Chapter 2 - The Recording

The fetal monitor made the only sound in the examination room.

A steady, fast rhythm.

Khloe lay on her side with one hand beneath her cheek and the other resting over the sensor straps around her stomach.

Daniel stood at the foot of the bed, reading the screen.

"Say something."

He did not look away.

"The baby's heart rate is reassuring."

"Reassuring isn't the same as safe."

"No. It isn't."

Khloe closed her eyes.

"Is there bleeding?"

"Not that we can see."

"Placental abruption?"

"Nothing obvious on the first scan."

"First scan."

"Khloe."

She opened her eyes.

Daniel moved closer.

"We're going to observe you overnight. Maybe longer. There are contractions, but they're irregular."

"Because she kicked me."

His jaw tightened.

"Yes."

"Don't make that face."

"What face?"

"The one you made when my father died."

Daniel looked down.

"I don't remember my face."

"I do."

The door opened.

Marcus entered alone.

Khloe's expression changed immediately.

Daniel noticed.

"I'll give you five minutes."

"Stay."

Marcus stopped.

Khloe looked at Daniel.

"Please."

Daniel remained.

Marcus nodded once.

"All right."

He stood near the wall instead of approaching the bed.

"I saw the footage."

Khloe's fingers tightened around the sheet.

"And?"

"She lied."

"That wasn't difficult."

"No."

Marcus swallowed.

"She walked in. She threatened you. She shoved you twice. Then she kicked you after you were already hurt."

Khloe said nothing.

"I gave security authorization to copy the recording for the police."

"Good."

"Isabella has an attorney coming."

"Of course she does."

"Her father is downstairs."

That got a reaction.

Khloe turned her head.

"Victor Rossi?"

"Yes."

Daniel folded his arms.

"What does he want?"

"To stop this from becoming public."

Khloe laughed once, bitterly.

"My wife was assaulted while pregnant, but the urgent problem is public relations."

Marcus flinched at the phrase my wife because it came from her with anger, not reassurance.

"He offered to pay any medical expenses."

Daniel's stare sharpened.

"You told him this hospital does not accept hush money?"

"I told him if he came within fifty feet of Khloe, I'd have him removed."

"Better."

Khloe watched Marcus.

"Why is Isabella doing this?"

"I don't know."

"Don't."

"What?"

"Don't tell me you don't know her."

"I know her."

"You defended her for weeks."

"I said the rumors were exaggerated."

"They weren't."

Marcus looked at the floor.

"No."

Khloe's voice dropped.

"Did you sleep with her?"

Daniel turned his head away, but did not leave.

Marcus answered immediately.

"No."

"Ever?"

"Not while we've been together."

"Before?"

"Once. Years ago."

Khloe stared at him.

"You said you were never together."

"We weren't."

"You slept with her."

"One night. After college. I regretted it immediately."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it didn't matter."

"It mattered to her."

"I didn't know that."

"Or you didn't want to know."

Marcus opened his mouth.

No answer came.

Khloe looked away.

Daniel broke the silence.

"Marcus, there is something else."

"What?"

"Elaine told me Isabella asked about camera coverage."

"I know."

"Security pulled her visitor access history."

"And?"

"She visited this floor three times in the past month."

Marcus frowned.

"Khloe wasn't hospitalized."

"No."

"Then why was she here?"

Daniel slid a printed access log across the counter.

"One visit was registered under a donor tour. One under a meeting with administration."

"And the third?"

"She used a temporary pass issued to Victor Rossi."

Marcus read the date.

His expression went still.

"That was the day Khloe had her amniocentesis."

Khloe turned.

"What?"

Daniel nodded.

"She was here for forty-two minutes."

Khloe's mouth went dry.

"Did she come into my room?"

"We don't know yet."

"How can you not know?"

"Because the older corridor cameras were offline for a software upgrade."

Marcus stared at the paper.

"Convenient."

"Very."

The door opened again.

Elaine entered carrying a laptop.

"I'm sorry."

Daniel looked at her.

"For what?"

"I found something."

She placed the laptop on the counter.

"The gala donor seating file. Isabella had access."

Marcus frowned.

"She's on the gala committee."

"She changed Khloe's schedule."

Khloe sat up slightly.

"Changed what?"

"Your physician check-in. You were supposed to come upstairs at nine-fifteen."

"I came at eight-forty."

"Exactly."

Elaine clicked the screen.

"At six this evening, the schedule was edited. Your rest break was moved earlier."

Marcus's voice was quiet.

