Chapter 11 - THE RECORDINGS

Elaine returned to New York under police protection.

She refused to speak without an attorney.

By midnight, she had one.

By one in the morning, she had a deal.

The recordings were stored on a cloud server.

There were seven files.

The first came from eighteen months earlier.

Richard’s voice was unmistakable.

“We need Khloe’s voting block temporarily neutralized.”

Isabella answered.

“And afterward?”

“You get the board seat.”

“What about Marcus?”

“Marcus will do what he always does.”

“What he believes is necessary.”

The second recording was worse.

Richard and Isabella discussed the signature authorization.

Isabella sounded nervous.

“She didn’t sign.”

Richard replied, “Then find a way around it.”

“I’m not forging her name.”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

“You didn’t have to.”

The third recording came months later.

Isabella laughed.

“Your son is easier to control than you said.”

Richard replied coldly.

“Do not confuse sex with control.”

Khloe stopped the audio.

She stood in Rebecca’s conference room with Marcus, Julian, and Detective Brooks.

Marcus looked as if someone had punched him.

Khloe almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

“You were part of their strategy.”

She said it quietly.

Marcus looked at her.

“I know.”

“No.”

“You were the distraction.”

“Isabella slept with you to keep you close.”

Marcus looked away.

Khloe continued.

“And you let her.”

He nodded.

“Yes.”

There was no defense left.

Detective Brooks restarted the audio.

The fourth recording happened five months earlier.

Isabella sounded furious.

“You said once the transfer was done, she would be out.”

Richard replied, “I said her influence would be out.”

“That’s not what I want.”

“I do not care what you want.”

“I want Marcus.”

“Then take him.”

Khloe’s face changed.

Marcus whispered, “That was when she started pushing me to leave.”

Rebecca stopped the recording again.

“Richard was encouraging the affair.”

Marcus stared at the table.

Brooks spoke.

“Because the more unstable the marriage became, the easier it would be to isolate Khloe from corporate decisions.”

Khloe’s jaw tightened.

“My marriage was a financial strategy.”

Marcus looked at her quickly.

“Not to me.”

She met his gaze.

“Maybe not.”

“But your affair became one.”

The fifth recording involved Elaine.

Richard told her to monitor Khloe’s schedule.

The sixth involved the gala.

Isabella asked which private suite Khloe would use.

Elaine told her.

Everyone went still.

Julian stared at Elaine through the interview-room glass.

“She gave Isabella the room.”

Brooks nodded.

The final recording played.

It had been made two weeks before the assault.

Isabella’s voice.

“If Khloe finds out about the trust, she’ll go to regulators.”

Richard answered.

“Then make sure she doesn’t find out.”

“How?”

A long silence followed.

Then Richard spoke again.

“I don’t care.”

The recording ended.

No murder order.

No explicit command to attack Khloe.

But enough darkness to make everyone understand the environment he had created.

Marcus stood abruptly.

“I’m going to see him.”

Brooks blocked the door.

“No.”

“He did this.”

“He manipulated all of us.”

Brooks looked him straight in the eye.

“And if you warn him, you could obstruct an investigation.”

Marcus stopped.

His phone rang.

Richard Thorne.

Everyone looked at the screen.

Marcus answered on speaker.

His father’s voice came through immediately.

“You have twenty minutes to come home.”

Marcus said nothing.

Richard continued.

“If you don’t, everything your wife inherited disappears before sunrise.”

May you like

"The vanilla buttercream hit the hardwood floor with a sickening, heavy...

"The vanilla buttercream hit the hardwood floor with a sickening, heavy thud. I didn’t even register the sound of the custom glass...

"The perfect wife was about to commit the unthinkable. Then the front do...

"""""""The perfect wife was about to commit the unthinkable. Then the front door opened.""""The heavy bronze candlestick was raise...

"When my husband shoved me into the freezing pool in front of his entire...

"When my husband shoved me into the freezing pool in front of his entire family, I thought the cold water would be the worst part....

Then he hung up.

---