Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever-Chapter 135 – Do I look like I need your money?

Seraphine didn’t flinch at his words, didn’t even blink like they had landed anywhere close to where they were meant to hurt.

If anything, she looked almost untouched by them, like she had already measured the weight of harsher judgments long before this moment and decided none of them would ever define her.

Should she hand out chances just because someone admired her, or just because they claimed to care? That wasn’t how she saw the world.

Attraction came easily, naturally, like nectar drawing in bees without effort, but what came after that, depended entirely on the one receiving it, on how they chose to process it, shape it, turn it into something real or leave it as nothing more than a fleeting pull.

"If being heartless means I’m honest with you," she said calmly, her voice steady but edged with something sharper beneath the surface, "then yeah, I guess I am."

Her blue eyes held his, clear and almost innocent in appearance, but there was nothing soft about the truth sitting behind them.

"I could’ve lied to you," she continued, her tone even, almost conversational in a way that made the words hit harder, "I could’ve told you what you wanted to hear, kept you close, let you believe there was something there, and then crushed you later when it fell apart."

She tilted her head slightly, watching him closely now, like she was giving him space to really think about what she was saying.

"But I didn’t do that," she finished quietly. "So tell me, do you still think I’m heartless?"

Augustine let out a breath, slow and controlled, but there was frustration sitting just beneath it, something he couldn’t quite hide no matter how hard he tried.

"From a distance, you look gentle," he admitted, his gaze lingering on her like he was trying to reconcile two completely different versions of the same person. "But up close..."

He shook his head slightly, a faint, almost humorless smile curling his lips.

"I don’t even have the words to describe you."

Seraphine didn’t react to that, didn’t care enough to push further, because his opinion of her wasn’t what mattered right now. Her focus had already moved on, locked onto something far more important than how he chose to define her personality.

Time was ticking, and the window she was offering him wouldn’t stay open forever.

"So," she said, her tone drifting back to business without hesitation, "are you taking the opportunity or not?"

Augustine studied her in silence for a moment, not as the woman he had feelings for, but as someone stepping into a completely different arena.

He had always known her as a strong Luna, someone who could hold her ground in pack matters, someone who carried authority with ease, but the business world was something else entirely, a space that demanded a different kind of strategy, a different kind of instinct.

In that world, experience mattered, and whether he liked it or not, someone like Ravyn had more of it than she did. That thought alone made him hesitate, had him questioning whether this was something she was truly ready for.

"Do you already have people on board?" he asked finally, his tone more cautious now.

"I do," she replied, her answer measured, giving him just enough without revealing anything she didn’t want to. "But I’m not giving you names. I want you to decide based on trust, not influence."

He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair as he thought it over, weighing the risk against what he knew, and what he didn’t.

"I can give you fifty million," he said after a moment, his voice steady, "as a gift to help you get started."

There was a slight pause before he added, more firmly this time, "But as for investing, I’m good where I am."

The disappointment in her eyes was subtle, but it was there, flickering for just a second before she smoothed it over.

"So you don’t trust me," she said quietly, not accusing, just stating what felt obvious.

"I’m being honest," he replied, holding her gaze. "The business world isn’t as simple as you think it is. Fifty million is more than enough to start something like a clothing line or maybe a perfume brand."

He remembered how she had been searching for investment opportunities before, how she had even gone as far as getting involved with the Sovereign Circle, and if she was still pushing this hard now, then maybe things hadn’t gone the way she had planned. Maybe this was her trying to recover, to build something from whatever setbacks she had faced.

She accepted his offer, but not in the way he expected.

"Alright," she said, her tone calm, almost indifferent, like his refusal hadn’t switched anything important for her. "But don’t say I didn’t warn you."

She reached for her clutch as she spoke, already preparing to leave, moving on from the moment like it had served its purpose.

"I’ll send you an invitation when the company launches," she continued, her voice steady, "and you can direct your investment to the Stone Group." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"It’s not an investment," Augustine corrected her quickly. "It’s a gift."

She shook her head, a faint crease forming between her brows as if the idea didn’t sit right with her at all.

"Do I look like I need your money?" she asked, her tone sharper now, carrying a quiet pride that refused to be ignored. "I’m only making sure you don’t miss out on something big."

The confidence in her words threw him off balance, leaving him uncertain, unsure whether she was overestimating herself or if there was something he wasn’t seeing yet.

Before he could sort through it, ask the questions forming in his mind, she had already risen to her feet, her movements smooth, composed, and final.

"I have to go," she said, offering him a small, polite smile that didn’t linger. "It was good seeing you again, August."

The soft click of her heels echoed against the floor as she walked away, each step carrying her further from him without hesitation, without looking back.

Something tightened in his chest as he watched her go, a sudden discomfort settling in, pushing him to his feet before he could fully understand why.

"Sera, wait," he called out, moving after her, his pace quickening as the distance between them stretched just a little too far for comfort.

She didn’t stop, not even when he got closer, and then, just as he was about to speak, a voice cut through the moment, low, firm, and unmistakably possessive. "She’s my girlfriend."

The words hit like a sudden punch in gravity, and in that instant, Augustine’s entire world tilted.