Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 188 - I see she is falling for you

Voren stayed near the doorway, but his eyes never left her face. "Stanley would not stop insisting that he wanted to thank you personally," he revealed, Seraphine forced a small smile even though she still felt hollow inside.

Then she walked out of the office with Corvine beside her, both of them carrying the same exhaustion, the same grief, and the same silent determination that refused to let them give up.

As Stanley started speaking to Seraphine, Voren stepped closer to Corvine and lowered his voice.

"I see she is falling for you," he murmured, his tone carrying both curiosity and something sharper beneath it. "Why not just tell her how you feel?"

The second the words left his mouth, Voren felt something strange settle inside his chest.

It was an ugly feeling, tight, and uncomfortable. Something he could not explain.

Corvine looked at him for a moment before shaking his head.

"You are reading this wrong," he said quietly. "She almost died tonight thinking her daughter might have been in that place, and now she is walking away with nothing. The least I can do is be there for her. Nothing else matters right now."

Voren opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out because Corvine was right. Seraphine had trusted him for a reason and Corvine cared about her deeply, maybe more than he would ever admit, but even then, he still put her first.

her pain first, her healing, and her happiness, even if it meant ignoring his

like. Not possession, nor obsession. Not

wanting someone to be okay even

leaving behind an ache he did not know

hand. "Sera," he said, his voice full of gratitude and respect, "my superiors told me you refused to do an interview, but I still wanted to

politely, although the sadness lingering in her eyes remained, settling over her features like

sure they find their families," she said softly, her voice quiet but carrying enough weight to make everyone around her understand exactly how serious she

to stay because they have already been through more than enough pain for one

tightened painfully as the faces of the dead flashed through her mind all over again, refusing to leave her alone no matter how hard she

almost like the words slipped out before

not survived long enough to make it out of that place alive, too many bodies left behind because they had lost too much blood, suffered infections after organs had been taken from them

bodies could not survive it any longer, and every single memory only brought Santiago back into her mind all over again, standing at the center of every nightmare like the monster

all over the news now," Stanley said, trying his best to offer her some comfort even though there was very little anyone could say after everything they

but we are already working with local police, social services, and international organizations so we can make sure every child gets the help

looked distant, weighed down by everything she had learned and everything

exhausted in every possible