Chapter 4 - THE PERFECT HUSBAND’S LIE

Khloe remembered the morning her father died.

Daniel Hale had left their house before sunrise to inspect a rural clinic project.

At eleven fifteen, Nathaniel arrived at her school.

He did not tell her what had happened until they were inside his car.

Daniel’s vehicle had crossed a guardrail.

Police blamed rain.

The road had been dry.

Khloe had asked questions for months.

Eventually, everyone convinced her grief was searching for an enemy that did not exist.

Now Marcus stood beside her hospital bed, unable to meet her eyes.

“You knew,” she said.

“I suspected.”

“How long?”

“Three years.”

“You met me four years ago.”

“Yes.”

“So you married me and then discovered my father may have been murdered?”

“I found the first evidence after our engagement.”

“And said nothing.”

“I tried to verify it.”

“While sleeping beside me every night.”

Marcus’s voice tightened.

“If I had told you, you would have confronted Nathaniel.”

“Why would that matter?”

“Because Nathaniel was one of the last people to see your father alive.”

The room became silent.

Khloe looked toward the glass.

Nathaniel stood outside speaking with Detective Brooks.

“No.”

“I’m not saying he killed him.”

“You’re implying it.”

“I’m saying Daniel gave him something the night before the crash.”

“What?”

“A key.”

“To the trust?”

“To a hidden archive.”

Khloe shook her head.

“Uncle Nathan raised me after my father died.”

“I know.”

“He protected me.”

“I know.”

“Then why didn’t he tell me?”

Marcus looked at the glass.

“That is something you should ask him.”

Khloe pressed the call button.

Nathaniel entered moments later.

She held his gaze.

“What did my father give you the night before he died?”

Nathaniel stopped.

Marcus watched him carefully.

Khloe’s voice hardened.

“Do not lie to me.”

Nathaniel closed the door.

“He gave me a key.”

The confirmation hurt.

“What did it open?”

“I never found out.”

“Why?”

“Because after Daniel died, the key disappeared.”

“From where?”

“My office safe.”

Marcus crossed his arms.

“Who knew it was there?”

“Only me.”

“Someone else knew,” Khloe said.

Nathaniel sat beside her.

“Your father called me that night. He said Everett Thorne had discovered something inside the succession trust. Daniel believed the trust contained evidence of illegal medical trials, bribery and money laundering.”

Khloe struggled to breathe evenly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were seventeen.”

“I’m thirty-two now.”

“I spent fifteen years trying to find proof.”

“And you let me marry into the family?”

Nathaniel looked at Marcus.

“I tried to stop the wedding.”

Khloe remembered their argument one week before the ceremony.

Nathaniel had said Marcus came from a dangerous family.

Khloe assumed he was being protective.

“You should have told me why.”

“I thought the threat had died with Everett.”

Marcus gave a cold laugh.

“You knew better.”

Nathaniel stood.

“I knew your father was dangerous.”

“And yet you remained silent.”

“So did you.”

Khloe raised her hand.

“Both of you, stop.”

They fell quiet.

“I am done being protected by lies.”

She looked at Marcus first.

“You will tell Detective Brooks everything.”

Then she turned to Nathaniel.

“So will you.”

Nathaniel nodded.

Marcus did not.

Khloe saw it.

“If you refuse, leave.”

“Khloe.”

“Leave.”

Marcus’s face tightened.

“I cannot expose everything without putting you in more danger.”

“You already put me in danger.”

“I’m trying to keep you alive.”

“No. You’re trying to decide what I’m allowed to know.”

Marcus looked down.

For the first time since she had met him, the powerful Marcus Thorne appeared defeated.

Then his phone vibrated.

He checked the screen.

A video call request from an unknown number.

Marcus answered.

Elaine Parker appeared.

She was inside a moving vehicle.

“Do not trace this call,” she said.

Detective Brooks immediately activated a tracking program.

Elaine smiled faintly.

“You never listen.”

“Where is Adrian?” Marcus asked.

“Alive, for the moment.”

“Did you disable the camera?”

“No. Isabella did. Adrian made sure the backup survived.”

Khloe stared at the screen.

“Why?”

Elaine’s expression softened.

“Because we needed you to see the attack.”

“You let it happen?”

“We thought Isabella planned to frighten you, not physically harm you.”

“You knew she was coming.”

“Yes.”

Nathaniel stepped closer.

“Then you are responsible.”

“I am responsible for many things,” Elaine replied. “But not for the order to kill Khloe.”

“Who gave that order?” Brooks asked.

Elaine’s eyes shifted toward Marcus.

“Ask him about Project Cradle.”

Khloe looked at her husband.

“What is Project Cradle?”

Marcus went pale.

Elaine continued.

“Everett Thorne created a reproductive genetics program twenty-eight years ago. He wanted to ensure the succession child would be born.”

Nathaniel stared at her.

“That is insane.”

“It was funded through Hale Medical research.”

“No.”

“Your father signed the first authorization.”

Nathaniel stepped back.

Elaine’s voice became colder.

“Khloe’s marriage was not an accident. Marcus’s attraction was not predicted, but their meeting was arranged.”

Khloe felt sick.

“You arranged us?”

“Your charity board placement, the gala where you met and the foundation partnership that brought you together.”

Marcus looked at Elaine with fury.

“You told me that partnership came from the mayor’s office.”

“I lied.”

Khloe’s hands shook.

Every memory of falling in love with Marcus changed shape.

The gallery opening where they first spoke.

The coffee shop where they met again.

The foundation project that forced them into weekly meetings.

All of it had been designed.

Elaine leaned closer to the camera.

“Isabella attacked Khloe because she discovered something worse than the trust.”

“What?” Khloe asked.

“The child you’re carrying was not the first succession child.”

The call ended.

Detective Brooks’s tracking screen went blank.

Khloe stared at Marcus.

“What did she mean?”

Marcus did not answer.

Nathaniel did.

“There was another pregnancy.”

Khloe looked between them.

“Whose?”

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Nathaniel’s face filled with dread.

“Your mother’s.”