CHAPTER 2 — THE HEARTBEAT
The ambulance doors slammed shut.
Khloe lay strapped to the stretcher beneath harsh white lights while a paramedic adjusted the monitor attached to her abdomen.
The baby’s heartbeat filled the ambulance.
Fast.
Uneven.
Each change in rhythm made Khloe’s chest tighten.
Elias sat beside her.
He had followed without hesitation, leaving hotel security to contain the suite.
His hand rested on the edge of the bench.
Close enough for Khloe to reach.
She had not seen much of him in recent years.
After her mother died, Elias had become protective in ways Khloe had found overwhelming.
He called too often.
Asked too many questions.
Distrusted nearly everyone around her.
Especially Marcus.
Khloe had defended her husband.
Again and again.
Now she understood why Elias had never stopped watching.
“Uncle,” she whispered.
“I’m here.”
“What did Marcus mean?”
Elias did not pretend to misunderstand.
“He said Isabella was supposed to scare me.”
“Yes.”
“Did you hear everything?”
“Yes.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
The ambulance turned sharply.
Pain pulled through her stomach.
She inhaled slowly.
“Did Marcus plan the attack?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“But he knew she was going to confront me.”
“It sounds that way.”
“Why?”
Elias looked at her.
“Khloe, we need to focus on the baby.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only priority right now.”
She turned her face toward the window.
City lights streaked across the glass.
For weeks, she had suspected that Marcus and Isabella were having an affair.
There had been late-night calls.
Cancelled dinners.
A hotel receipt from Boston when Marcus claimed he had been in Chicago.
Isabella’s perfume on his tuxedo.
The subtle intimacy in the way they argued.
But suspicion was not proof.
Marcus always had an explanation.
A conference.
A donor event.
A board negotiation.
Khloe had accepted every lie because the alternative felt unbearable.
Now the truth seemed to be tearing itself open.
The paramedic looked at the monitor.
“Mrs. Thorne, are you feeling contractions?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does the pain come and go?”
Khloe waited.
A tight pressure gathered across her abdomen.
Then eased.
Then returned.
“Yes.”
The paramedic exchanged a glance with his partner.
“We’re three minutes out.”
Elias reached for Khloe’s hand.
She held on.
At St. Catherine’s Medical Center, the emergency entrance was already waiting.
Doctors rushed Khloe through double doors.
Elias followed until a nurse stopped him.
“Family only beyond this point.”
“I am family.”
The nurse looked at Khloe.
She nodded.
“He stays.”
They moved into a private examination room.
A doctor introduced herself as Dr. Evelyn Shaw.
She was calm, direct, and did not waste time.
“We’re going to run an ultrasound, monitor the fetal heart rate, and check for placental injury.”
Khloe’s fingers went cold.
“Could I lose her?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Tell me honestly.”
“I am.”
Dr. Shaw placed the ultrasound wand against Khloe’s stomach.
A black-and-white image appeared on the screen.
Khloe turned her head.
Her daughter’s shape filled the monitor.
Small.
Curled.
Alive.
The baby moved one arm.
Khloe began to cry.
Elias looked away, swallowing hard.
Dr. Shaw studied the screen.
“The heartbeat is elevated, but there is movement.”
“Is she safe?”
“We need more monitoring.”
The doctor moved the wand lower.
Her expression changed slightly.
Khloe noticed.
“What is it?”
“There’s a small area behind the placenta that may indicate partial separation.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the impact may have caused a placental abruption.”
Elias stepped closer.
“How serious?”
“It can become life-threatening for both mother and baby.”
Khloe stared at the screen.
The room seemed to shrink.
“What happens now?”
“You’ll be admitted. Strict monitoring. Medication to reduce contractions. If the bleeding increases or the baby shows distress, we may need to deliver early.”
“I’m only thirty weeks.”
“I know.”
A nurse entered with paperwork.
“Mrs. Thorne, your husband is in the waiting area.”
Khloe’s eyes hardened.
“I don’t want him here.”
The nurse hesitated.
“He says he has medical power of attorney.”
Elias looked at Khloe.
“Did you sign one?”
Khloe thought back.
Two years earlier, Marcus’s attorney had brought a stack of estate-planning documents to the house.
Trust agreements.
Insurance forms.
Medical directives.
Marcus had told her they were routine.
She had signed where he pointed.
“I might have.”
Elias’s expression turned grim.
“Get me a copy.”
The nurse left.
Khloe looked at him.
“What are you thinking?”
“That Marcus has prepared for more than you know.”
A phone vibrated on the chair beside Elias.
It was Khloe’s handbag, brought by one of the hotel staff.
Elias handed it to her.
The screen showed twenty-three missed calls.
Most were from Marcus.
Several were from unknown numbers.
One message was from Isabella.
Khloe stared at it.
OPEN IT.
Elias leaned closer.
The message had arrived four minutes earlier.
Isabella:
You need to know what Marcus planned before he changes the story. Meet me alone.
Khloe felt anger replace fear.
“She wants to meet.”
“She wants access to you.”
“Maybe she’s scared of Marcus.”
“She just pushed you into a table.”
“She also said the cameras would destroy him.”
Elias took the phone.
“I’ll preserve the message.”
Another notification appeared.
A video file.
No text.
Elias opened it.
The footage was dark and unsteady, recorded from inside a parked car.
Marcus’s voice came through first.
“I’m not divorcing her until the merger closes.”
Isabella responded.
“You said after the baby was born.”
“I changed the timeline.”
“You’re using me.”
“I’m protecting both of us.”
“What about Khloe?”
“She’ll sign the separation agreement once she understands what she stands to lose.”
“And if she refuses?”
