed through the room, but nobody came.

Voren let out a low chuckle, and somehow that sound felt more insulting than if he had laughed in Santiago’s face.

"Seriously?" Voren asked while looking at him with cold amusement. "You still do not understand what is happening here? Most of your men are already dead, the few still alive are either being arrested or dragged away for questioning, and every hostage you kept locked up has already been rescued."

For the first time since this nightmare started, Santiago felt something dangerously close to fear crawl into his chest.

All of this had happened because of one woman. Seraphine.

She walked into his fortress, tore his empire apart from the inside, destroyed the system he spent years building, and turned everything he owned into ashes.

Voren stepped closer, his voice calm, but every word landed like a knife.

"The woman you underestimated hacked into your system, stole every file you were hiding, and collected all the evidence anyone could ever need against you. She got the videos, the casino transactions, the recordings, the money trails, and probably everything connected to your other locations too. Your remaining fortresses will be shut down soon enough, and with the amount of evidence against you, life in prison is the best outcome you can hope for."

was speaking, Voren found himself hoping Seraphine’s daughter had been among the hostages rescued from the

and the thought of

the pain in

toward Voren. "I will kill you, find that bitch, and harvest her organs with my own

made the move and aimed for

stumble backward, but he felt

moment Santiago tried to get up, Voren kicked him hard enough to send him crashing

wanted to do this for a long time," Voren said, his breathing

before he could strike again, yanking hard enough to pull him off balance, and for a second both of them crashed

top of him, but Voren rolled first, pinning him down

no control left in the way Voren had him pinned,

carried weeks of anger, frustration, helplessness, and rage that had been building since the moment Seraphine

Santiago’s face, his bones

point, Voren stopped seeing him as a man and started seeing him as every

last time he had beaten someone this badly because by the time

would have killed him but let him live for only one reason. For Santiago to answer for all

him that there was less than a minute left before the bomb

window. There was no time to use the stairs,

the room, his gaze landed on one of Seraphine’s

it gave him an idea immediately. He grabbed the shoe and threw it toward the French window, making sure the