Chapter Nine: The Witness Who Disappeared
Sofia Bell vanished two days before she was scheduled to testify before the grand jury.
Her apartment was empty.
Her phone had been abandoned at a train station.
Her accounts had been drained.
Detective Lena Brooks believed the Rossi family had helped her escape.
Without Sofia, prosecutors could still prove the assault. But the conspiracy involving Isabella’s media campaign became harder to establish.
Then Elaine Parker received a message.
I have what they need. I’m scared.
Elaine immediately contacted police.
The message came from Sofia.
She was hiding in a roadside motel outside Philadelphia.
Lena and federal agents located her before midnight.
Sofia agreed to cooperate in exchange for protection.
Her testimony changed everything.
Isabella had not originally planned to physically injure Khloe.
The first plan was psychological.
Isabella intended to corner Khloe, provoke her with false claims of an affair, and capture an emotional reaction. Edited clips would be released to gossip outlets, presenting Khloe as jealous and unstable.
Adrian promised that once the scandal damaged Marcus, the Thorne board would force him to step aside.
Adrian would become chief executive.
In return, he would support the Rossi acquisition and approve several contracts worth billions.
But Isabella wanted more.
She wanted Marcus.
When Khloe refused to believe the affair claims and ordered Isabella to leave, Isabella lost control.
Sofia also revealed that Isabella had bribed a private nurse to obtain Khloe’s medical schedule.
The luxury hospital suite had not been chosen by accident.
Isabella knew Khloe would go there to rest during the gala.
She knew the hallway would be quiet.
She knew Marcus was expected downstairs for another hour.
The only reason he returned early was because Elaine told him Isabella had gone looking for Khloe.
Sofia gave prosecutors her laptop.
It contained a message Isabella had sent the morning of the gala:
By tomorrow, Marcus will have no wife worth defending.
When Marcus read the message, he left the conference room without speaking.
He went directly to the hospital.
Khloe was seated near the window, reading.
He handed her the printed message.
She read it once and placed it facedown.
“I don’t want to know every ugly thing she said.”
“I thought you had a right to see it.”
“I have a right to heal.”
Marcus nodded.
He took the paper back.
Khloe watched him walk toward the door.
“Destroy it.”
He stopped.
“The evidence is preserved,” she continued. “I don’t want that sentence living in this room.”
Marcus tore the copy in half.
Then again.
And again.
He dropped the pieces into the trash.
Khloe returned to her book.
For the first time since the attack, Marcus sat quietly beside her.
May you like
Neither spoke.
But she did not ask him to leave.
