Chapter 7 - The Plan Before the Fall
Vincent crossed the room in two steps.
“What are you saying?”
Marcus lifted both hands.
“I don’t mean he planned to kill her.”
Khloe stared at him.
“That’s a comforting distinction.”
Marcus continued quickly.
“Three weeks ago, I found documents in my father’s private office.”
“There was a strategy memo.”
“It discussed triggering the incapacity clause in your trust.”
Vincent’s face darkened.
“How?”
“Medical evidence.”
Khloe felt cold.
Marcus explained.
The plan did not require Khloe to die.
It only required two doctors to certify that she was temporarily incapable of managing major financial decisions.
Stress.
Pregnancy complications.
Medication.
A psychological evaluation.
Anything could be used.
Once the incapacity clause activated, Marcus would receive temporary authority over her trust.
Damian believed he could control Marcus.
Khloe stared at her husband.
“And Isabella?”
“I think my father expected her to create instability.”
“Public arguments.”
“Scandal.”
“Anything that made you appear emotionally unpredictable.”
Khloe remembered weeks of calculated provocations.
Isabella showing up at dinners.
Isabella touching Marcus’s arm in front of photographers.
Anonymous gossip columns questioning Khloe’s marriage.
It had not been random.
It had been pressure.
Marcus looked down.
“I played directly into it.”
Khloe’s voice was flat.
“You slept directly into it.”
Marcus accepted the blow.
“Yes.”
Vincent paced near the window.
“If Damian engineered this, Isabella may have gone upstairs expecting another confrontation.”
Khloe thought about the attack.
“She wanted me angry.”
“She kept insulting the baby.”
“She wanted me to react.”
Robert nodded.
“And if the camera only showed Mrs. Thorne striking first—”
“But it didn’t,” Khloe said.
Robert looked at the security footage.
“No.”
“It showed everything.”
Khloe suddenly remembered something.
“The camera.”
Everyone turned.
“Isabella didn’t know it was there.”
Marcus frowned.
“Why does that matter?”
“Because whoever sent her upstairs should have known.”
Vincent understood first.
“This suite was recently renovated.”
“Yes.”
Khloe looked at Robert.
“When was that camera installed?”
Robert checked his system.
“Five days ago.”
“Who knew?”
“Hospital security.”
“Administration.”
“Senior facilities staff.”
Vincent’s eyes narrowed.
“And me.”
Khloe looked toward the door.
“Not Damian?”
“No.”
“Not Isabella?”
“No.”
“Not Marcus?”
Marcus shook his head.
Khloe slowly exhaled.
Someone had chosen that suite for her tonight.
Someone who may have known a camera was there.
“What room was originally reserved for me?”
Elaine Parker was brought in ten minutes later.
She looked terrified.
Khloe asked the question again.
“What room was I supposed to use after the gala?”
Elaine swallowed.
“Suite 1408.”
Khloe was in 1412.
“Why was it changed?”
Elaine began twisting her fingers.
“There was a maintenance issue.”
Robert checked his tablet.
“No maintenance report exists.”
Elaine’s face turned white.
Vincent stepped closer.
“Who told you to move Mrs. Thorne?”
Elaine began crying.
“I didn’t know anyone would get hurt.”
Khloe remained still.
“Who?”
Elaine looked toward Marcus.
Then shook her head.
“Not him.”
She finally whispered the name.
“Mr. Damian Thorne.”
Marcus looked stunned.
Elaine continued.
“He paid me to move Khloe into that suite.”
Vincent frowned.
“But that suite had the new camera.”
Elaine nodded.
“That’s why he chose it.”
Khloe felt a chill.
The entire room went silent.
Damian had deliberately put her in a room where everything would be recorded.
May you like
Meaning the footage had not ruined his plan.
The footage might have been part of it.
