Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever-Chapter 128 – I Am Not Your Servant

A faint frown creased Seraphine’s face the moment Corvine mentioned Voren again, the reaction so subtle that most people would have missed it, but the mere thought of dealing with a man as manipulative, cold, and emotionally distant as Voren immediately stirred a quiet resistance inside her because the last few encounters with him had already proven how exhausting his games could be.

"No," she replied after a moment, her tone calm yet firm while she leaned back against the seat of the car, clearly unwilling to entertain the idea any further. "Just deal with his assistant, Pete, because that boy at least sounds reasonable."

Corvine nodded without arguing, understanding very well why Seraphine would prefer to avoid direct contact with Voren if it was at all possible, especially considering how unpredictable the man could be whenever business negotiations began to involve personal interest.

While Corvine placed the call, Seraphine allowed her eyes to close as the quiet movement of the car and the lingering fatigue in her body gradually pulled her into a light sleep, her breathing becoming slow and steady while Corvine focused on discussing the proposal in careful detail with Pete on the other end of the line.

By the time Corvine had finished explaining everything regarding the rental arrangement they wanted, Pete responded in a professional but slightly cautious tone that suggested he needed approval before anything could move forward.

"I’ll talk to my boss and get back to you," Pete said before ending the call.

Corvine placed his phone aside and continued driving toward the mansion, the silence inside the car stretching comfortably as Seraphine remained asleep, her head tilted slightly against the seat while the afternoon sun filtered softly through the tinted windows.

Not long after Corvine pulled into the long driveway of the mansion and slowed the car to a stop, the ringing of his phone broke the quiet, the sharp sound instantly stirring Seraphine from her light sleep as her eyes opened slowly while she tried to regain her bearings.

Corvine glanced down at the screen and immediately saw Pete’s name flashing there, so he answered the call without hesitation while placing the car in park. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Have you come to an agreement?" Corvine asked directly, already expecting some kind of response after the earlier discussion.

On the other end of the line, Pete hesitated for a moment as if choosing his words carefully before finally delivering the message that clearly did not originate from him.

"My boss says your boss should call him directly for the negotiation."

Corvine’s lips pressed together in mild irritation the moment those words left Pete’s mouth because he had a strong feeling this request came entirely from Voren’s need for control rather than any real business necessity.

Turning slightly in his seat, Corvine looked at Seraphine and relayed the message in a calm but slightly displeased voice.

"Voren wants you to call him."

Seraphine leaned back against the seat as she listened, her eyes narrowing slightly because the request confirmed what she had already suspected from the beginning, which was that Voren rarely involved himself in matters like this unless he had something else in mind.

Fortunately for her, she did not even have his number saved on her phone, and that fact immediately gave her a small piece of leverage.

"I don’t have his number," she said plainly.

Pete had clearly heard her voice through the phone because his response came quickly from the other end of the call.

"Yeah, he told me to give her his private number," Pete explained in a slightly awkward tone, almost as if he felt the need to clarify his boss’s intentions. "But don’t get it wrong because he just wants to make sure his investment is put to good use."

Corvine let out a quiet breath of relief after hearing that explanation because, from his perspective, the arrangement at least sounded somewhat reasonable if Voren truly intended to treat it as an investment.

He repeated Pete’s words to Seraphine and then handed her the phone after the number had been passed along.

Seraphine wasted no time dialing the number because she knew that delaying the conversation would only give Voren another excuse to create unnecessary complications, and the call barely rang once before the line connected.

"Sera, what’s the plan?" Voren’s voice came through immediately, his tone smooth and confident as though he had been expecting her call all along.

A faint smile appeared on Seraphine’s lips, although the expression carried a bitterness that did not quite reach her eyes.

"You seem to already have my number saved on your phone," she said calmly, her voice carrying a quiet edge of sarcasm. "You could have just called me."

On the other end of the line, Voren sounded almost amused, as if he found the situation entertaining rather than inconvenient.

"Well," he replied casually, "the borrower is servant to the lender."

Seraphine’s jaw tightened instantly as those words reached her ears, and the irritation she felt rose sharply enough that she had to force herself to remain composed.

"I am not your servant," she responded through clenched teeth, her voice firm despite the anger beneath it.

Voren chuckled softly at her reaction, clearly enjoying the tension he had created.

"But you need my help," he continued smoothly, his tone carrying the quiet arrogance of someone who believed he held all the power. "And that makes you a servant to me, the lender."

Seraphine closed her eyes for a brief moment while taking a steady breath, refusing to allow his words to provoke the kind of reaction he was clearly hoping for.

"I’m not borrowing money from you," she corrected him calmly. "I want to rent the space because constructing a main office building would take far too long, and I cannot afford to wait years before the business becomes operational."

For several seconds there was silence on the line, the kind of pause that suggested Voren was thinking carefully about something.

When he finally spoke again, his voice carried a thoughtful tone that immediately made Seraphine suspicious.

"What if I give you the space free for the first three months," Voren proposed slowly, "and once your company begins making a profit, you start paying the normal rent after that."

Seraphine’s lips curved into another smile when she heard the offer, although once again the expression failed to reach her eyes because she knew Voren far too well to believe that such generosity came without hidden conditions.

"What’s the bait?" she asked directly, her voice calm but serious because experience had already taught her that Voren never offered anything without expecting something far more valuable in return.