Chapter 14 - Isabella’s Choice
Isabella had planned to confront Khloe.
That part was true.
She had intended to provoke her.
Record her.
Make her appear unstable.
Perhaps even violent.
The plan was supposed to create grounds for Marcus to seek separation before the baby’s birth.
But Isabella claimed she never intended to cause serious injury.
Detective Price did not believe that excuse mattered.
Neither did Khloe.
“Who told her to attack me?”
Price placed Isabella’s phone on the table.
“Voss sent the messages from M.”
“But Isabella says someone else called her right before she entered the suite.”
“Who?”
Price looked at Marcus.
“Your father’s assistant.”
Marcus frowned.
“Daniel Cole?”
“Yes.”
Daniel had worked for Richard Thorne for fourteen years.
He knew every schedule.
Every password.
Every family weakness.
He also happened to be Elaine Parker’s older brother.
Elaine went pale when she heard the name.
“My brother would never—”
Gabriel interrupted gently.
“When did you tell Daniel that Khloe was in Suite 1704?”
Elaine stared at him.
“I didn’t.”
Then she stopped.
Her face changed.
“At the gala.”
“He called me.”
“What did he ask?”
“He said Richard wanted to send Khloe’s driver around.”
“He asked where she was resting.”
Khloe felt cold.
Elaine covered her mouth.
“I told him.”
Gabriel immediately ordered security to find Daniel.
His office was empty.
His apartment in Manhattan was empty.
His phone was disconnected.
But a hospital parking camera showed him entering through a service door at 7:49 p.m.
Twenty minutes before Rebecca Lane was attacked.
The puzzle finally began to form.
Daniel stole the badge.
Daniel accessed Khloe’s records.
Daniel submitted the camera shutdown order using Voss’s credentials.
And Daniel called Isabella.
But why?
Detective Price found the answer inside Daniel’s payroll history.
For three years, Daniel had quietly purchased shares in shell companies linked to Richard.
If Khloe inherited controlling authority, an internal audit would expose them.
Daniel had not merely been protecting Richard.
He had been protecting himself.
Gabriel looked at Khloe.
“There may be more money missing than we realized.”
“How much?”
“Potentially hundreds of millions.”
Marcus stared at his father through the interrogation room glass.
“You knew?”
Richard shook his head.
For the first time, Khloe believed him.
Not because Richard was innocent.
He was not.
But because his expression showed the shock of a man discovering that the conspiracy he created had grown beyond his control.
Then security called.
Daniel had been found.
Not outside the hospital.
Inside.
On the seventeenth floor.
Gabriel frowned.
“That’s impossible.”
The security officer’s voice came through the speaker.
“He’s heading toward maternal care.”
Khloe’s eyes widened.
Marcus turned toward the corridor.
May you like
And suddenly every alarm in the hallway began to sound.
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