Alpha's Regret: Losing His True Mate-Chapter 47

Elodie’s POV~

Sherry was beautiful, effortlessly so. The kind of girl whose perfume lingered in the air long after she passed, whose smile looked trained, practiced, but disarming all the same. She was wearing head-to-toe designer, a cream silk blouse tucked neatly into a pencil skirt, her heels clicking confidently across the marble floors of Bellini Holdings.

When she approached my desk, her hand was already outstretched, her tone bright and friendly. “Hi, you must be Elodie! I’m Sherry. It’s such an honor to work with you, please guide me well in the next few days.”

Her voice was bright, practiced, too eager. I stood, returning her handshake, polite but detached. “You’re too polite,” I murmured, forcing a smile. “Welcome to the team.”

She nodded quickly, her eyes sweeping over me like she was trying to figure me out. It wasn’t rude, but it was observant, too observant. “I just graduated from T University with my master’s degree,” she said proudly, straightening her skirt. “What about you, Elodie? Where did you study?”

Something in me stilled. I could’ve told her. I could’ve said the name of the prestigious university but I didn’t. They decided to employ someone with little or no work experience to become my replacement. So I only smiled faintly and said, “Welcome aboard.”

Her brows flickered in confusion, and she laughed awkwardly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Oh well, I guess experience is the best education, huh?”

I didn’t answer that. Instead, I turned toward my screen, aligning the files that didn’t need aligning. “Sherry, we have a meeting in five minutes. Let’s go through the agenda.”

“Ah!” she gasped lightly, “Right, the meeting! Look at me, already forgetting the important things.” Her laughter was soft and charming. The kind that filled a room easily. I remembered when I used to laugh like that. Before everything became a careful silence.

We walked together to the conference room. She leaned toward me suddenly, her voice low and teasing. “Tell me something, Elodie... is it true what everyone says about Alpha Dante? That he’s unbelievably handsome?”

My chest tightened before I could stop it. My expression didn’t change. “He is,” I said simply.

Her eyes widened, the corners of her lips curling into a grin. “I knew it. Ugh, you’re so lucky to see him every day. I’d probably faint if he even looked at me.”

Lucky.

If only she knew that being near him was not a privilege, it was a slow undoing. That every day I stood in front of him, pretending to be nothing more than his employee, while my heart remembered the way he used to whisper my name like it was a vow.

But I didn’t say any of that. I just nodded and pushed open the glass doors to the meeting room.

⸻

By noon, Sherry suggested we eat together at the cafeteria. I wanted to refuse, my appetite had been gone for months but I didn’t want to seem distant. So I went.

She talked through most of lunch, her voice full of energy and plans. About her goals, her professors, her dreams of one day earning the Alpha’s recognition. I listened quietly, my fork moving food around my plate but never quite lifting it.

Then my phone buzzed. It was an alarm reminder that daily reminded me to call Liora. It’s become a daily habit for me.

“Excuse me,” I murmured, already reaching for it.

Sherry grinned mischievously. “Ooh, who’s calling? Your boyfriend?”

I gave her a small, tired smile. “My daughter.”

Her eyes widened. “Your daughter? Wait... you’re married?”

“Yes,” I said softly. The word came out like a confession instead of a fact.

“Oh wow!” she laughed. “You don’t look old enough to have a kid. That’s so cool, though!”

But I wasn’t listening anymore. I’d already swiped the call option.

_______

On the other side, Liora was video calling with Sienna, her small face glowing under the soft screen light. Dante sat beside Sienna, his expression unreadable, his dark suit pressed and perfect, every movement of his controlled like he always was.

When Liora saw them together, her little lips curved downward in a pout. “You’re both mean! You went to eat without me again.”

Sienna laughed softly, her voice warm, patient. “That’s because you were at school, sweetheart. After class, Auntie will pick you up, and we’ll have dinner together later, alright?”

Liora tilted her head, thinking, then gave a tiny nod. “Hmm... that’s better.”

Dante glanced toward her, his gaze softening for just a second. He reached across the table, setting down his knife and fork before picking up a small plate of roasted salmon, cutting a piece, and offering it to Sienna. “Tell me what you want for dinner, Liora. I’ll have the kitchen prepare it.”

Liora’s pout vanished, replaced with a beam of excitement as she began to list every food she could think of, pasta, risotto, sweet buns, and that honey dessert she loved. Dante just listened quietly, his tone distant but gentle, the way a man spoke when his mind was somewhere else but he still wanted to appear present.

Sienna smiled through it, her hand resting against her cheek. “You look so pretty today, Liora. That little blue dress suits you perfectly.”

“Really?” the girl asked, twirling slightly so her dress flared on the camera.

“Of course,” Sienna said, eyes glimmering with a kind of warmth that could fool anyone watching.

For a few moments, everything looked peaceful, almost perfect. The three of them sitting there, sunlight spilling through the wide glass windows of the private restaurant. The waiter who came to serve their wine hesitated, stealing a glance their way. In his eyes, they looked like a family, an Alpha, his mate, and their bright-eyed daughter. He even smiled softly before leaving them alone.

_______________

At that moment, Liora stared down at the glowing tablet screen, her small fingers hesitating over the “answer” button.

Elodie’s name blinked again. Another video call.

It was the same call her mother had promised that morning before the Alpha meeting, she had said she’d call during lunch, said she missed her little girl’s face, said she’d make it up to her. But now, Liora didn’t feel like answering. Not anymore.

She was sitting on the padded rug of the children’s lounge, legs folded, her tiny face tilted toward the floating screen in front of her where Sienna’s warm smile filled the frame. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“Sweetheart, are you sure you don’t want to answer your mommy’s call?” the teacher, Miss Lorna, asked gently from across the room.

Liora glanced up briefly, then shook her head. “I’m talking to Auntie Sienna right now,” she said, her tone careful, almost too calm for a child her age. “I’ll call Mommy later.”

But She wasn’t sure she wanted to.

Because this morning, before class, she’d seen Elodie holding another girl close against her chest. And Liora had just stood there, frozen in the doorway of the office, her small hands clutching her school bag so tightly her knuckles turned white.

And something inside her, something fragile cracked.

During class, when the teacher said, “Every mother’s heart has a space only her child can fill, no one else can replace it,” Liora had wanted to believe it. She’d even smiled, a small, hopeful kind of smile. Maybe Mommy still loved her like before. Maybe she was still her special girl.