Chapter Four: A Child Without a Name
Khloe woke thirty-six hours later.
The first word she said was “baby.”
Harrison was beside her bed.
“She is alive.”
Khloe’s eyes filled with tears.
“Where?”
“In the NICU. She is small, but she is fighting.”
“Richard?”
“He is not here.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
“He saw Vanessa.”
“Yes.”
“He knew she was going to confront me.”
Harrison leaned closer.
“How do you know?”
“Before the hearing, Richard told me not to provoke her. He said she was emotional because of the pregnancy.”
“You never told me.”
“I thought he was trying to frighten me.”
“Did Vanessa threaten you?”
Khloe hesitated.
“Not directly.”
“Khloe.”
“She sent me a message the night before.”
“What did it say?”
“That there would only be room for one Harrington baby.”
Harrison went still.
“Do you still have it?”
“I deleted it.”
“Why?”
“I was ashamed.”
“Of what?”
“That I let them turn my life into this.”
Harrison took her hand.
“The shame belongs to them.”
The hospital arranged for Khloe to visit her daughter in a wheelchair.
The baby was surrounded by monitors and clear plastic walls.
She weighed less than four pounds.
Khloe placed one finger through the opening of the incubator.
The infant’s hand curled around it.
For the first time since the courthouse, Khloe smiled.
“Her name is Grace,” she whispered.
Harrison stood behind her.
“Grace Cole Harrington?”
Khloe looked up.
“No.”
She studied her daughter’s tiny face.
“Grace Cole.”
Harrison understood.
The marriage was over.
That afternoon, he filed for an emergency protective order.
He included Vanessa’s message, Richard’s financial fraud, the deleted surveillance footage, and testimony from three witnesses who had seen Vanessa approach Khloe aggressively.
A substitute judge granted the order.
Richard was prohibited from contacting Khloe or entering the NICU.
Vanessa was ordered to stay five hundred feet away.
The decision made national headlines.
Within hours, reporters surrounded Harrington Commercial Group headquarters.
Its lenders demanded explanations.
Investors requested emergency audits.
Richard called Harrison from an unknown number.
“You are destroying my company.”
“You did that yourself.”
“My employees are innocent.”
“Then cooperate.”
“I want to see my daughter.”
“Her name is Grace.”
“She is a Harrington.”
“No,” Harrison said. “She is evidence of everything you were willing to sacrifice.”
Richard’s voice dropped.
“You think you understand what is happening. You do not.”
“Then explain it.”
“I cannot.”
“Because Judge Kensington would not approve?”
Silence.
That silence was enough.
Harrison continued.
“The courthouse footage was erased from an IP address belonging to your company. Your wife was threatened. Your mistress attacked her. And your first concern is the company.”
“You need to stop digging.”
“Why?”
“Because Vanessa is not the dangerous person in this situation.”
Harrison looked through the hospital window toward Khloe and Grace.
“Neither am I,” he said.
Then he ended the call.
But Richard’s warning stayed with him.
Vanessa might have committed the attack.
May you like
Someone else had erased the evidence.
And someone powerful was afraid of what Harrison would find next.
