Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever-Chapter 56 – I love that boy

Ravyn transferred the full amount without negotiating again, eleven billion in one clean motion, and he sat there watching the numbers on his screen shift like they were alive, his company’s valuation bleeding out in real time while his stock continued to plunge lower with every passing second.

This time, the investors did not stay silent or patient, because his phone started lighting up almost immediately, call after call stacking on top of each other, but Ravyn did not answer a single one of them as he leaned back slightly and watched Seraphine settle into work again like nothing extraordinary had just happened.

The phone kept vibrating against the table until one sound finally cut through the noise, a ringtone so specific and personal that his fingers stilled instantly.

"You know our love was meant to be, the kind of love that would last forever."

He did not need to check the screen to know it was Daisy, and when he picked up the call, Seraphine lifted a brow, not in jealousy or irritation, but in quiet amusement at how unexpectedly romantic Ravyn could be.

It struck her as ironic how carefully and gently he handled Daisy, but when it came to her, she was giving him the same treatment he used to give her when they were married. Coldness, and indifference.

"Daisy, are you okay?" Ravyn asked softly, his voice losing its sharp edges, turning light and careful, almost like a winter breeze brushing against thin ice.

On the other end, Daisy’s voice trembled as she spoke. "The video is gone. When I clicked it, the screen just turned black."

Ravyn released a long breath he had not realized he was holding. "Yeah, I’m with Seraphine right now. I had to pay her to take it down."

Daisy’s response was immediate, filled with panic. "Pay her? How much?"

"Eleven billion," Ravyn answered, his chest tightening as the words left him, though he forced a smile immediately, as if she could see it through the phone. "Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing. I’d do anything for you."

"Eleven billion... Seraphine is—"

"Don’t say anything yet," Ravyn cut in quickly, his eyes flicking toward Seraphine as unease crept into his gut. "We’ll talk when I get home."

He ended the call before Daisy could finish her thought, because fear gnawed at him, fear that Seraphine might decide she had not taken enough, or that she might change her mind just for the satisfaction of watching him break further.

Instead of reacting, Seraphine calmly lifted her phone and turned the screen toward him. "Everything connected to Daisy and that video is gone," she said evenly, her voice steady and cold, "but take this seriously, Ravyn, and make sure you warn her to stay far away from me, because if she makes even the smallest mistake, I will drag her through the mud in ways you will never be able to protect her from."

Seraphine never moved without warning anyone first, because she believed strikes meant nothing if they came without notice, and she always waited until her mercy was ignored before she destroyed someone completely.

Ravyn’s jaw tightened as he glared at her, his control slipping. "You can take all the money, the power, the skills, and whatever else you think makes you untouchable, but believe me when I say this, you will never have a man as powerful as me loving you the way I love Daisy."

Corvine shifted in his seat, every instinct screaming at him to step in, to challenge Ravyn, to tell him that he loved Seraphine and that she was worth more than any of his poisonous words, but he knew it would mean nothing.

His love would not repair Seraphine’s honor in Ravyn’s eyes, because Corvine did not sit among the top ten men on the Forbes list. His father was the rightful person and to take over the company would need some training.

Right now, he did not want to be away from Seraphine to do that, and those were the men Ravyn was talking about, the ones he believed defined power and worth.

Seraphine met Ravyn’s glare with an expression so neutral it was almost unsettling, because even though his words cut deeper than she wanted to admit, she absorbed the pain quietly and responded with a soft, controlled smile.

"How pathetic," she said calmly, "that the men you admire so much are still not powerful enough to handle a woman like me. You love Daisy because she flatters your ego with her emptiness, while I bring out the weaker parts of you, the man you will never have the courage to become, not even in a hundred years."

Ravyn stared at her, his chest rising and falling as rage and humiliation tangled together, because he wanted to say something cruel enough to break her completely, something sharper than the loss of her child, but Seraphine had already taught him a lesson he would never forget. He knew that if he pushed her any further, he would regret it in ways money could not fix.

Swallowing his anger, Ravyn stood abruptly and stormed out of the café like someone was chasing him, and the moment the door slammed shut behind him, Seraphine picked up her phone and called Damon.

"How are things?" she asked quietly.

"The video’s gone," Damon replied. "Daisy finally came out of her room after being locked inside for hours, but she went straight to the hospital. Bryan hasn’t been feeling well lately, so I’ve been trying to stay close to him."

"Bryan has less than two years left," Seraphine said calmly, and Damon’s breath caught on the other end.

"Oh no," he murmured. "I love that boy."

"I did too," Seraphine replied, her voice flat. "It’s only because of me that he lived this long, and I’ve already destroyed the tether that was keeping him alive."

"Really?" Damon asked, hesitating before adding, "One of the doctors, Raymond I think, created another one. He said it’s not as effective as yours, but it could hold until he finds a cure."

Seraphine let out a soft chuckle, one that carried no warmth. "No one else has the ingredients needed to make a real cure, and the tether I created could have kept Bryan alive indefinitely as long as he continued taking it. Raymond’s version might look like it’s working, but in a few months, it will leave Bryan completely paralyzed."

There was no emotion in her voice as she spoke, and that absence frightened Damon more than anger ever could. "He’s just a child," Damon said urgently. "I can help you fight his parents if that’s what it takes, but Sera, please don’t do this."

A single tear slid down Seraphine’s cheek, because she had loved Bryan as if he were her own, and in return, she had received rejection, silence, and indifference.

Even after everything she sacrificed, Bryan had turned away from her just like everyone else, because even a dog knew loyalty when it was fed, yet Bryan had treated her as if she meant nothing.

"He made his choice," Seraphine said quietly, "and I would have helped him if Ravyn and his mistress hadn’t killed my daughter."

"What?" Damon whispered.

"Now you know," Seraphine continued. "I need a favor."