Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever novel Chapter 417

Chapter 417: Chapter 417 - I loved the wrong woman

Vladimir’s shoulders slumped under the crushing weight of all his regrets. His eyes were red and swollen from crying, and every single word that left his mouth sounded heavier and more painful than the last.

"What Olivia did..." His voice cracked badly. "It destroyed me."

He covered his face with one hand for a moment before forcing himself to keep going. "For years, I convinced myself that Oriana’s memory loss was the price the Moon Goddess demanded for bringing you into the world instead of her life." His gaze slowly found Voren. "I told myself losing her memories was better than losing her life."

Another tear slipped down his face. "I clung to that belief because it hurt less. I never imagined that she had been dead all along."

Silence swallowed the entire deck.

Vladimir’s eyes filled with fresh tears. "She gave everything for our son." His fists trembled at his sides. "And instead of honoring that sacrifice, we lived our lives as though she had never existed."

The guilt in his voice was absolutely heartbreaking. "I spent decades giving Olivia every bit of love that belonged to Oriana. I stood by her even when I knew she was wrong. I loved the wrong woman."

No one spoke. There were no comforting words that could possibly lessen that kind of deep, soul-crushing pain. Even those who had been angry with Vladimir earlier found it hard not to sympathize with him now.

Looking back, it finally made sense. The reason Vladimir had fought so hard against Voren’s relationship with Seraphine wasn’t because he hated Seraphine.

It was because he believed he was protecting the woman he thought had stood beside him for decades, sacrificed so much for their son. He had defended Olivia because he believed she deserved that loyalty. The truth made the betrayal feel even crueler.

Vladimir wiped his eyes before looking directly at Voren. "Honestly, if I had known your mother died that day, I would have raised you alone." His answer came without any hesitation. "I wouldn’t have remarried."

His expression was full of certainty. "Your mother loved you enough to trade her own life for yours." He smiled sadly. "So why wouldn’t I spend the rest of mine raising the son she died protecting?"

His chest rose with raw emotion. "Oriana never could have been replaced. Not in my heart, not in the Grimroot Pack, and not anywhere." He closed his eyes tightly. "Her sacrifice was beyond measure."

Voren remained silent. His own heart felt painfully heavy. Listening to his father’s words only strengthened the quiet promise he had made to himself.

In this lifetime, he would only have one wife no matter what happened. Even if the thought made him sick to his stomach. If death ever took Seraphine from him, he would never marry again. Never.

He would rather rule the Grimroot Pack without a Luna than allow another woman to stand where Seraphine once stood. No one could ever replace her. Not in his heart, and most certainly not in his life.

As those thoughts filled his mind, another memory surfaced. The shaman. Kael had once told him about a strange conversation Olivia had with her. That mysterious old woman always spoke in riddles. At the time, none of them had really understood her words but now everything felt different.

Voren frowned thoughtfully. Maybe they had been making a mistake all along. Instead of waiting for her strange predictions to come true, they should have been trying to understand them from the very beginning. The answers might already be there. They simply hadn’t been listening carefully enough.

Vladimir suddenly looked at his son again. "The shaman came to visit you the day after you were born." His voice carried another heavy layer of regret. "I remember every word she spoke." He swallowed painfully. "She looked at me and said, "’not everything that glitters is gold.’"

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