Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever novel Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Chapter 37 - your crazy ex-wife and now she’s coming for me too

"Sir... what if it’s that woman from yesterday?" Pete asked carefully, his voice low and measured, as though afraid the walls themselves might overhear. He swallowed, seeing no reaction from his boss, and added, "She gave you twenty-four hours, and the servers started collapsing right on time."

Voren froze this time. It was the first time since the crisis began that his composure cracked.

The room, once filled with frantic motion and overlapping voices, seemed to shrink around him as doubt crept in, cold, invasive, and unwelcome.

His mind reeled back to Seraphine’s calm, almost amused expression when she had issued that warning. Twenty-four hours, precise, and yet unyielding.

Could it really be her? No, Voren clenched his jaw. That was impossible. Seraphine had always been pack business, politics, power, loyalty, but not this.

Not cyber warfare and collapsing systems. Still, disbelief did not erase coincidence, and the timing was too clean to ignore. "It won’t hurt to confirm," he muttered under his breath, but aloud, he straightened and said, "excuse me for a moment."

Pete nodded immediately and exited the conference room, closing the doors behind him. The silence that followed was heavy, as Voren reached for his phone and dialed Ravyn’s number.

To his surprise, the call connected almost instantly, and Ravyn sounded exhausted. "Voren," Ravyn said, his voice strained. "I was just about to come see you."

Voren paused. Under normal circumstances, he would have welcomed the visit without hesitation. Now, with his empire bleeding in real time, he wasn’t sure whether this was good timing or catastrophic.

Still, Ravyn was a seasoned CEO. If anyone could offer insight, it was him. "Alright," Voren said carefully. "I’ll put my reason for calling on hold. Where are you right now?"

"Just a few minutes away," Ravyn replied in the same tone of urgency. Relief slipped through Voren despite himself. "Good."

It wasn’t long before Pete returned, leading Ravyn into the conference room. He excused himself quickly, shutting the door behind them and leaving the two men alone.

Ravyn didn’t waste time with pleasantries. He needed to find the solution to stabilizing his stocks or he might lose another or more shareholders. "Voren, I need your help," he said, his tone serious.

For a fleeting second, Voren almost laughed. The irony was sharp and bitter. He needed help just as badly, maybe worse, but he swallowed his urgency, forcing himself to listen. "What’s the problem?" Voren asked evenly.

Ravyn drew a breath. "I need a loan, just enough to stabilize my losses. As soon as the stocks begin to recover, I’ll pay it back in full." Taking a loan from Voren was better than the bank because there would be no interest component like the bank would demand.

But a sad, strained look crossed Voren’s eyes, and he shook his head slowly. "Even if I wanted to, I can’t."

Ravyn frowned. "Why?" He had not checked the news due to the pressure he was facing and Voren’s response numbed him.

"A virus," Voren said grimly. "It’s eaten through my servers, and my assistant suspects your ex-wife because she came to warn me when I went against the Stone Group for you."

Ravyn stiffened. "Seraphine?" His shock was genuine. Voren lifted a brow. "Is there another ex-wife I should be worried about?"

"No," Ravyn said quickly, then frowned. "But Seraphine is all pack business. What does she know about cybersecurity?"

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