"By Isabella?"

"The account is hers."

Khloe stared.

"So she knew I'd be alone."

Elaine nodded.

"And she requested that I escort a donor family to radiology at eight-thirty."

"But you stayed."

"I felt something was wrong."

Marcus paced once across the room.

"This wasn't rage."

Daniel answered.

"No."

"It was planned."

"Yes."

Khloe watched them both.

"Planned for what? To humiliate me?"

No one answered.

She looked at Marcus.

"She said I was supposed to give you an heir and disappear."

Marcus stopped.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"She said that?"

"Yes."

Daniel's expression changed.

"Exact words?"

Khloe repeated them.

"'Smile for the cameras. Give him an heir. Then disappear.'"

Elaine went pale.

Marcus noticed.

"What?"

Elaine shook her head.

"Nothing."

"Elaine."

She gripped the back of the chair.

"I heard Isabella say something similar last month."

"Where?"

"At Victor Rossi's foundation dinner."

"To whom?"

"A man I didn't recognize."

"What did she say?"

Elaine hesitated.

"She said, 'Once the heir exists, the trust changes.'"

Marcus stared.

Daniel looked at him.

"What trust?"

Marcus's face closed.

Khloe saw it.

"Marcus."

"It's complicated."

"No."

"Khloe—"

"No more complicated."

The fetal monitor continued its rapid rhythm.

She pointed toward the screen.

"That child is inside me because we chose a family together. I was kicked in the stomach tonight by a woman who apparently knows something about a trust connected to my baby. You do not get to tell me it's complicated."

Marcus stood motionless.

Daniel's voice was cold.

"Tell her."

Marcus exhaled.

"My grandfather's trust."

Khloe waited.

"Thorne Capital is controlled through a family trust. I hold voting power now. When my first biological child is born, a separate block of shares transfers into a generational trust."

"How much?"

"Eleven percent."

Elaine whispered.

"That's enormous."

"It can decide control in a contested board vote."

Khloe stared at her husband.

"Who becomes trustee?"

Marcus hesitated.

"Me."

"Only you?"

"Initially."

"Initially?"

"If I die before the child turns twenty-five, the alternate trustee named in the old instrument takes over."

Daniel's eyes narrowed.

"Who?"

Marcus looked at him.

"Victor Rossi."

The room went silent.

Khloe felt the baby kick beneath the monitor.

She almost laughed from disbelief.

"Your grandfather named Isabella's father?"

"Victor was his business partner."

"And you never changed it?"

"I tried. The trust is irrevocable."

Daniel took the access log back.

"So Victor Rossi gains enormous power if Marcus dies after the child is born."

"Yes."

Khloe's gaze sharpened.

"But Isabella attacked me before the baby was born."

Marcus looked at her.

"Which means maybe she wasn't trying to kill the baby."

Daniel's face hardened.

"Maybe she was trying to force an early delivery."

Khloe went cold.

A knock sounded.

A detective stepped into the room.

"Mrs. Thorne? Detective Lena Brooks. I need to ask you about the assault."

Daniel moved toward the door.

"She needs rest."

"It'll be brief."

Khloe shook her head.

"No. Let her ask."

Brooks approached.

"We have Isabella Rossi in a conference room. She's denying intent."

"She kicked a pregnant woman."

"Intent matters for the charge."

Khloe looked at Marcus.

"Show her the trust documents."

Marcus nodded.

Brooks paused.

"Trust documents?"

Daniel answered.

"We may have a motive involving control of Thorne Capital."

Brooks opened her notebook.

"That changes things."

Her phone buzzed.

She checked the screen.

Then looked at Marcus.

"Mr. Thorne, do you have a security detail?"

"Yes."

"Where is your lead guard?"

"Thomas Vane. Why?"

Brooks turned the phone toward him.

"Hospital security just identified the man Isabella met on this floor during her third visit."

Marcus stared at the image.

It showed Isabella near a service elevator.

Beside her stood Thomas Vane.

His own head of security.

Khloe watched Marcus's face.

"You know him."

Marcus spoke slowly.

"He has access to my residence, my cars, my office, and every schedule I keep."

Brooks closed the notebook.

"Then we have a larger problem."

Marcus looked toward the fetal monitor.

For weeks, he had assumed Isabella was an old mistake refusing to accept reality.

Now he understood that she had been standing next to his family while someone inside his own security team opened doors for her.

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And if the trust made his death valuable after the baby's birth, then Khloe's attack might not have been the end of the plan.

It might have been the clock starting.