Betrayed by My Ex, Marked by His Alpha Emperor Brother novel Chapter 228

Chapter 228: Chapter 228

Elara’s POV

The tea room smelled like jasmine and old money. Private booths lined the back wall, each one sealed behind heavy velvet curtains. I’d chosen this place because it was discreet. Because women of status came here to gossip, not to watch.

I needed that invisibility today.

I sat in the farthest booth, hands folded on the lacquered table, waiting. My tea had gone cold. I hadn’t touched it.

The curtain swept aside. Gareth stepped in.

He looked the same. Always the same. That self-satisfied tilt of his jaw. That lazy, predatory smile that used to make my stomach flutter when I was young and foolish enough to believe it meant something.

Now it made my skin crawl.

He slid into the seat across from me, leaning back like he owned the room. His eyes traveled down my body with open, deliberate slowness.

"Ela." He drew the name out like honey. "You look... well. Motherhood suits you. Still tight in all the right places, I see."

I didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink.

"Sit down and shut your mouth, Gareth."

His grin widened. "Cold. I like it. You were never this sharp when we were together. My brother’s been sharpening you." He tilted his head. "Or is that the problem? Not enough sharpening lately?"

"I didn’t come here for your commentary."

"No." He leaned forward, elbows on the table. "You came because your perfect husband isn’t so perfect after all. And it’s eating you alive."

The words landed exactly where he intended. I felt them like a blade sliding between ribs. But I kept my face still. Stone. Ice.

"You said you had evidence," I said. "Magical footage. That’s what your letter claimed."

"Did it?" He affected surprise. Badly. "I said I had information. Maybe I exaggerated about the footage."

My jaw tightened. "You don’t have the recording."

"I never said I had a recording." He spread his hands. "I said I knew things. Details. Specifics."

I should have left. Should have stood up right then and walked out. But my body wouldn’t move. Because beneath the disgust, beneath the fury, there was something else. Something desperate and terrified that needed to know.

"Then talk," I said. "Before I decide this was a waste of my time."

Gareth’s smile turned ugly. Hungry. He was enjoying this. Every second of it.

"You know, Ela, it’s funny. All those years ago, you chose me. Remember? You actually thought I was going to be your happy ending." He laughed softly. "And now here you are. Begging your ex-fiancé for dirt on your husband. How the mighty have—"

"Isolde told me about you."

He stopped.

"She was quite detailed, actually." I kept my voice flat. Conversational. Like I was discussing the weather. "She said you couldn’t last five minutes. That she’d had longer sneezing fits."

The color drained from his face. Then flooded back. Dark. Furious.

"She’s a lying—"

"Five minutes, Gareth." I held up my hand, fingers spread. "That’s what she said. I’d feel sorry for her, but she chose you. We all make our mistakes."

His throat worked. A vein pulsed at his temple. For a moment I thought he might lunge across the table.

Good. Let him choke on it.

"You—" He hissed through his teeth. His fists clenched on the tabletop. "You always were a cold little—"

"The information. Now. Or I leave, and you lose the only entertainment you have left in your pathetic life."

The silence between us was toxic. Thick with old wounds and fresh poison.

Then Gareth grabbed a napkin from the table. He pulled a pen from his coat and began writing. Hard. The nib nearly tore through the paper.

"You’re sick," I said. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

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