Alpha's Regret: The Seventh Time was Forever-Chapter 67 – I have news

Seraphine had been carrying the idea quietly for months, maybe even years if she was honest with herself, nurturing it in the private corners of her mind like something fragile that could not survive careless exposure.

She had not shared it with anyone, not even with Corvine, who had become her right hand in almost everything else.

Some dreams felt safer when they remained unspoken, protected from doubt, ridicule, and from the narrowing expressions people wore when they did not understand vision.

And yet, sitting in Leon’s car with the late afternoon light filtering in through the windshield, she found herself saying it before she could second-guess the impulse.

"Eclipse Entertainment is the brand name," she began, her voice steady but carrying an undercurrent of excitement she rarely allowed to surface. "But I’m going to start with Phantom Games."

Leon glanced at her briefly before returning his attention to the road, clearly processing the words. "You?" he asked, a faint crease forming between his brows. "You want to start a gaming company?"

It was not mockery exactly, but surprise, the kind shaped by assumption. Gaming was loud and competitive and historically male-dominated, a world of consoles and tournaments and obsessive players glued to screens for hours.

It did not immediately align with the composed, strategic woman sitting beside him.

Seraphine noticed the tone, and instead of bristling, she leaned into explanation. "I’m imagining a future where games are used not just for leisure, but for recalibrating," she said, her gaze drifting slightly as if she could already see it unfolding. "How would you feel playing a game that actually relaxes your nervous system instead of overstimulating it?"

That made him look at her again, this time with curiosity instead of disbelief.

As she narrowed it down, her words became more precise, more intentional.

"Entertainment, at its core, is about escape and relaxation," she continued, her hands moving subtly as she spoke. "But what if we built triggers into the design, subtle cues that regulate breathing patterns, stabilize heart rate, guide cognitive resets without the player even realizing it consciously.

I don’t want to create something that devours people’s time and leaves them drained. I don’t want addiction. Fifteen to thirty minutes per session is enough for structured engagement, and intentional limits."

Leon’s skepticism softened into understanding. "So it isn’t just for entertainment," he said slowly, beginning to see the architecture beneath her idea. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"It is," she replied, meeting his gaze evenly, "but critically designed entertainment. Something immersive without being destructive. Something that gives back more than it takes."

He raised a brow, impressed now rather than doubtful. "That would require serious resources. Software development at that level, neurological research integration, user interface engineering, biometric calibration if you’re serious about nervous system regulation."

Seraphine’s lips curved slightly, not in arrogance but in quiet confidence. Having revealed this much on a first date already felt like stepping further than she normally would. "Don’t worry," she said calmly. "Everything will be ready before we make our attendance."

She did not elaborate on the cybersecurity connections she had been leveraging, or the trading capital she had been quietly growing, or the network of developers she had already begun consulting under nondisclosure agreements. Leon did not need to know all of that yet.

By the time they reached her house, the sky had begun deepening into evening hues, and the shift from public space to private ground carried its own weight. Leon stepped out first again, circling around to open her door with that same effortless attentiveness.

When she stepped inside, the scent of dinner lingered faintly in the air, grounding the moment. Seraphine asked Corvine who was already there to welcome her.

"Is it okay if he joins us for dinner?" she asked casually, Corvine wanted to refuse.

The instinct rose sharp and immediate. He wanted to say no, but how could he deny her something so simple in her own home?

"Sure," he replied evenly after a brief pause. "This is your house too."

Seraphine hastened after Leon who was almost at the car. "Why not join us fer dinner?"

Leon accepted without hesitation, slipping into conversation at the table with surprising ease.

He spoke freely, laughed openly, and listened attentively as Seraphine described the children at the rehabilitation park, her voice lighting up in ways that softened everyone present.

The tension that had initially hovered in the room slowly dissipated, replaced by something almost comfortable.

Then she said it. "I’ll be starting part-time work with Leon at the hospital next week."

The words were simple, but they changed the atmosphere immediately.

"How many hours are we looking at?" Corvine asked, keeping his tone neutral even though something inside him tightened at the idea of her drifting further into Leon’s orbit.

She smiled reassuringly. "There are other things I need to focus on too, so three hours max. And we’re starting our company too, right?" she added, turning to Corvine.

He froze slightly at the way she said our. Not your, not mine, our.

Leon noticed it too, and his smile faltered almost imperceptibly. Why couldn’t it be hers alone? Why did Corvine need to be woven into something that was clearly her vision?

Questions flickered through his mind, but the timing was wrong, and dinner was not the battlefield for that conversation.

After he bid Seraphine goodnight and stepped outside, the evening air cooler now, Corvine waited until the door closed before turning toward her.

"This company," he began carefully, "did you get the idea from him?"

A soft chuckle escaped her lips, genuine and almost amused. "Hell no. I’ve always had it in mind. I was just too busy dealing with Ravyn and Voren to focus on it."

Relief washed over him so visibly that he did not even try to mask it.

The next few days blurred into structured chaos. Seraphine juggled trading portfolios in the early mornings, cybersecurity consultations by midday, and late-night development sessions for her first gaming software prototype.

Her laptop rarely left her side, code and design frameworks layering across her screen until her eyes burned from the strain.

Corvine noticed the exhaustion before she admitted it. He would find her leaning back in her chair with her fingers pressed against her temples, or staring at lines of code with unfocused eyes.

He offered encouragement where he could, small reminders to eat, to rest, to pace herself. With her at home more often, he gradually began taking on responsibilities at Stone Group, ensuring stability while she built something new.

When the week turned and it was time for her to begin part-time at the hospital, he took it upon himself to drive her there in the mornings before heading to work himself, and to pick her up before lunchtime as promised.

The rhythm settled into something almost synchronized, a balance of ambition and routine.

For a while, everything felt aligned. Work, partnership, shared goals, until the day her phone rang unexpectedly.

She glanced at the screen and saw the name before answering.

"Sera," Damon’s voice came through, carrying an urgency that immediately cut through whatever calm she had been holding onto. "I have news."