Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever-Chapter 26 – are you planning to go beg her to come back?

There was a brief, unsettling silence at the other end of the line before Kevin finally spoke.

"It started when Marjorie withdrew her shares," he said carefully. "I don’t have concrete proof yet, but all signs point to her reinvesting with our competitors. It’s... it’s hitting us hard. Our finances are taking a real beating."

Ravyn’s grip tightened around his phone until his knuckles turned white, the plastic creaking faintly under the pressure. His jaw locked. Just as he had suspected, Seraphine, again.

This was indeed not something Kevin could handle because it was a personal matter between him and his ex-wife, the girl who used to look at him like he was his world.

The last time they met, she seemed like a completely different person, staring at him like she could take his very life in the next moment. "I’ll see you tomorrow," he said coldly.

He was about to end the call when something nagged at him. "Wait, what about her? Is she partnering with anyone?"

Kevin let out a short, humorless chuckle. "From what I’ve heard? No one wants to form any alliance with her, but she’s still causing us losses.

Mr. Ashkael circulated the information to the Sovereign Circle members. You should’ve received it too... didn’t you?"

The Sovereign Circle was an exclusive enclave reserved for the unimaginably wealthy and powerful, accessible only by invitation.

Every member was required to be worth no less than a hundred billion, no exceptions. It was a club Ravyn himself had helped build and yet, he hadn’t received the message.

A chill crept down his spine. If the information had bypassed him, there was only one explanation. "Tell me," Ravyn said quietly, dread seeping into his voice despite his effort to control it, "what are we worth now?"

Kevin exhaled. "After the initial withdrawal, we were sitting at one hundred and thirty billion. But profits started dropping fast. Right now... we’re hovering at ninety-nine point five billion."

For a split second, Ravyn couldn’t breathe. Ninety-nine point five.

They had lost thirty-five billion in one brutal blow, the result of a single shareholder pulling out. His ex-wife, and now, because he was five hundred million short of the qualification line, he had been silently expelled from the Sovereign Circle.

The irony tasted bitter. His first instinct was to call Voren. They had been pioneers of the Circle together. Ravyn could still remember the meeting vividly.

Voren suggesting the minimum net worth be lowered to eighty billion, arguing it would stabilize membership during volatile economic periods.

Ravyn had refused. A hundred billion, he had insisted, was a fair line. A necessary pressure point to ensure excellence, discipline, and relentless growth.

Voren hadn’t argued further. The proposal Ravyn initiated had later been written into the Circle’s laws exactly as Ravyn wanted it, and now, that same law had come back to haunt him.

Calling Voren to amend it now would be nothing short of bias. Worse—hypocrisy. The shame burned too deeply. "Alright," Ravyn said tightly. "I’ll handle everything when I get there."

If he didn’t act fast, the profits would keep bleeding out. When the call ended, Damon stepped closer, his expression alert. "Alpha... is everything alright in the city?"

Ravyn straightened, forcing his shoulders back and pulling a practiced smile onto his face. "Not really," he admitted. Then, after a pause, "Can you handle the pack while I’m gone?"

He exhaled sharply, adding, "I know it’s already too late to ask."

Damon’s response was calm, measured. "Don’t worry, Alpha. Just introduce me properly, and I’ll take over from where you left off."

There was something about the faint smile that lingered on Damon’s lips that made Ravyn pause but he pushed the feeling aside. He stepped away and dialed another number.

His father answered on the third ring. "Ravyn? Why are you calling?"

A bitter smile tugged at Ravyn’s mouth. "Why didn’t you tell me Seraphine owned thirty-five percent of the company?"

Silence. Then Humphrey asked slowly, "She did?"

Ravyn’s fingers curled into a fist. "Dad. I won’t believe you didn’t know."

"I did," Humphrey admitted after a moment. "But honestly, I forgot. From what I remember, she was quietly reinvesting everything she earned from her side jobs into the company, trying to help you thrive. And all you ever gave her in return was distance, cold shoulders."

He paused. "Why? Are you saying you wouldn’t have divorced her if you’d known?" Ravyn frowned deeply. "No. I would’ve just planned better. This blindsided me. I wasn’t prepared, and now it’s affecting the company."

"So?" his father asked, entirely unruffled.

Ravyn swallowed. "Dad... you have savings, you and Mom, a few billion at least. Why don’t you help me out? The company is ours to begin with."

The silence that followed was heavier this time. Finally, Humphrey spoke. "We already invested everything we had with our daughter. We believe she’ll do wonders with it."

Ravyn’s control snapped. "What?" he shouted. "How could you? I knew it. She’s nothing but a gold-digger—"

"Enough!" Humphrey snapped sharply. "Your mother and I decided to give Seraphine that money because you refused her alimony. Don’t forget that you owe her fifty percent of all you own and yet, she wouldn’t accept it as a gift, so we invested it instead, and she made us sign a proper agreement." His voice hardened. "See? Your sister is nothing like you."

"She’s not my fucking sister!" Ravyn roared. He hurled the phone across the room with Alpha strength. It shattered violently against the wall, pieces scattering across the floor.

Damon, who had heard everything, rushed over and crouched to gather the fragments. "Alpha, I’ll get you a new phone."

Ravyn dragged a hand through his hair and stormed toward his room, craving solitude.

Instead, he walked straight into Daisy.

She had just stepped out of the shower, wrapped loosely, her presence warm and inviting. Seeing the tension carved into his face, she approached carefully and sat on his lap, her touch gentle rather than provocative.

"Rav," she murmured, concern softening her voice. "What’s going on?"

Something in him finally broke. He told her everything, the losses, the Circle, Seraphine, his parents. All of it poured out in a raw, unfiltered rush.

When he finished, Daisy tilted her head, her fingers tracing slow, absent patterns along his arm. "So," she asked quietly, her tone unreadable, "are you planning to go beg her to come back?"