The Bride They Rejected Owned Half Their Empire Chapter 05

The Bride They Rejected Owned Half Their Empire Chapter 05

“Elowen, what on earth are you talking about?” 

Seraphina’s voice rose half an octave in obvious 

panic. 

I ignored her fake confusion entirely. 

I opened my phone, enlarged the screenshot, and 

held the screen out for everyone in the room to 

see clearly. 

“Rowan Sloane, contact marked with a heart 

emoji.” 

“Text sent fifteen minutes ago: Babe, don’t panic. about the baby situation. I’ll handle everything.” 

I turned to lock eyes with Kael. 

“This message came directly from Seraphina’s personal phone.” 

A deathly silence settled over the room. 

Kael’s gaze shifted from my phone screen straight to Seraphina’s pale face. 

“Seraphina?” 

“Kael!” She instantly burst into fake tears, grabbing tightly onto his sleeve. 

“She edited this photo! It’s fake! She’s just trying to 

tear us apart!” 

“Edited photo?” I set my phone down on the table 

calmly. 

“Your phone slipped and fell right here in this 

room. You can unlock it yourself and let everyone 

check your full chat history.” 

Seraphina’s face drained of all color. 

Her eyes darted frantically across the floor and 

table corners, searching for her missing device. 

I stated the truth plainly for her. 

“Your phone slid behind the cabinet by the door. 

when you left the room.” 

Kael walked over slowly, bending down to retrieve 

the pink–cased cellphone from behind the 

furniture. 

“Kael, that’s my private phone–you can’t go 

through my personal messages!” 

He ignored her protests completely. 

His fingerprint failed to unlock the device. He lifted 

his head sharply. 

“Tell me the passcode.” 

Seraphina bit her lower lip tightly. 

“I won’t.” 

“Tell me the passcode now.” 

“Kael, please trust me. This is all a setup she 

planned to ruin us!” 

“If you’re truly innocent, what do you have to hide?” 

The room fell tense again. 

Alden’s expression darkened drastically. He 

frowned firmly at Seraphina. 

“Seraphina, give him the passcode. If you have 

nothing to hide, there’s no reason to refuse.” 

Marigold tugged Alden’s arm urgently, signaling him to stop pushing the matter. 

But Alden’s frown only deepened further. 

“Seraphina.” His tone turned stern and unyielding. 

“Give him the passcode.” 

“Dad!” 

“You’re all ganging up to bully me!” She suddenly 

dropped to the floor, covering her face and 

breaking into loud sobs. 

“What have I ever done to deserve this unfair 

treatment?” 

It was her usual go–to move. 

Whenever she was cornered with no way out, she 

cried and played the victim. 

She’d used this trick countless times growing up 

in the Voss household. Every tear always softened 

Alden’s heart instantly. 

I glanced over at Alden, and sure enough, his 

harsh expression was already wavering with 

sympathy. 

“Enough of this. It’s just a vague text message- 

it’s probably just a misunderstanding anyway.” He 

mumbled weakly. 

“Alden.” I spoke up sharply. 

“You slapped me and called me disruptive for standing by a legal contract.” 

“Now your own daughter refuses to let anyone 

check her phone to clear her name. Who’s really causing trouble here?” 

He opened his mouth to argue, but no words came 

out. 

Kael stood frozen in place, still clutching 

Seraphina’s phone in his hand. He stared at her in 

silence for a long moment before turning to the 

security guards behind him. 

“Send for Jax from our tech team immediately.” 

Seraphina’s crying cut off instantly. 

“Kael, don’t!” 

“If you won’t give the passcode willingly, I’ll have our tech specialist unlock it for you.” His voice was calm yet ice–cold, far more intimidating than any shout. 

“If you’re truly innocent, what are you so afraid of?” 

Ten minutes later. 

A young man with black–rimmed glasses walked in carrying a laptop, sitting down at the table and connecting Seraphina’s phone with a data cable. 

Throughout the unlocking process, Seraphina tried three separate times to rush forward and snatch her phone away, only to be held back by the 

guards each time. 

The phone screen finally lit up fully unlocked. 

Jax opened the messaging app and searched for 

the contact marked with the heart emoji. 

He pulled up the entire chat log between Seraphina and Rowan Sloane. 

I didn’t need to read a single line of the 

conversation. 

The look on Kael’s face told me everything I 

needed to know. 

He scrolled slowly upward through the messages, 

his movements deliberate and rigid. 

When he reached a certain message, his thumb 

froze completely still. 

He stayed silent for ten long seconds. 

Then he locked the phone screen shut. 

“Everyone leave the room.” His voice sounded 

distant and hollow. 

“Kael?” Brianna called out tentatively. 

“I said everyone OUT.” 

Brianna shot him a worried glance before leading 

all the guests and family members out of the 

parlor. 

Marigold pulled Alden along as they left. Alden 

paused to cast one last disappointed look at 

Seraphina before walking out. 

The door closed firmly, leaving only three of us 

inside: me, Kael, and Seraphina. 

Kael stood with his back turned to us. 

His shoulders were rigid and unmoving, but I could 

see he’d already cracked the edge of his phone 

case from squeezing it too tightly. 

“This conversation started three months ago.” 

He finally spoke, his voice low and broken. 

“For three months, you lied to me every night, 

saying you were stuck working overtime at the 

office.” 

Seraphina’s voice came out small and trembling. 

“Kael, I can explain everything.” 

“Rowan Sloane–son of Warren Sloane, head of the 

Sloane Group.” He slowly turned around to face 

her, his eyes cold as ice. 

“He’s our biggest bidding rival in the real estate 

market. What exactly is your relationship with 

him?” 

Tears streamed down Seraphina’s face freely now. 

“He’s just a close family friend, nothing more.” 

“A friend?” Kael’s tone turned sharp and mocking. 

“What exactly is the baby he mentioned in his 

text?” 

“I have no idea. That message wasn’t referring to 

me–you’re misunderstanding everything!” 

“Seraphina.” He stepped directly in front of her 

holding the phone screen up to her face. 

“Read the forty–seventh message from the top out 

loud.” 

Seraphina’s body went completely rigid with panic. 

I had no way of seeing what the message said- 

but the horrified look on her face said it all. 

Kael slammed the phone down hard onto the 

table. 

He turned to face me, his expression twisted with 

a tangled mess of regret, anger, and shock. 

“What exactly are you demanding regarding the 

covenant’s breach compensation clause?