Chapter 8 - Isabella Stops Crying
Isabella had spent the night in a secured interview room under police supervision.
By morning, the tears were gone.
Her attorney arrived at nine.
By eleven, she refused to answer every question.
At twelve-thirty, Gabriel entered the observation room beside the detectives.
Khloe watched remotely from her recovery suite.
Marcus stood beside her.
Isabella sat calmly at the table.
Her crimson gown had been replaced with borrowed hospital clothing.
Without the diamonds and perfect makeup, she looked exhausted.
But not defeated.
The detective placed a still image of Silas Reed in front of her.
“Do you know him?”
Isabella looked at the photograph.
“No.”
The detective played the recovered audio.
Her face barely changed.
“Is that your voice?”
“My client will not answer.”
Gabriel leaned toward the microphone.
“Ask her about the twenty-five million dollars.”
The detective did.
For the first time, Isabella reacted.
Her eyes lifted.
“Where did you hear that?”
Her attorney touched her arm.
“Don’t.”
Isabella ignored him.
“Did Marcus tell you?”
The detective remained calm.
“Why would Marcus know?”
Isabella laughed softly.
“Because eventually fathers run out of lies.”
Khloe stared at the screen.
Marcus’s hands tightened.
The detective pushed another photograph forward.
Conrad Thorne.
“Did Conrad contact you?”
Isabella looked at him.
Then toward the one-way glass.
She knew someone important was watching.
“Conrad contacted everyone.”
“Did he ask you to hurt Khloe?”
“No.”
“Did he ask you to frighten her?”
Silence.
“Did he ask you to create a situation where she might require emergency medical care?”
Isabella’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Khloe noticed.
“So she knew about the contract.”
Marcus looked at her.
“What?”
“She knew what would happen if I became incapacitated.”
Inside the interview room, Isabella finally spoke.
“Conrad wanted his son back.”
The detective leaned forward.
“What does that mean?”
“He thought Khloe had changed Marcus.”
“How?”
“She made him independent.”
Marcus almost smiled bitterly.
Isabella continued.
“Marcus stopped asking permission.”
Her eyes became colder.
“He stopped behaving like a Thorne.”
The detective asked the obvious question.
“And you agreed to help Conrad?”
Isabella laughed.
“You think I did this for Conrad?”
Khloe leaned closer to the screen.
Isabella looked directly toward the glass.
“No.”
She seemed almost pleased now.
“Conrad owed me.”
“For what?”
“For destroying my family.”
The detective waited.
Isabella continued.
“Years ago, my father discovered what Conrad was doing inside Thorne Strategic Holdings.”
Marcus stared.
“What was he doing?”
Isabella’s voice lowered.
“Moving money.”
“Where?”
“Shell companies.”
“For what purpose?”
“My father never found out.”
A pause.
“Because three days later, he died.”
Marcus went still.
Khloe looked at him.
Isabella leaned back in her chair.
“And Conrad paid my mother twenty-five million dollars before the funeral.”
No one in the observation room moved.
May you like
Then Isabella delivered the sentence that changed the investigation.
“You’re looking at the wrong crime.”
