Alpha's Regret: Losing His True Mate-Chapter 188

Jimmy followed Rex’s gaze and spotted Dante and Sienna heading into a coffee shop with a little girl between them. They didn’t look like they were in any hurry to leave.

Rex stared, unblinking. "That girl... is she really Dante’s daughter?"

Jimmy shrugged, not particularly interested. "Maybe."

Rex stood frozen, jaw tight.

If that little girl really was Dante’s daughter, then Sienna was walking into a complicated situation. A messy one.

And there were rumors Dante had been married before. If that was true, he’d be tied to his ex-wife forever because of the kid. Wouldn’t that just make everything harder for Sienna?

Jimmy’s phone rang. He answered, talked for a minute, then hung up.

"I’ve got something I need to handle. You coming?"

Rex snapped out of it, his expression hard. "No. I’m waiting for someone. You go ahead. We’ll catch up later."

"Alright."

Jimmy left.

Once he was gone, Rex walked straight toward the coffee shop.

He pushed open the door and nearly ran right into Sienna.

She was holding Liora’s hand, clearly heading toward the restroom.

Both of them stopped.

Sienna blinked in surprise. "Mr. Hardin? What a coincidence."

"Yeah," Rex said, letting the door close behind him. His eyes swept the room and landed on Dante, who was sitting at a table, casually ordering something from a waiter.

Then Rex looked down at Liora.

One glance and he was almost sure. She looked like Dante. A lot. Same eyes, same shape to her face.

Still, he asked. "Is this...?"

Sienna looked down at Liora and said simply, "Dante’s daughter."

Of course.

Rex felt something heavy settle in his chest.

Right then, Liora piped up. "Aunt Sienna, who’s this handsome uncle?"

Sienna crouched down and gently tapped Liora’s nose, smiling. "Auntie’s friend."

"Oh..." Liora said, clearly uninterested now.

Sienna straightened and turned back to Rex. "Mr. Hardin, are you here to meet a friend—"

"Aunt Sienna, please, I really need to go!"

Liora tugged hard on Sienna’s arm, cutting her off mid-sentence.

She’d had milk tea earlier and now she was about to burst.

Seeing that Sienna looked like she wanted to keep chatting, Liora couldn’t hold back anymore. Her tone came out a little bossy, almost demanding.

Rex noticed.

Sienna was being so patient and sweet with Liora. But the kid? She was kind of ordering her around.

His brow furrowed.

But Sienna didn’t seem bothered at all. She just looked down at Liora with the same gentle smile.

"Okay, sweetheart. I know. My fault. Let’s go right now."

She glanced at Rex. "I’ll catch up with you in a bit."

Rex’s chest tightened even more.

But he didn’t have the right to say anything. Not yet.

"I need to use the restroom too. Mind if I walk with you?"

Sienna smiled. "Sure."

Liora was really in a hurry now. She saw Sienna was still moving too slow, so she let go of her hand and bolted toward the restroom on her own.

"Liora, wait for me!" Sienna called, immediately rushing after her.

Rex watched, frowning. The kid was acting spoiled and willful.

Just as he was about to say something, Liora suddenly stopped running.

She turned her head, staring off to the side.

"Liora?"

Sienna had caught up. Seeing her frozen there, a thought flickered through her mind.

Elodie. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

She glanced back at Rex, who was still following, and her eyes shifted. She tugged gently on Liora’s hand.

"Liora, weren’t we going to the restroom? Let’s—"

"Yeah," Liora said, looking around one more time. She didn’t see anyone familiar, so she shrugged it off and ran ahead.

But Elodie had been there. Right in the direction Liora had been looking. She’d just been blocked by the crowd, hidden behind a cluster of shoppers. She hadn’t noticed them either.

---

A few minutes later, Sienna, Rex, and Liora came out of the restroom.

Liora was at that age where everything was interesting. She kept stopping to look at things like stuffed animals in a shop window, a display of sparkly jewelry, a guy making balloon animals.

She chattered nonstop, asking Sienna a million questions.

Sienna answered every single one with a smile.

Rex watched from the side, impressed by how patient she was. Taking care of a kid was hard. He could see that now.

When they got back to the café, Rex immediately looked over at Dante.

He was sitting there, perfectly relaxed, sipping his coffee and flipping through a magazine.

Like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Rex paused.

On the way to the restroom, he’d mentioned he was meeting friends here.

Now, as they walked in, Sienna asked, "Has your friend shown up yet?"

Rex shook his head. "Not yet."

"Why don’t you sit with us until they do?"

"You’re on a date. I don’t want to intrude."

Sienna smiled. "It’s fine. Dante won’t mind."

So Rex followed them over.

As they got closer, the first thing he noticed was a bouquet of deep red roses sitting on the seat next to Dante.

No need to guess. Those were obviously for Sienna.

Rex’s earlier concerns started to ease a little.

Maybe Dante didn’t think as poorly of Sienna as Rex had feared.

"Daddy, we’re back!" Liora called out, running straight to Dante.

Dante looked up, then glanced at Sienna. That’s when he noticed Rex standing behind her.

"Mr. Hardin?"

Rex nodded. "I ran into Miss Brown at the door. Saw you were here, thought I’d say hello."

Dante shook his hand, and exchanged a few pleasantries. Rex could see how comfortable the three of them looked together, like a family. He decided not to intrude.

"My friend should be here soon. I’ll catch up with you another time."

Dante didn’t push. "Sounds good."

Rex gave Sienna one last look before heading to an empty table nearby.

Dante’s group talked quietly amongst themselves. Rex couldn’t make out what they were saying.

About twenty minutes later, Dante stood, signaling they were getting ready to leave.

He walked over to Rex’s table. "Heading out. See you around."

"Yeah. Take care."

Dante left, but Rex noticed Sienna and Liora hadn’t moved yet.

"You’re not leaving?"

Sienna smiled. "Dante’s bringing the car around from the parking garage."

The café wasn’t far from the curb, but the underground lot was huge. It was thoughtful of Dante to drive up and pick them up instead of making them walk.

Rex nodded, impressed despite himself.

Sienna’s smile stayed in place. "Has your friend shown up yet?"

Rex shook his head. "Not yet."

Sienna’s eyes flickered with something... understanding, maybe... but she didn’t push. "Are you going to wait a bit longer?"

"Nah. I’m heading out."

They chatted for another minute or so before Sienna’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it.

"Dante’s outside. We should go."

"Alright."

As they headed toward the door, Liora suddenly pulled her hand free from Sienna’s and turned, staring off to the side.

"Liora?"

Liora was sure she’d just seen her mom. She knew it. But there were too many people. And she was too short. She couldn’t see past the crowd.

She tugged on Sienna’s sleeve. "Aunt Sienna, I think I just saw—"

Sienna cut her off gently. "Your dad’s waiting, sweetheart. Let’s go."

Liora looked one more time, squinting through the crowd and saw nothing. She must’ve imagined it.

She sighed and followed Sienna out the door.

Rex watched them leave.

He was about to head out himself when something or someone caught his eye.

He turned and saw it was Elodie.

She was standing off to the side, half-hidden behind a display of potted plants.

His steps slowed.

He hesitated, debating whether to just leave and pretend he hadn’t seen her.

But then he noticed where she was looking.

Straight at Sienna and Liora, walking away.