Chapter 5 - The Twenty-Five Million Dollar Secret
Marcus followed his father into the corridor.
Khloe could hear his voice through the closed door.
“What happened?”
Conrad kept walking.
Marcus grabbed his arm.
“Stop.”
Conrad looked down at his son’s hand.
Marcus released him.
“What happened with Isabella?”
Conrad adjusted his jacket.
“You were twenty-eight.”
“I remember my age.”
“You were reckless.”
“I ended an engagement.”
“No.”
Conrad’s voice became quieter.
“We ended it for you.”
Marcus stared at him.
“What are you talking about?”
Conrad glanced toward the security cameras.
“Not here.”
Marcus blocked his path.
“You don’t get to decide where anymore.”
Conrad’s eyes hardened.
“Isabella discovered information about the company.”
“What information?”
“Transactions.”
“Illegal transactions?”
Conrad said nothing.
Marcus felt his stomach turn.
“You paid her family twenty-five million dollars to stay quiet.”
“I protected you.”
“From what?”
“From becoming responsible for crimes you didn’t commit.”
Marcus stepped back.
For years, he had believed his engagement to Isabella ended because she had betrayed him with another man.
Photographs had appeared.
Arguments followed.
Within forty-eight hours, the wedding was cancelled.
Isabella disappeared to Europe.
Marcus never asked enough questions.
Now he understood why everything had happened so quickly.
“Those photographs.”
Conrad looked away.
“They were arranged.”
Marcus stared at him.
“You framed her.”
“We gave both families a clean exit.”
“You destroyed her reputation.”
“We preserved yours.”
Marcus felt sick.
“And now she attacked Khloe.”
“That was not my instruction.”
Marcus froze.
The sentence hung between them.
“Your instruction?”
Conrad realized too late what he had said.
Marcus stepped closer.
“What did you instruct her to do?”
“Nothing.”
“You just said it wasn’t your instruction.”
Conrad’s attorney moved toward them from farther down the hallway.
Marcus raised a hand.
“Stay back.”
Then he looked at his father.
“You contacted her.”
Conrad remained silent.
“That encrypted number came from your office.”
Still nothing.
Marcus leaned closer.
“What did you want her to do?”
Conrad finally answered.
“Create pressure.”
“What kind of pressure?”
“Enough for Khloe to leave you.”
Marcus stared at him in disbelief.
“You wanted my pregnant wife to leave me.”
“I wanted you out of a marriage that was weakening your judgment.”
Marcus almost laughed.
“My judgment?”
“You handed Khloe voting authority.”
“She is my wife.”
“She is an Ashford.”
There it was.
Not jealousy.
Not family concern.
Business.
Marcus stepped back.
“This was about the merger.”
Conrad didn’t deny it.
The Thorne and Ashford families jointly controlled billions in overlapping investments.
Khloe’s marriage to Marcus had brought peace between two empires that had competed for decades.
But it had also given Khloe influence inside Thorne Strategic Holdings.
Conrad hated that.
Marcus looked through the glass wall toward his wife.
“She almost lost our child because of you.”
“I told Isabella to create doubt.”
“You reopened contact with a woman you destroyed and expected her to behave rationally?”
Conrad’s jaw tightened.
“I did not authorize violence.”
Marcus turned away.
Then Conrad said something else.
“There is something you should know before you decide which side you’re on.”
Marcus looked back.
May you like
Conrad’s voice dropped.
“Khloe’s uncle has been lying to her too.”
