Chapter 4 - The Man Behind Isabella
Damian Thorne arrived at the hospital before midnight.
Nobody had called him.
That frightened Khloe more than if someone had.
Damian walked into the private conference room wearing a dark overcoat over his tuxedo.
At sixty-seven, he still carried the presence that had built Thorne Global into an international empire.
He looked at Marcus.
Then Vincent.
Then Khloe.
“My granddaughter?”
“Grandchild,” Khloe corrected quietly.
“You don’t get to claim anything tonight.”
Damian stopped.
He looked at the monitor attached to her bed.
“I heard there was an incident.”
Vincent folded his arms.
“Interesting.”
“What is?”
“We locked this floor down.”
“The hospital has employees.”
“So does the White House.”
Damian ignored him.
He turned to Marcus.
“Come outside.”
Marcus did not move.
“No.”
Something passed between father and son.
Fear.
Defiance.
Maybe both.
Khloe held up the Northstar documents.
“Isabella works for you.”
Damian’s expression barely changed.
“She has done consulting work for several companies.”
“You own Northstar.”
“Indirectly.”
“Why?”
“Investments.”
Khloe nearly laughed.
“You filed a petition involving my private family trust.”
Damian sat across from her.
“For the sake of Thorne Global.”
“I’m beginning to hate that sentence.”
“You don’t understand what happens if control suddenly shifts.”
“I understand perfectly.”
“No.”
Damian leaned forward.
“You understand wealth.”
“You do not understand power.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Careful.”
Damian glanced at him.
“Your sister understood.”
The mention of Khloe’s mother changed the room.
Khloe’s voice became quieter.
“What did my mother understand?”
Damian leaned back.
“That our companies were never separate.”
Khloe frowned.
He explained that decades earlier, Thorne Global had nearly collapsed during an international debt crisis.
Khloe’s mother, Celeste Laurent, had used the Laurent trust to rescue it.
In exchange, she obtained shares.
Over the following years, the trust quietly increased its position.
By the time Celeste died, she held the most powerful voting block in Thorne Global.
“Then why hide it from me?”
“Because your mother didn’t trust you yet.”
Vincent slammed his palm on the table.
“Enough.”
Damian did not flinch.
Khloe looked at her uncle.
“Is that true?”
Vincent’s anger disappeared.
He hesitated.
Khloe immediately understood.
“You knew too.”
“Not everything.”
“But you knew about the shares.”
“Yes.”
The betrayal shifted again.
First Marcus.
Now Vincent.
Everyone had apparently decided that Khloe’s inheritance was too important for Khloe to understand.
She turned to Damian.
“Why did Isabella attack me?”
“I never instructed her to touch you.”
“But you put her near Marcus.”
Damian said nothing.
Marcus stepped forward.
“You arranged her introduction.”
“Yes.”
Marcus looked sick.
“You wanted her to get close to me.”
“I wanted information.”
“You used her to sabotage my marriage.”
Damian finally showed emotion.
“I used her to determine whether you were strong enough to run the company.”
Marcus stared at him.
Khloe almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
Damian looked at Khloe.
“Isabella was supposed to distract Marcus.”
“Distract?”
“If he betrayed his wife for an ambitious woman offering him board intelligence, he would reveal his weakness.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“So my marriage was an experiment.”
Damian’s answer was merciless.
“Everything is an experiment when billions of dollars and forty thousand jobs depend on the result.”
Khloe looked at Marcus.
“And you failed.”
Marcus did not argue.
A hospital attorney entered quietly.
“Mr. Laurent.”
Vincent turned.
“Police are ready to interview Ms. Rossi.”
Damian stood.
“I’d like five minutes with her first.”
“No,” Khloe said.
Everyone looked at her.
She slowly pushed herself higher against the pillows.
“Nobody speaks to Isabella until I do.”
Marcus shook his head.
“That’s not safe.”
Khloe looked at him.
“I stopped relying on you for safety tonight.”
Twenty minutes later, Isabella sat in a locked consultation room.
Two security officers stood outside.
Her mascara had streaked beneath her eyes.
Her crimson dress was wrinkled.
Khloe entered in a wheelchair with Vincent beside her.
Isabella stared at her.
Then she smiled.
“You think you won.”
Khloe said nothing.
Isabella leaned closer.
“Ask your husband what he promised me.”
Khloe’s expression remained calm.
Isabella’s smile widened.
“He didn’t just promise to leave you.”
May you like
She paused.
“He promised me your seat on the board.”
