All Chapters of The Alpha Chose My Best Friend, I Abandoned Him: Chapter 11 - Chapter 14

I did not answer the email.Seven months later Clara delivered a healthy daughter. Margaret was the one who told me. She said first that the baby was healthy, then asked carefully whether I wanted to see a photo."No," I said. "Wish her well for me."The child had done nothing wrong, and I did not need to hate an infant to prove I had been hurt. I sent no expensive gift. I made a personal donation to a fund that helps women and children escaping domestic violence. Margaret understood, and she stopped urging me to come to the hospital.What happened after that came to me piece by piece from people who had left Blackpine.The day Clara gave birth, Damian waited outside the delivery room the whole time. He wanted to hold on to the "real family" he had chosen, but his phone went off every few minutes. The annual project was delayed. Suppliers wanted their overdue payments. Several pack families were complaining that community services had been cut. None of that used to land in front of him

Three years later, Silverbank Brand Company ran the largest full moon brand gala in North America.As the event closed, silver light came down over the main stage and tens of thousands of people looked up at once. Backstage, Seraphina handed me a glass of champagne and then announced to the whole company that I would be taking over as chief executive. The non-compete penalty she had paid years earlier had long since come back to her through dividends. We were still equal partners. She had never used that money to demand obedience, and she had never cast herself as the person who rescued me.Margaret called before the celebration started.She told me that Damian and Clara had formally broken their mate mark six months ago. Blackpine Group had gone from a regional leader with several hundred people to a small company keeping only its basic operations alive. Damian had sold most of his personal assets to pay down debt, and his claim to the Alpha succession had been postponed indefinitely