Chapter 1 - The Camera Above the Door
Khloe’s first thought was not about Isabella.
It was about her baby.
Pain burned through the right side of her abdomen as she lay curled on the cold marble floor, both arms wrapped protectively around her stomach.
“Marcus,” she gasped.
“Something’s wrong.”
Marcus Thorne’s face lost all color.
He crossed the suite in three strides and dropped beside his wife.
“Khloe, look at me.”
“Don’t touch me.”
The words came from Isabella.
Everyone turned.
She stood near the shattered champagne glass, tears streaking perfectly through her makeup.
“She attacked me first,” Isabella sobbed.
“I was trying to defend myself.”
Khloe stared at her.
For a second, the sheer audacity of the lie almost distracted her from the pain.
Almost.
Then another sharp cramp moved through her stomach.
Khloe cried out.
Marcus reached for her.
“Call a doctor!”
Elaine Parker was already pulling out her phone.
Isabella stumbled backward.
“She came at me.”
“She threatened me.”
“She—”
“Enough.”
The new voice came from the doorway.
Every head turned.
Gabriel Mercer stepped into the room with two members of private security behind him.
At sixty-one, Khloe’s uncle rarely raised his voice.
He never needed to.
Gabriel controlled Mercer Capital, sat on the hospital’s governing board, and had enough influence in Manhattan to make powerful men return his calls before the first ring finished.
His eyes moved from Khloe on the floor to Isabella.
Then to Marcus.
Something in his expression became terrifyingly calm.
“What happened to my niece?”
Isabella opened her mouth.
“She attacked—”
Gabriel lifted one hand.
“I wasn’t asking you.”
A medical team rushed inside.
Dr. Elena Shaw knelt beside Khloe.
“Khloe, I need you to stay still.”
“Is my baby okay?”
“We’re going to check.”
Khloe grabbed the doctor’s wrist.
“Tell me the truth.”
“I will.”
Marcus tried to follow as they lifted Khloe onto a stretcher.
Gabriel blocked him.
“Not yet.”
Marcus stared at him.
“She’s my wife.”
“And she was found on the floor while another woman stood over her.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“You think I had something to do with this?”
“I think I know less than I should.”
Gabriel looked toward the ceiling.
Then his eyes stopped.
Directly above the door, a small black security camera stared down at them.
Elaine followed his gaze.
Her mouth fell open.
“That camera records audio.”
Isabella suddenly stopped crying.
Gabriel noticed.
So did Khloe.
Even through the pain, she saw Isabella’s expression change.
Fear.
Real fear.
Gabriel turned toward security.
“Lock every exterior door.”
Marcus froze.
“Gabriel.”
“No one leaves this hospital until I know exactly what happened in this room.”
Isabella took one slow step backward.
Gabriel pointed at the camera.
“And bring me every second of that recording.”
For the first time that night, Isabella looked defeated.
But Marcus looked worse.
May you like
And as Khloe’s stretcher rolled through the doorway, she saw her husband staring at the camera as though he already knew exactly what it was about to reveal.
---
