Alpha's Regret: Losing His True Mate-Chapter 191

Liora glanced over at Dante, who was sitting quietly nearby, just watching them.

"Dad, I want to eat here. Can we get the food packed and brought up?"

Dante nodded. "Sure."

Liora’s face lit up. She stayed right where she was, curled up against Elodie.

Old Madam Miller and Nonna were deep in conversation now, catching up on everything.

Elodie sat quietly, chiming in every now and then but mostly just listening.

After a while, Liora shifted in her lap, looking up at her.

"Mom, when will you be done with work?"

Elodie didn’t want Old Madam Miller to overhear, so she carefully lifted Liora and moved them both over to the small couch by the window.

"I’m not sure, sweetheart," she said softly. "But honestly, I’ll probably be even busier soon."

Liora’s face fell. "What? But... when will you have time to take me skiing?"

She’d been holding onto that promise.

Elodie thought about it. "Next month, maybe."

"Really?"

"Yeah. When I know for sure, I’ll let you know."

"Okay!" Liora perked up again.

Then her eyes went wide like she’d just remembered something.

"Oh! Mom, were you shopping last night?"

Elodie hesitated for half a second. "Yeah."

"I knew it! So that really was you I saw!"

"Maybe," Elodie said quietly.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Dante watching them.

Liora kept talking, already moving on to the next thing. "Next time you’re free, can we go shopping together again? And go to the arcade? I wanna play bumper cars."

Elodie looked back at her daughter. "Okay."

Liora launched into more plans, but then Dante stood, walked over to the table, and picked up the glass Elodie had been drinking from earlier.

He poured out the cold water, refilled it with warm, and set it down on the coffee table in front of her.

Elodie glanced at it. "Thanks."

Dante nodded. "No problem."

Then he sat down on the couch across from them.

Old Madam Miller and Nonna were still chatting away, but when Nonna glanced over and saw the three of them sitting there... Dante, Elodie, and Liora... she stopped mid-sentence.

Old Madam Miller followed her gaze. Didn’t react. Just turned back and kept talking.

Nonna let out a long sigh. "You know—"

"They’ve made their decision," Old Madam Miller said gently. "We shouldn’t force them."

Nonna sighed again, deeper this time.

A little while later, there was a knock at the door. The food Dante had ordered arrived.

It was a lot. Way too much for just two people.

Dante turned to Elodie. "Let’s eat together."

Elodie looked at the spread laid out on the table.

Half the dishes were things she liked.

And Dante had made sure to put them on her side of the table.

Then he turned to Liora. "Go tell your great-grandma to come eat."

"Okay!"

Liora hopped off Elodie’s lap and ran over to tug on Old Madam Miller’s hand.

Nonna waved them over too. "Come on, eat a little. Otherwise I’ll feel terrible asking you to come back tomorrow."

Old Madam Miller had no choice. She got up and joined them at the table.

When she sat down and saw that all the dishes in front of Elodie were ones she liked, she paused. Glanced at Dante.

Elodie stayed calm.

It wasn’t surprising. Dante had a good memory. Remembering what she liked to eat wasn’t some grand gesture.

He’d probably just ordered all this to thank them for visiting Nonna. That’s all it was.

After dinner, Elodie and Old Madam Miller stayed for another hour or so before getting ready to leave.

It was getting late. Nonna didn’t try to keep them. She turned to Dante.

"You and Liora should head home too."

"I’ll come see you in the morning," Dante said.

Elodie, Dante, and the others all left together.

In the elevator, Dante glanced at Elodie. "Did you drive yourself?"

"Yeah."

He didn’t say anything else.

But Liora, who’d been quiet, suddenly perked up.

"Mom, are you not going home tonight?"

Elodie shook her head. "I’m taking Grandma back to her place. I’m staying there tonight."

"I wanna stay at Grandma’s too!"

Even though Liora was closer to Dante now, in Old Madam Miller’s eyes, she’d always be Elodie’s daughter.

Before Elodie could respond, Old Madam Miller smiled warmly. "Of course you can, sweetheart."

Elodie didn’t want to refuse after that. But she did point out the obvious problem. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"You don’t have any clothes at Grandma’s house."

Before Liora had gone overseas with Dante, she used to visit the Miller house all the time. Back then, half the closet in Elodie’s old room had been full of clothes that she and Aunt Helen had bought for her.

But over the past two years, Liora hadn’t been back much. And she’d grown so fast. There weren’t any clothes that would fit her anymore.

"Oh..." Liora’s face fell. "Then—"

Dante cut in. "I’ll have someone bring some over."

______________

Elodie’s POV ~

I hesitated for a second but didn’t argue.

Liora, on the other hand, was thrilled.

"Yay! I get to sleep with you tonight, Mom!"

After we left the hospital, Liora practically bounced into my car while Dante walked over to his to grab her backpack.

He handed it through the window. Liora took it with a huge grin.

"Thanks, Dad!"

Dante ruffled her hair, then his eyes shifted toward me in the driver’s seat.

I didn’t look back.

"Say goodbye to your dad," I told Liora.

"Bye, Dad!"

"Goodbye," he said.

I rolled up the window, turned the wheel, and drove off.

---

By the time we got to Grandma’s house, Liora’s clothes had already been delivered.

She bolted upstairs the second we walked in.

Grandma looked at me, her expression soft. "He’s not keeping her from you. That’s something, at least."

I knew what she meant. She’d been worried that since Dante had custody, he might try to cut me out. Make it harder for me to see Liora. And if that happened, over time, the distance between us would only grow.

That would’ve destroyed me.

I didn’t feel like getting into it, so I just nodded. "Yeah."

Then I told her to get some rest and headed upstairs myself.

---

The next morning, we were all downstairs having breakfast when the security office called.

There was a visitor.

I glanced out the window and saw Dante’s car.

Liora ran over to look. "Oh! It’s Dad! Mom, let him in!"

I looked down at my plate. "Okay."

Everyone at the table had heard. The moment they realized Dante was here, the room went quiet. But with Liora right there, nobody asked why.

A few minutes later, he pulled up.

I walked outside to meet him.

"Are you here to pick up Grandma?"

"Yeah."

I nodded. "Give me a minute."

"Sure."

He stayed by the car and didn’t get out.

It took Grandma more than ten minutes to come down.

When she finally did, Dante got out and opened the door for her.

Liora was getting ready to leave for school too. She waved at him from the doorway.

"Bye, Dad!"

"Bye," he said. Then he exchanged a few polite words with me and the rest of the family before getting back in his car and driving off.

I grabbed my keys and drove Liora to school.