There was a pause.
Then Marcus said quietly:
“She won’t.”
The video ended.
Khloe stared at the blank screen.
Elias’s face became unreadable.
“When was this recorded?” Khloe asked.
“There’s metadata.”
He checked the file.
“Three nights ago.”
Khloe’s voice dropped.
“What merger?”
Elias looked at her.
“Thorne International is negotiating a forty-billion-dollar acquisition.”
“I know that.”
“Your shares are required for final approval.”
Khloe frowned.
“My shares?”
“When your father died, he left you thirty-one percent of the company.”
“Marcus controls the voting trust.”
“Only while you remain married to him.”
Khloe stopped breathing.
Elias continued.
“If you file for divorce under the terms of your father’s trust, control of those shares returns directly to you.”
“So Marcus needs me married.”
“Until the merger closes.”
“But Isabella believed he would divorce me.”
“Yes.”
Khloe looked back at the ultrasound monitor.
Her daughter’s heart continued beating.
Marcus had not merely betrayed her.
He had built an entire strategy around her ignorance.
Her marriage was not just broken.
It had become a corporate weapon.
The nurse returned with a folder.
“We received the medical directive from Mr. Thorne’s attorney.”
Elias opened it.
He read the first page.
Then the second.
His expression changed.
“What?” Khloe asked.
Elias looked at the nurse.
“This document gives Marcus authority only if Khloe is unconscious or mentally incapacitated.”
The nurse nodded.
“That’s correct.”
“Then he has no current decision-making power.”
“No.”
Elias turned another page.
His eyes narrowed.
“Where did this amendment come from?”
Khloe’s pulse quickened.
“What amendment?”
Elias held up the document.
“It was filed eleven days ago.”
Khloe stared at him.
“I didn’t sign anything eleven days ago.”
The nurse looked uncomfortable.
The amendment transferred immediate medical authority to Marcus in the event of any pregnancy-related emergency.
At the bottom was Khloe’s signature.
It looked perfect.
Every curve.
Every letter.
Every detail.
But she had never signed it.
Elias closed the folder.
“Call hospital security.”
The nurse hurried out.
Khloe felt suddenly cold.
“He forged my signature.”
“It appears that way.”
“Why would he need control during a pregnancy emergency?”
Elias did not answer.
A loud argument broke out in the hallway.
Marcus’s voice.
“You cannot keep me away from my wife.”
Security officers responded.
Khloe pushed herself upright.
The monitor straps tightened across her stomach.
Marcus entered before anyone could stop him.
His tie was loosened.
His face was pale.
Two hospital security officers followed.
He looked directly at Khloe.
“Thank God.”
“Get out.”
“Khloe, please.”
“You forged my signature.”
His eyes flicked toward Elias.
“I don’t know what he told you.”
“I saw the document.”
“It was part of our estate plan.”
“I didn’t sign it.”
“You signed dozens of papers.”
“Eleven days ago?”
Marcus paused.
That pause was enough.
Khloe pointed toward the door.
“Leave.”
He lowered his voice.
“Isabella is trying to destroy us.”
“You helped her.”
“No.”
“You told her there were no cameras.”
“I told her the suite was private.”
“You told her to scare me.”
Marcus glanced toward the nurse and security officers.
“This is not the place.”
“This is exactly the place.”
His expression shifted.
For one moment, Khloe saw the man beneath the polished public image.
Cold.
Impatient.
Trapped.
“Khloe,” he said, “you need to think carefully before you make accusations that could damage the company.”
Elias moved forward.
“Is that a threat?”
Marcus ignored him.
“The merger is days away. Thousands of employees depend on us.”
Khloe stared at him.
“I’m in a hospital because your mistress attacked me.”
“She is not my mistress.”
The room went silent.
Khloe’s eyes filled with disgust.
“You still can’t say it.”
Marcus’s phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
He declined the call.
Elias noticed.
“Who was it?”
“None of your business.”
The phone rang again.
This time, Khloe saw the name.
ADRIAN VALE.
Isabella’s father.
Marcus stepped back toward the door.
Elias blocked him.
“Answer it.”
Marcus gave him a dangerous look.
“You don’t have authority over me.”
“No,” Elias said. “But the police will.”
As though summoned by the words, two detectives appeared in the hallway.
One of them held a tablet.
“Marcus Thorne?”
Marcus turned.
The detective’s expression was severe.
“We need to speak with you regarding the assault at the Grand Aurelia Hotel.”
Marcus straightened.
“My attorney will contact you.”
The second detective raised the tablet.
“We also need to discuss the audio captured after Mrs. Thorne left the suite.”
Marcus’s face became still.
Khloe looked toward Elias.
He had not told her that the cameras recorded sound.
The detective continued.
“Specifically, the part where you told Isabella Vale she was supposed to scare your wife.”
Marcus said nothing.
The first detective stepped aside.
“You are not under arrest at this time. But do not leave the city.”
Marcus looked at Khloe.
For the first time, she saw fear in his eyes.
Not fear for her.
Not fear for the baby.
Fear of losing control.
He walked out without another word.
A few seconds later, Dr. Shaw returned quickly.
She looked at the fetal monitor.
The baby’s heart rate had dropped.
“Khloe, lie back.”
“What’s happening?”
“We’re seeing signs of distress.”
Nurses rushed into the room.
The lights above the bed brightened.
Dr. Shaw pressed a button on the wall.
“Prepare the operating room.”
Khloe grabbed Elias’s hand.
“Am I losing her?”
Dr. Shaw did not answer immediately.
That terrified her more than anything.
May you like
Then the doctor looked directly at her.
“We may have to deliver your baby tonight.”
