Chapter 3 - THE BACKUP NO ONE KNEW EXISTED
Khloe woke to the sound of two heartbeats.
One was hers.
The other came through the fetal monitor beside the bed.
She turned her head.
Nathaniel stood near the window.
“Where is Marcus?”
“Outside.”
“Is the baby alive?”
“Yes.”
The word broke through the panic in her chest.
Nathaniel explained that the bleeding had slowed.
The placenta remained attached, but she would need strict monitoring and bed rest.
“You were lucky.”
“No.”
Khloe looked toward the ceiling.
“Isabella missed.”
Nathaniel sat beside her.
“Did Marcus know she planned this?”
Khloe closed her eyes.
“I do not know what Marcus knows anymore.”
Three months earlier, Isabella began appearing at every Thorne Foundation event.
She leaned too close when speaking to Marcus.
She referenced private memories Khloe had never heard.
She sent messages after midnight and deleted them before morning.
Whenever Khloe questioned him, Marcus called the situation political.
Lorenzo Rossi controlled shipping permits Marcus needed for a major expansion.
Isabella was simply helping negotiate.
At least, that was what he claimed.
“Did you tell him about the medication?” Nathaniel asked.
“I tried.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me pregnancy was making me suspicious.”
Nathaniel’s jaw tightened.
A knock sounded.
Elaine entered and locked the door behind her.
She carried a silver laptop beneath her arm.
“The suite recording was erased from the hospital server.”
Nathaniel stood.
“We know.”
“It was not erased from mine.”
Both of them stared at her.
Elaine explained that the charity gala involved celebrity guests and political donors.
For insurance purposes, the event team created an independent backup of all hallway and suite-entry cameras.
The backup transmitted to a portable production system.
Only Elaine possessed the password.
She opened the laptop.
The video began with Khloe entering the suite alone.
Two minutes later, Isabella followed.
The audio was clear.
You were supposed to know your place.
Smile for the cameras.
Give him an heir.
Then disappear.
Marcus entered while the recording played.
He stopped beside the bed.
On the screen, Isabella shoved Khloe into the table.
The glass shattered.
Then the red stiletto struck Khloe’s side.
Marcus’s face became completely still.
The recording continued.
Isabella crouched beside Khloe after the attack.
She whispered something the opening witnesses had not heard.
“Marcus will thank me when the baby is gone.”
Khloe turned toward her husband.
He looked sick.
Elaine paused the video.
“There is more.”
The footage showed Isabella opening the medication cabinet.
She removed a vial, replaced it with another and wiped the handle.
The timestamp was from the previous week.
Marcus stepped closer to the screen.
“What was in the vial?”
Nathaniel answered.
“An emergency drug used to stop premature contractions.”
Elaine resumed the recording.
Isabella replaced it with a clear liquid later identified as saline.
If Khloe went into early labor, the medication intended to save the pregnancy would do nothing.
Marcus looked toward the hallway.
Isabella was gone.
Her attorney remained.
Lorenzo Rossi was gone too.
The security officer outside the suite had been found unconscious inside a service elevator.
Nathaniel reached for his phone.
Before he could call the police, the fetal monitor alarm began screaming.
May you like
Khloe’s heartbeat remained steady.
The baby’s did not.
