Chapter 1 - The Camera Above the Door
Marcus reached Khloe first.
He dropped to his knees beside her, his face losing every trace of the polished confidence he had worn at the gala downstairs.
“Khloe, look at me.”
Khloe heard him, but the room seemed to tilt around his voice.
Her hands remained locked around her stomach.
“My baby.”
Those were the only words she could force out.
Marcus looked toward the doorway.
“Call the medical team now.”
Elaine Parker was already reaching for her phone.
Isabella stood near the shattered champagne glass, suddenly looking smaller than she had seconds earlier.
Her tears came quickly.
“She came at me first.”
Marcus turned toward her.
The expression on his face stopped her cold.
“Don’t.”
One word.
Nothing more.
But Isabella understood the warning.
Footsteps thundered down the private corridor.
Two nurses arrived first.
Then a physician.
Then four hospital security officers.
Behind them came a tall silver-haired man in a charcoal suit.
Gabriel Ashford.
Khloe’s maternal uncle.
Chairman of the Ashford Foundation.
Majority owner of the private medical network operating the hospital.
And one of the few men in New York whose influence could make even Marcus Thorne’s name seem ordinary.
Gabriel saw Khloe on the floor.
His entire expression changed.
“Seal this floor.”
The head of security hesitated.
“Mr. Ashford—”
“Now.”
The hallway doors locked within seconds.
Elevators stopped accepting guest access.
Security officers were stationed at every stairwell.
Isabella’s face went pale.
“You can’t keep me here.”
Gabriel looked at her for the first time.
“I’m not keeping you anywhere.”
He glanced toward the security chief.
“I’m preserving a scene until law enforcement arrives.”
Isabella swallowed.
Khloe was lifted carefully onto a medical bed.
Marcus followed as doctors rushed her toward the examination room.
Gabriel stayed behind.
He looked at the broken crystal.
The overturned chair.
The marks against the marble table.
Then his eyes slowly traveled upward.
Directly above the private suite entrance was a black security camera.
Gabriel stared at it for several seconds.
“When was that camera last checked?”
The security chief answered immediately.
“This morning.”
“Does it record audio?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Isabella stopped breathing.
Gabriel noticed.
“So the room heard everything.”
Nobody answered.
Gabriel stepped closer to Isabella.
Her perfect makeup could not hide the fear anymore.
She looked toward the door as if calculating whether she could somehow escape.
Gabriel leaned closer.
“You should hope my niece lied.”
Isabella’s lips trembled.
“Because if she didn’t, you just destroyed your own life in high definition.”
Twenty minutes later, Khloe lay beneath white hospital lights while a doctor studied the monitors.
Marcus stood beside the bed.
He wanted to touch her hand.
Khloe moved it away.
Not because she blamed him for the attack.
Not yet.
But because one sentence Isabella had spoken kept repeating inside her mind.
You were supposed to smile for the cameras, give him the child he wanted, and disappear.
That sentence did not sound like jealousy.
It sounded like a plan.
The doctor finally turned toward Khloe.
“The baby’s heartbeat is strong.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
But the doctor wasn’t smiling.
“We need to keep monitoring you tonight.”
Marcus exhaled shakily.
Khloe looked at him.
“Did you know she was coming here?”
“No.”
“Did you know she wanted me gone?”
“No.”
Khloe stared into his eyes.
Then the examination-room door opened.
Gabriel entered holding a tablet.
His expression was darker than before.
“We have the footage.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Then this is over.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“No.”
He placed the tablet on the table.
“The attack is only the beginning.”
Khloe felt cold.
“What else did the camera capture?”
May you like
Gabriel’s eyes remained on Marcus.
“Something your husband should explain.”
