CHAPTER 3 The Woman Marcus Never Mentioned
Samuel took Marcus’s phone before he could reply.
“Do not touch anything else.”
Marcus’s eyes stayed fixed on the threat.
“They know we found the gap.”
“Maybe.”
“They said next accident.”
Samuel looked at him.
“That word matters.”
Khloe’s fingers tightened around the blanket.
“What do you mean?”
“It means whoever sent this wants us to believe today was not planned.”
Marcus gave a cold laugh.
“Or they’re admitting it was.”
Samuel handed the phone to the hospital’s cybercrime liaison.
Within minutes, the examination room became an unofficial command center.
Security officers guarded both entrances.
Khloe’s medical team moved quietly around them.
A second monitor was brought in.
Every machine beep now felt like a warning.
Marcus paced beside the window.
Samuel stood near the door, speaking with hospital security.
“The message was routed through an encrypted service,” the liaison said. “We can try to trace the device, but it may take time.”
“How much time?” Marcus asked.
“Hours. Maybe longer.”
“We don’t have hours.”
Khloe looked at Samuel.
“Is Isabella still here?”
“Yes.”
“Does she have her phone?”
“No.”
“Then who sent that?”
No one answered.
A nurse entered with a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was Isabella’s phone.
“Security found this in her purse,” the nurse said.
Samuel took the bag.
“Has it been opened?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“We need her messages.”
“We need a warrant or her consent.”
Marcus’s eyes turned hard.
“Then get one.”
Samuel looked at him.
“This is a hospital, not one of your companies. You cannot order legal procedures into existence.”
“I can order my attorneys to move faster.”
“You can. But right now, your wife needs you to remain useful, not powerful.”
Marcus stared at him.
For a moment, neither man moved.
Then Marcus turned back toward Khloe.
Samuel’s words had landed.
An hour later, Isabella was questioned in a hospital conference room.
She sat across from Samuel, Elaine, a security officer, and Detective Nina Brooks from the city police.
Isabella had regained her composure.
Her makeup was flawless.
Her tears were gone.
“I already explained what happened.”
Detective Brooks opened a notebook.
“Explain it again.”
“Khloe accused me of having an affair with her husband.”
“Were you?”
“No.”
“Did you ever have a romantic relationship with Marcus Thorne?”
Isabella’s mouth curved slightly.
“You should ask him.”
“I’m asking you.”
“We kissed once.”
“Six years ago?”
Isabella’s eyes sharpened.
“So he admitted it.”
Brooks did not react.
“Did you contact him recently?”
“We work in the same social circles.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“I don’t count.”
“Did he ask you to stop?”
Isabella leaned back.
“He was confused.”
“Did he ask you to stop?”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
Isabella smiled.
“I gave him space.”
Elaine almost laughed.
Detective Brooks continued.
“Did you access the hospital suite security panel?”
“No.”
“Did anyone give you a staff code?”
“No.”
“Did you know there were cameras inside?”
Isabella’s eyes moved toward Samuel.
“I assumed a hospital like this had security.”
“Then why did you look frightened when I mentioned them?” Samuel asked.
“I was frightened because your niece had attacked me and no one believed me.”
Elaine leaned forward.
“You were not frightened when we entered.”
Isabella turned toward her.
“You don’t know what I felt.”
“I know what I saw.”
“And I know what I saw,” Isabella replied. “Khloe has been unstable for months.”
Detective Brooks stopped writing.
“Explain.”
Isabella hesitated.
Only briefly.
“She’s paranoid. Jealous. Possessive.”
“Do you have evidence of that?”
“Yes.”
The room shifted.
Samuel’s eyes narrowed.
“What evidence?”
Isabella looked directly at him.
“Ask Marcus about the psychiatric report.”
Silence.
Even Detective Brooks paused.
“What report?”
Isabella smiled.
“The one he paid to keep private.”
Across the hall, Marcus sat beside Khloe’s bed.
She had barely spoken to him since his confession.
He watched the monitor.
The baby’s heartbeat remained steady.
It should have comforted him.
It didn’t.
“Khloe.”
She kept her eyes closed.
“I need to tell you something.”
Her eyes opened.
“That sentence has not gone well tonight.”
Marcus flinched.
“There’s more.”
“Of course there is.”
“Three months ago, I received a report.”
“What kind?”
He sat forward.
“A medical evaluation.”
Khloe stared at him.
“Of me?”
“Yes.”
“From whom?”
“It appeared to come from Dr. Adrian Wells.”
Khloe knew the name.
Dr. Wells was a private psychiatrist used by wealthy families who valued discretion more than honesty.
“I have never met Dr. Wells.”
“I know that now.”
Her face went still.
“What did the report say?”
“That you were experiencing severe prenatal paranoia.”
Khloe’s voice dropped.
“And you believed it?”
“At first, I didn’t know what to think.”
“You didn’t know what to think.”
“You had been upset. You said Isabella was following you.”
“She was.”
“I know.”
“You said I was imagining her.”
“I know.”
“You had a fake psychiatric report saying I was unstable, and you never told me?”
“I tried to verify it.”
“When?”
“After you confronted me at the charity dinner.”
“That was six weeks ago.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Dr. Wells denied writing it.”
Khloe stared at him.
“So you knew someone forged a medical report about me.”
“Yes.”
“And you still let Isabella attend tonight.”
Marcus’s voice broke.
“I thought it was meant to frighten me.”
Khloe’s eyes filled with furious tears.
“It was meant to isolate me.”
“I understand that now.”
“No. You understand it because she pushed me in front of a camera she thought was disabled.”
Marcus reached for her hand.
She pulled away.
“Don’t.”
He lowered his hand.
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“You’re telling me the pieces after they explode.”
Marcus looked away.
Khloe’s voice became colder.
“Who had access to the report?”
“My attorney. My security chief. My executive assistant.”
“And Isabella?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
Marcus did not answer.
Khloe watched his face.
“Marcus.”
“My executive assistant used to work for her father.”
Khloe inhaled sharply.
“What’s her name?”
“Vanessa Cole.”
Before Khloe could respond, Samuel entered.
He closed the door behind him.
“Isabella knows about the psychiatric report.”
Marcus stood.
“How?”
“That is exactly what I want to know.”
Khloe looked between them.
Samuel continued.
“She used it to support her claim that Khloe attacked her.”
Marcus’s face hardened.
“She is building a defense.”
“She built it before tonight,” Khloe said.
Both men turned toward her.
Khloe pushed herself higher against the pillows.
“The report. The camera interruption. The private suite. She planned every part.”
Samuel nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Then why would she stay after the attack?”
“Because she expected to be believed.”
Khloe looked at the monitor.
“And because someone inside this hospital promised her the footage would disappear.”
Samuel’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at Khloe.
“We found the employee access record.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“Who used the code?”
Samuel’s voice became quiet.
“Dr. Adrian Wells.”
Khloe stared at him.
“The psychiatrist?”
“Yes.”
May you like
Samuel looked toward the hallway.
“And according to hospital records, he entered this building thirty minutes before the attack.”
