Chapter 3 - THE HEARTBEAT
The examination room was bright, cold, and far too quiet.
Khloe gripped Marcus’s hand while Dr. Lena Morris moved the monitor across her abdomen.
“Please,” Khloe whispered. “Say something.”
Lena adjusted the screen.
Then the room filled with a fast, steady heartbeat.
Khloe broke down.
Marcus lowered his head against her hand. “Thank God.”
“The baby is stable for now,” Lena said. “But Khloe needs observation. No stress, no arguments, and absolutely no visitors unless she approves them.”
Outside, Victoria was already speaking to the family attorney.
“We need a statement before this becomes a scandal,” she said.
Marcus stepped into the hall. “The statement is that my wife was attacked.”
Victoria lowered her voice. “You do not know that.”
“I saw her on the floor.”
“You also saw Isabella crying.”
Marcus stared at his mother. “That is your evidence?”
Before Victoria could answer, Gabriel approached with a tablet.
“The outside camera was disabled using a Thorne Foundation access code,” he said.
Marcus stiffened. “Whose code?”
Gabriel looked directly at Victoria.
“Hers.”
Victoria laughed once, without humor. “My code is used by staff.”
“Then staff will be questioned.”
At the far end of the hall, Isabella watched from behind a half-open door.
She pulled out her phone and typed a message.
Delete the backup. Tonight.
She hit send.
May you like
A second later, the message appeared on another phone—one already in the hands of hospital security.
Inside the examination room, Khloe counted the beats on the monitor to keep from panicking. Marcus tried to apologize, but she stopped him. "Not now. Save your promises until I know whether you can keep one." He nodded, realizing that even if the baby survived, their marriage might not.
