Chapter 1 - THE CAMERA THAT NEVER BLINKED
Marcus crossed the suite in three long steps.
He dropped to his knees beside Khloe and reached toward her face.
She recoiled before she could stop herself.
The movement hit him harder than any accusation.
“Khloe.”
“Do not touch me.”
Her voice was barely audible.
One hand remained wrapped around her stomach.
The other pressed against the marble floor, trembling beneath her weight.
Isabella stood several feet away, tears sliding perfectly down her cheeks.
“She came at me first.”
Marcus looked at the shattered champagne glass.
Then at the red mark spreading along Khloe’s ribs.
“What happened?”
“I told you.”
Isabella placed one hand against her chest.
“She accused me of having an affair with you.”
Khloe forced herself to look at her husband.
“Ask her why she kicked me.”
“I never kicked you.”
Elaine Parker covered her mouth.
She had seen enough when the door opened to understand who was lying.
But she was an event coordinator employed by the Thorne Foundation.
Isabella Rossi’s father owned half the private hospitals in the state.
Speaking carelessly could end Elaine’s career before sunrise.
Marcus looked between the two women.
His hesitation lasted less than two seconds.
For Khloe, it felt like an entire marriage collapsing.
“You do not believe me,” she whispered.
“I am trying to understand.”
“There is nothing to understand.”
A sharp pain tightened beneath her stomach.
Khloe gasped and folded forward.
Marcus caught her before her head struck the floor.
Blood appeared beneath the white fabric of her maternity dress.
The color drained from his face.
“Call a doctor.”
Elaine reached for the wall phone.
Isabella backed toward the door.
“This is not my fault.”
Marcus looked up at her.
“You are not leaving.”
She stopped.
The suite doors opened again.
Dr. Nathaniel Mercer entered with two nurses and a security officer.
He was the hospital’s chief medical officer.
He was also Khloe’s mother’s older brother.
To the public, Nathaniel and Khloe rarely acknowledged their relationship.
Her uncle had spent years avoiding the Thorne family’s media circus.
Tonight, he did not bother hiding his fury.
“What happened to my niece?”
Marcus stared at him.
“Your niece?”
Nathaniel ignored the question.
He knelt beside Khloe and checked her pulse.
“Get a fetal monitor.”
A nurse ran toward the cabinet.
Nathaniel examined the bruising along Khloe’s side.
“This is not from a fall.”
Isabella lifted her chin.
“She attacked me.”
Nathaniel looked toward the black security dome above the suite entrance.
“No.”
“She did not.”
Isabella’s confidence flickered.
Marcus followed his gaze.
“You have footage?”
“This is a high-security maternity suite.”
Nathaniel stood.
“Every entrance, medication cabinet and emergency station is recorded.”
Isabella’s tears stopped.
Elaine looked toward the camera.
A tiny green light glowed beneath the lens.
Nathaniel turned to the security officer.
“Lock this floor.”
Isabella reached for her phone.
The officer took it from her.
“You cannot detain me.”
Nathaniel’s voice became cold.
“You assaulted a pregnant patient inside my hospital.”
“You do not know that.”
“The camera does.”
A fetal monitor began producing rapid, uneven tones.
Khloe cried out.
Nathaniel looked at the screen.
“Her placenta may be separating.”
Marcus gripped Khloe’s hand.
“Save them.”
Nathaniel stared at him.
“You should have protected them before they reached my operating room.”
As the nurses rushed Khloe from the suite, Isabella watched the security light above the door.
Then she smiled faintly.
May you like
She knew something Nathaniel did not.
The recording had already been erased.
