Betrayed by My Ex, Marked by His Alpha Emperor Brother novel Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Elara’s POV

“Is it true?”

The warmth of his jacket still clung to my shoulders, but his voice had turned to iron. Cold. Judicial. The voice of a monarch demanding testimony from the accused.

I turned to face him.

His dark gold eyes held no trace of the man who had just shielded me. No trace of the possessive warmth that had pulled me against his chest moments ago. He stood like a statue carved from winter stone—jaw locked, shoulders squared, every line of his body radiating imperial authority.

The mate bond pulsed between us. Frantic. Confused. I could feel it reaching for him, desperate to bridge the chasm that had opened in the space of a single breath.

He didn’t reach back.

“Answer me, Elara.” His gaze cut through the murmurs of the watching nobles. “Was Gareth the father of your son?”

Not is Valerius mine. Not what happened to you. Not even tell me your side.

Was Gareth the father.

As if Isolde’s poison was already gospel. As if my word meant less than the shrieking of a woman being dragged across marble.

Something cracked inside my chest. Not the mate bond. Something older. Something that had been stitched together with thread too thin, held in place by hope too fragile.

“You’re asking me that.” My voice came out quiet. Dangerously quiet. “You watched her pour wine on me. You watched her grab me. You heard every venomous word she spat—and this is what you chose to ask.”

His expression didn’t shift. “The accusation was made publicly. I need—”

“You need.” I laughed. It was a hollow, broken sound that made several nearby nobles flinch. “Of course. The Emperor needs answers. The Emperor needs to conduct his trial.”

“Elara—”

“Valerius’s father,” I said, and every word tasted like ash, “was a man I met once. He disappeared before dawn five years ago and left me nothing. Not a name. Not a word. Not even a goodbye.”

The silence that followed was suffocating. I could hear the rustle of silk as nobles leaned closer, hungry for every syllable.

“And Gareth?” Kaelen’s voice held no yielding. No softness. Just interrogation.

The crack in my chest split wider.

“Gareth,” I said slowly, “was a coward who crawled into my stepsister’s bed while wearing my engagement ring. He never touched me. Not once. He couldn’t even look at me without flinching, because I wasn’t the one he wanted.”

My throat burned. The memories surged—unbidden, unwanted. The night I’d found them together. Isolde’s laughter. The way Gareth had looked through me as if I were made of glass.

“I was eighteen.” My voice dropped. “Isolde made sure every noble family in the province knew I’d been discarded. She paraded my humiliation like a trophy. She told everyone I was barren, broken, unworthy—”

I stopped. My hands were shaking.

The banquet hall had gone deathly still. Hundreds of eyes fixed on us—some pitying, most simply fascinated. I could see the glint of enchanted recording crystals being palmed behind fans and goblets. This scene would reach every territory by morning.

Good. Let them watch.

“I will not stand here and defend myself to you,” I said. “Not to a man who would take the word of a stranger over his own mate.”

Something flickered in Kaelen’s eyes. A crack in the imperial mask. But his jaw remained set. His posture didn’t soften.

“You should stay.” His tone shifted—not warmer, but heavier. Commanding. “The temperature has dropped. Without proper—”

I shrugged his jacket off my shoulders.

The midnight-blue fabric slid down my arms and pooled on the gleaming marble floor between us. The cold hit my wine-soaked skin immediately, vicious and biting. Goosebumps erupted across my bare arms.

“Elara.” A warning threaded through his voice. “Pick that up. You’ll catch your death.”

I stepped over the jacket and walked toward the arched doorway.

The crowd parted for me. Not out of respect—out of morbid curiosity. I could feel their whispers trailing behind me like smoke. Every step echoed against the vaulted ceiling. My spine stayed straight. My chin stayed lifted.

I would not give them the satisfaction of seeing me crumble.

The night air hit me like a wall when I pushed through the palace doors. Cold. Sharp. Merciless. The wine on my dress turned to ice against my skin, and my teeth clenched to keep from chattering.

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