Chapter 12: The Facility
Marcus wanted Khloe to remain at the hospital.
Khloe refused.
Ava was stable, protected by Gabriel’s most trusted security team.
Khloe had already lost control over her marriage, her family history, and the conception of her own child.
She would not surrender control over what happened next.
Detective Ortiz organized a tactical team around the abandoned facility.
Khloe stayed inside an armored vehicle with Gabriel while Marcus entered wearing a concealed transmitter.
The laboratory had been empty for ten years.
Dust covered the hallways.
Old medical symbols remained painted on the walls.
Marcus found Adrian inside the central testing chamber.
His older brother looked almost unchanged.
Same dark eyes.
Same patient smile.
Only the gray at his temples revealed the missing years.
“Little brother,” Adrian said.
Marcus stopped several feet away.
“Isabella?”
“Safe.”
“Khloe’s file?”
“Also safe.”
Marcus looked at the refrigerated case on the table.
“Did you use your genetic material at the clinic?”
Adrian smiled.
“I corrected a weakness in the Thorne bloodline.”
“You assaulted my family without touching them.”
“You married a Vale. You handed our company to the daughter of a traitor.”
“Her father tried to expose murder.”
“After he helped build the treatment.”
Marcus moved closer.
“You ordered the crash.”
Adrian did not deny it.
“Father lacked resolve. He wanted to frighten them. I understood that frightened people eventually speak.”
In the surveillance vehicle, Khloe heard every word.
Gabriel lowered his head.
Adrian continued.
“Isabella was supposed to force their car toward the exit. She panicked. They went through the barrier.”
“And Khloe?”
“She was meant to be in the car.”
Khloe’s blood turned cold.
She remembered being sick that morning.
Her mother had left her with Gabriel.
A fever had saved her life.
Marcus’s hands curled into fists.
“You targeted a child.”
“I protected the company.”
“You destroyed everything.”
“No. I preserved it for you.”
Adrian opened the case.
Inside were files, drives, and medical records.
“Take them,” he said. “Return to the company. Publicly blame Isabella. She already attacked Khloe. No one will question the rest.”
“And what happens to you?”
“I remain dead.”
Marcus looked toward the hidden transmitter.
Adrian noticed.
His smile disappeared.
He grabbed Marcus by the collar and ripped the device free.
“Tactical team,” Ortiz shouted. “Move!”
Gunfire erupted from the facility’s east entrance.
Khloe saw officers advance on the monitors.
Then Isabella appeared behind Adrian.
She held a pistol.
But she was not pointing it at Marcus.
She aimed directly at Adrian.
“You said this was about control,” she whispered.
May you like
Adrian turned.
Isabella fired.
