I'M SORRY, ALEXIS (1)

DYSON'S POV

A month had passed since my wife left me.

I used to think losing Alexis would only mean coming home to an empty house. I thought the silence would be the hardest part. I was wrong.

The silence was nothing compared to everything else falling apart around me.

I stared at the mountain of documents sitting on my desk, my fingers pressing against my temple as I tried to understand how everything had become this complicated.

Before Alexis left, these papers would have already been organized. She would have gone through every detail, pointed out every mistake, and reminded me of the things I had overlooked.

She had always been better at this than me.

I hated admitting that.

My jaw tightened as I picked up another file.

A merger I had been confident about was delayed. A partnership that had been almost finalized suddenly fell apart. Investors who once trusted my decisions were now questioning them.

Everywhere I looked, there was a problem waiting for me. And for the first time in years, I didn't have Alexis standing beside me, quietly fixing the mess before anyone noticed.

A knock sounded on my office door.

"Come in," I called, my voice rough.

My financial advisor stepped inside, carrying another folder. The expression on his face immediately told me I wasn't going to like what he had to say.

"Mr. Lacrae."

I looked up from my desk. "What now?"

He hesitated before placing the folder down. "Our expenses have increased significantly over the past few months."

I frowned. "Expenses?"

"Your household expenses, personal accounts, luxury purchases..." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "The spending has been excessive."

I already knew where this conversation was going.

Mandy.

My fingers curled into a fist.

"Are you saying I can't afford my own money?" I asked coldly.

"I'm saying the company's reserves are being affected," he explained. "The wealth your father left behind was enough to sustain this family for generations, but the current spending habits are draining it faster."

I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling.

"Generational wealth." I sighed helplessly, rubbing my temple.

That was what everyone called it.

But somehow, I had allowed it to become something everyone took from without thinking about what it would cost.

The office door opened before I could respond. Mandy walked in wearing a designer dress that probably cost more than some people's yearly salary. Her heels clicked against the floor as she approached me.

"Dyson, there you are."

I looked at her, noticing the frown on my advisor's face. "What do you want?"

Her brows furrowed slightly. "What kind of greeting is that?"

"The kind you get when someone walks into my office without permission."

She rolled her eyes and dropped her purse onto the chair. "I need my card increased."

I stared at her, wondering if I had gone deaf or something. "You need what?"

"My limit increased." She crossed her arms. "I have an event coming up, and I need a few things."

I almost laughed.

A few things. With Mandy, a few things meant thousands, sometimes millions.

"Do you know the state of the company right now?"

She looked annoyed rather than concerned. "Why are you suddenly acting like money is a problem? You have always had money."

I looked at her carefully. That was the problem.

Everyone around me thought money was something that appeared endlessly. No one cared about how quickly it disappeared.

"You and my sisters have been spending without limits and..."

Her expression changed immediately. "Are you blaming me?"

"I'm stating a fact, Mandy." I almost snapped but clenched my jaw to control myself.

She stepped closer, her eyes narrowing. "Maybe if you weren't so distracted, your company wouldn't be struggling."

My expression hardened. "What did you say?"

Before she could answer, my office door opened again.

Clarissa, Denise, and Olivia walked inside without waiting for permission.

God! Who the fuck allowed them in here?!

The three people who had always believed they deserved everything simply because they were Lacraes.

"Why is everyone so tense?" Olivia asked, looking between us.

"Dyson is complaining about money," Mandy replied.

Clarissa scoffed. "Seriously?"

Denise shook her head. "You have to be joking."

I stared at them.

"I am close to bankruptcy, and you are all acting like this is a minor inconvenience."

The room went silent for once. None of them had an immediate response.

"Bankruptcy?" Clarissa repeated.

"Yes."

Mandy's face paled slightly. "But you have the company."

"I have a company that is struggling because I have been trying to manage everything alone."

The words left my mouth before I could stop them because they were true.

Alexis had been the person who handled everything I ignored. She had protected the company from mistakes I didn't even know existed, and I had pushed her away.

My phone rang, cutting through the silence. I looked down at the screen showing another rejected partnership request.

Another company refused to work with us.

I closed my eyes briefly. I missed her so much. I didn't realize how significant her presence was in my life. Pride had kept me from asking for help.

I looked up at Mandy, my so-called fated mate. I had been happy to have rejected the woman who stood by me throughout my life, and now I felt like I was looking at a gold digger with an empty skull.

By the end of the week, I contacted several corporations for potential partnerships. I swallowed every ounce of humiliation and reached out to people who once would have come to me first.

Most refused. Some didn't even respond.

Then one company accepted me after many months of trying. 

God, I knew how happy I was. I popped a champagne bottle and even fucked Mandy to vent out all my frustrations because that was the only thing she was good at.

A meeting was scheduled successfully, and I saw a bright future ahead of me with billions everywhere.

I spent the entire morning preparing the proposal myself, checking every detail multiple times because there was no one else to catch my mistakes anymore.

When I arrived at the company, I expected another negotiation or rejection immediately. I had sworn in my mind that if this business was a success, I would find and thank Alexis for the small amount of knowledge I had gained from her and divorce Mandy. If she refused, I'd make her my breeder instead.

However...

I didn't expect to walk into that boardroom and see her, the very woman I was going to thank for the little knowledge I gained from her.

Alexis.

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

She sat at the head of the table, calm and composed, completely different from the woman who had walked away from me a month ago. She looked gorgeous, and even though she was wearing a suit, I could see the swell of her breasts and her small waist.

Was she this beautiful when she was with me?

She looked more beautiful than Mandy, but she wasn't alone.

The man beside her made my entire body tense, a face I knew too well. A man I never expected to see sitting beside my wife.

My footsteps stopped as my heart started beating loudly in my ears, silencing everything around me.

Alexis lifted her eyes and looked directly at me. At that moment, I realized something I had been refusing to accept.

The woman I thought I could lose and replace had become someone I could no longer reach.