Chapter 2 - The First Recording
The fetal monitor filled the private examination room with a rapid, steady rhythm.
Khloe stared at the screen.
Dr. Shaw kept one hand on the ultrasound probe.
“The heartbeat is strong.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
A breath she had been holding finally escaped.
“Is he safe?”
“For the moment, yes.”
“For the moment?”
“You took a significant impact.”
Dr. Shaw’s voice remained careful.
“We’re seeing uterine irritability, but you’re not in active labor.”
Khloe swallowed.
“I’m seven months pregnant.”
“I know.”
“We’re going to keep you under observation.”
Outside the room, voices rose.
Gabriel.
Marcus.
Security.
Khloe looked toward the door.
“Where is Isabella?”
“Being kept in a conference room.”
“And Marcus?”
Dr. Shaw hesitated.
“Your uncle asked him to remain with security.”
That hesitation told Khloe more than the words did.
Thirty minutes later, Gabriel entered alone.
He carried a tablet.
Khloe immediately knew.
“You watched it.”
Gabriel pulled a chair beside her bed.
“The beginning.”
“What did you see?”
His silence frightened her.
“Uncle Gabriel.”
He placed the tablet on the blanket.
“There are things on this recording that have nothing to do with the attack.”
Khloe felt cold.
“What things?”
Before Gabriel could answer, Marcus appeared at the door.
Two security officers stood behind him.
His eyes went directly to Khloe.
“Thank God.”
Khloe studied his face.
“Did you know?”
Marcus stopped.
“Know what?”
“That the camera was there.”
“No.”
It was too fast.
Gabriel noticed too.
“You’re lying.”
Marcus looked at him sharply.
“Watch yourself.”
Gabriel stood.
“My niece was kicked while carrying your child.”
“Do not tell me to watch myself.”
Marcus stepped into the room.
“I didn’t know Isabella was going to hurt her.”
The room went silent.
Khloe’s fingers tightened around the blanket.
“I didn’t ask whether you knew Isabella would hurt me.”
Marcus realized his mistake.
Khloe stared at him.
“I asked whether you knew about the camera.”
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Gabriel picked up the tablet.
“I think Khloe should see the first five minutes.”
Marcus moved toward him.
“No.”
That single word broke something inside Khloe.
She looked at her husband.
“Play it.”
“Khloe.”
“Play it.”
Gabriel pressed the screen.
The recording began.
Khloe watched herself enter the suite twenty-three minutes before the attack.
She watched herself remove her heels.
Pour water.
Sit near the window.
Then Isabella entered.
The conversation began exactly as Khloe remembered.
Cold smiles.
Insults.
Threats.
Then Isabella’s voice came clearly through the speakers.
“You still think Marcus belongs to you because you’re carrying his baby?”
Khloe watched her recorded self stand.
“Leave.”
Isabella laughed.
“He was in my bed long before that child was in yours.”
Khloe stopped breathing.
Marcus whispered her name.
She didn’t look at him.
On the screen, Isabella leaned closer to Khloe.
Then came the sentence that changed everything.
“He promised me your marriage would be over before the baby was born.”
Khloe slowly turned toward Marcus.
“You told me you had never touched her.”
Marcus said nothing.
May you like
That was answer enough.
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