Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever

Chapter 90: Chapter 90 – I want justice

Ravyn stared across the table at the man who had spoken up for Seraphine, and disbelief crawled through his chest like something alive that refused to settle. In all the years he had spent around humans, he had rarely seen one grow attached so quickly, yet this man had thrown himself into Seraphine’s defense with a loyalty that looked almost reckless, as though the consequences of offending powerful people in this room meant nothing to him. Ravyn found it both irritating and ridiculous, because the man’s chances of earning a place in their circle were already fragile, and defending Seraphine in front of everyone present had practically smashed those chances to pieces.

In Ravyn’s mind, Seraphine deserved every ounce of pressure she felt tonight, because he had never forgiven the way she had treated Daisy, and the memory of Daisy’s humiliation still burned inside him with a stubborn heat that refused to fade no matter how much time passed.

Voren’s jaw tightened the moment Seraphine began speaking again, and the faint muscle pulsing near his temple revealed the tension he tried so hard to hide from the others.

The tone in her voice carried a direction that he recognized instantly, and the realization made his patience wear thin.

He had warned Ravyn more than once that antagonizing this woman would only complicate matters in ways that could spiral out of control, yet Ravyn’s stubborn pride had kept him from backing down even once.

”What exactly are you trying to imply?” Voren asked while locking his gaze onto her with a hard, unyielding stare that carried both authority and warning.

Seraphine allowed the faintest curve to form at the corner of her lips, and the tiny expression that settled on her face carried a meaning that Ravyn immediately disliked.

Her eyes wandered in his direction with a calmness that felt unsettling, because the quiet confidence in her gaze made his stomach tighten with a sudden sense of unease.

”I want justice for the fear he forced me to experience,” she said with steady composure while holding herself upright, her voice remaining calm enough to sound reasonable rather than dramatic. ”The option he suggested could easily have pushed someone like me into a heart attack, because privacy matters deeply to me, and he drained me emotionally with a lie he invented only to corner me in front of all of you.”

The room remained silent for a moment, yet Ravyn felt as though the ground beneath his feet had vanished entirely.

The scheme he had prepared with such careful attention now felt like a trap tightening around his own ankles instead, and the worst part of the situation rested in the way several billionaires around the table appeared to warm toward Seraphine’s argument before he even found the right words to defend himself.

”I’m afraid I agree with the girl. You shouldn’t have done that,” Mark said seriously, the rest nodded in agreement.

Their expressions held curiosity rather than suspicion, and some of them even nodded faintly as though her reasoning and everything Mark said made perfect sense.

”I warned you, Ravyn,” Voren murmured quietly while leaning closer so that his words reached Ravyn’s ears alone. The calm tone carried a weight that felt heavier than anger. ”Now you will face the consequences of ignoring that warning.”

Voren straightened again before turning his attention back toward Seraphine, raising his voice just enough for everyone in the room to hear the next question.

”What kind of compensation would you consider fair?” Voren asked, his tone firm with the quiet authority that made it clear his words carried real power in this room.

Seraphine already knew exactly what she wanted from this situation, yet a small part of her recognized that revealing her request too quickly might rob the moment of its true impact.

”Before I explain my request,” she replied thoughtfully while allowing a hint of curiosity to color her tone, ”I would like to know who this so-called best chess player happens to be.”

Mark studied her from across the table with an expression that blended admiration with confusion, because the sharp intelligence she had displayed throughout the evening continued to surprise him again and again.

Someone with her background had not been expected to hold her ground so confidently in a room filled with men who had built empires with ruthless instincts and relentless strategy.

”Everyone sitting here already knows the answer to that question,” Mark said before Voren could speak for himself.

”Mr. Voren Ashkael holds the reputation of being the strongest chess player among us, and not a single person in this circle has ever managed to defeat him.”

The words reached Seraphine’s ears, and for the first time since this confrontation had begun, a fragile weakness crept into her legs as though the strength supporting her body had quietly drained away.

The color that had only recently returned to her face faded again, and the weight of that revelation settled over her like cold water pouring down her spine, leaving her standing there with the unsettling awareness that the opponent she had hoped to challenge might be far more dangerous than she had imagined.

Leon did not need to ask the question that hovered in the air because the answer already sat heavy in his chest, pressing against his ribs with uncomfortable certainty.

In his mind, the outcome already seemed written in stone, because the man sitting across from her was none other than Voren Ashkael, a man whose reputation in this room had been built on quiet victories, calculated patience, and an intellect that very few people in the Sovereign Circle had ever managed to outmaneuver.

”I doubt she’ll be able to beat Voren at his own game,” Gordon said thoughtfully, feeling like he lost the chance to see what she had to present to them.

Seraphine knew how to play chess well enough to enjoy it, and she had spent many evenings in the past leaning over boards with her adopted parents and Corvine while laughter filled the room and the scent of tea drifted through the house during the calm visits she made back to them.

Those games had always ended with her victorious grin shining across the board, yet even those victories had never convinced her that she possessed some extraordinary mastery over the game itself.

They had simply been moments of warmth, family, and friendly rivalry, and she had always walked away from those matches knowing that skill in chess often depended on the opponent sitting across from you but, ”Voren, how?” She murmured, feeling like she already lost the game before it began.