Chapter 5

"Russell, what are you talking about?"

Swift's voice was half an octave higher than usual.

I ignored her.

I opened my phone, enlarged the screenshot, and held the screen facing the room.

"Jackson, with a heart symbol before his name in the contact. Message sent fifteen minutes ago: 'Honey, don't worry about the baby, I'll handle it.'"

I looked at Sebastian.

"This message is from Swift's phone."

The room fell deathly silent.

Sebastian's gaze moved from my phone screen to Swift's face.

"Swift?"

"Sebastian!" Swift's eyes immediately turned red. She grabbed his sleeve. "She photoshopped it! It's fake! She's just trying to break us up!"

"Photoshopped?" I placed my phone on the table. "Your phone is in this room. You can open it yourself and let everyone see your chat history."

Swift's face went pale. Her eyes quickly scanned the floor and table corners.

I filled in for her: "Your phone is behind the cabinet by the door. It slipped out of your bag when you left."

Sebastian walked over, bent down, and picked up the phone with the pink case from behind the cabinet.

"Sebastian, that's my phone, you can't look at it!"

He ignored her.

The fingerprint unlock didn't work. He looked up: "Password."

Swift bit her lower lip.

"What's the password?"

"Sebastian, you have to trust me." Her voice began to shake. "This is all a trap she set! She just wants to make you doubt me!"

"Tell me the password."

"I won't."

Rivers Taylor's expression also changed. He frowned at Swift: "Swift, let him look. If you're innocent, what does it matter if he sees?"

Harrison quickly tugged at her husband's arm, giving him a look.

Rivers Taylor's frown deepened.

"Swift." His tone grew heavier. "Give Sebastian the password."

"Dad!"

"Tell him."

Swift's lips trembled.

"You're all forcing me. You're all forcing me." She suddenly crouched on the floor, covering her face with both hands and crying.

"What did I do wrong? Why are you treating me like this?"

This trick worked well.

Every time she was backed into a corner, she cried.

It was the same at home before. As soon as she cried, Rivers Taylor would soften.

I looked at Rivers Taylor.

Sure enough, his resolve was already wavering.

"Forget it, it's just one message. It's probably a misunderstanding." He said vaguely.

"Rivers Taylor." I spoke up.

"You slapped me because you said I was causing trouble.

Now your daughter is asked one question and won't even let anyone see her phone. Who do you think is causing trouble?"

His mouth opened but no words came out.

Sebastian stood there, gripping the pink phone. He looked at Swift for a long moment, then turned to the security guard behind him without a word.

"Call Arnold from tech."

Swift's crying stopped abruptly.

"Sebastian!"

"If you won't give me the password, I'll have someone unlock it." His voice had no inflection, yet it was colder than any shout.

"If you're really innocent, what are you afraid of?"

Ten minutes later, a young man wearing black-framed glasses sat at the table with a laptop, connecting Swift's phone with a data cable.

During the unlocking process, Swift tried three times to rush over and grab the phone. Each time she was stopped.

The screen lit up.

Arnold opened WhatsApp and searched for contacts with heart symbols in their names.

The chat history appeared.

I didn't look at the content.

Because Sebastian's expression already told me everything I needed to know.

He scrolled up message by message, very slowly.

No one in the room spoke.

When he reached a certain message, his thumb stopped.

He was silent for ten seconds, then locked the screen.

"Everyone out." His voice sounded like it was coming from far away.

"Sebastian?" Rudy called out tentatively.

"I said, everyone out."

Rudy glanced at him and led the crowd out.

As Harrison pulled Rivers Taylor toward the door, Rivers Taylor looked back at Swift.

Swift stood in the corner, her lips blue.

The door closed. Only three people remained in the room.

Me, Sebastian, Swift.

He kept his back to us.

His shoulders were as steady as a wall, but the phone case in his right hand had one corner broken off.

"Three months." He finally spoke.

"The chat history starts from three months ago. That was when you were telling me you were working overtime."

Swift's voice was as thin as a mosquito's: "Sebastian, I can explain."

"Jackson. Mario's son from Mario Group." He slowly turned around. "My bidding competitor. What's your relationship with him?"

Tears fell from Swift's eyes.

"He, he's just a friend of mine."

"A friend? What did he mean about the baby?"

"I don't know. He wasn't talking about me. You misunderstood."

"Swift." He walked up to her and held the phone screen in front of her eyes. "Message forty-seven. Read it yourself."

Swift's body froze.

I didn't know what that message said, but Swift's expression said it all.Sebastian slammed the phone on the table.

He looked at me, his gaze tangled like a hundred knots.

"The breach penalty clause in the marriage certificate—what exactly do you want?"