Chapter 1 - The Recording
Marcus Thorne did not move for several seconds.
Khloe remained curled on the marble floor with both hands around her stomach.
Isabella stood three feet away, tears streaming down her face as if she were the victim.
“She attacked me first,” Isabella whispered.
Marcus looked at Khloe.
Then he looked at Isabella.
For one terrible second, Khloe saw hesitation in her husband’s eyes.
That hesitation hurt more than the fall.
“Marcus,” Khloe said quietly.
“Don’t.”
Isabella immediately stepped toward him.
“She’s been threatening me for weeks.”
“She said she knew about us.”
The room went silent.
Elaine Parker’s face changed.
Khloe slowly lifted her eyes.
“About what?”
Isabella froze.
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
Before anyone answered, heavy footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Three hospital security officers entered.
Behind them walked Vincent Laurent.
Khloe’s uncle.
Sixty-two years old.
Silver-haired.
Controlled.
And chairman of Laurent Medical Holdings, the company that owned the building.
His face lost all color when he saw Khloe on the floor.
“Lock this floor.”
One security officer touched his earpiece.
“Yes, sir.”
“Nobody leaves.”
Vincent knelt beside his niece.
“Khloe, look at me.”
“I’m okay.”
“No.”
His voice softened.
“You’re not.”
Doctors entered seconds later.
While they carefully lifted Khloe onto a stretcher, Isabella stepped toward the door.
A security officer blocked her.
“You can’t detain me.”
Vincent slowly stood.
“In my hospital, after an assault against a patient?”
“I absolutely can keep you here until law enforcement arrives.”
Isabella turned toward Marcus.
“Tell him.”
Marcus said nothing.
That silence frightened her.
Vincent looked toward the small black camera positioned above the suite entrance.
Then he looked at security director Robert Kane.
“Pull everything.”
“Audio too?”
“Everything.”
Isabella’s expression finally cracked.
Khloe noticed.
So did Marcus.
Thirty minutes later, Khloe lay inside a private maternity observation room.
The baby’s heartbeat remained steady.
Her doctor explained that she would need continuous monitoring for several hours.
Vincent sat beside her.
Marcus stood near the window.
Neither man spoke.
Then Robert entered carrying a tablet.
“We found the footage.”
Vincent held out his hand.
“Play it.”
Marcus turned around sharply.
On the screen, Isabella entered the suite.
Khloe appeared several seconds later.
Every word had been captured.
Every insult.
Every shove.
Every movement.
Then came the moment Isabella struck Khloe’s side.
Marcus looked away.
Vincent did not.
His face became colder with every second.
Then the footage reached the moment Marcus entered.
Isabella’s performance began.
“She attacked me.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Khloe stared at Marcus.
“You heard what she said.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Khloe repeated the words.
“She said I knew about you two.”
Vincent looked at him.
Marcus slowly opened his eyes again.
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
Khloe’s voice became almost emotionless.
“How long?”
Marcus swallowed.
“Khloe.”
“How long?”
“Six months.”
Vincent rose from his chair.
Marcus continued before Vincent could speak.
“It wasn’t supposed to become what it became.”
Khloe laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You always say that when you’ve already decided the damage doesn’t matter.”
Marcus looked at her stomach.
“I never wanted this.”
“But you wanted her.”
He could not answer.
That was answer enough.
Robert suddenly cleared his throat.
“There’s another problem.”
Vincent turned.
“What?”
Robert hesitated.
“The suite camera wasn’t the only camera that recorded something tonight.”
Marcus’s face changed.
Robert placed another video on the screen.
“This footage came from the service corridor seventeen minutes before Mrs. Thorne went upstairs.”
The video began.
Marcus appeared.
So did Isabella.
And Marcus was handing her something.
A hospital access card.
Khloe stared at the screen.
May you like
Then Marcus whispered two words that changed everything.
“I can explain.”
