Chapter 3 - THE PROMISE

Khloe stared at Marcus for several seconds.

Then she laughed.

It was one small, empty sound.

“I can explain.”

She repeated his words as though they belonged to another language.

Marcus stepped closer.

“Please.”

“Was she in your bed?”

He froze.

Julian looked away.

Dr. Cole quietly checked the fetal monitor.

Khloe waited.

“Marcus.”

His throat moved.

“Yes.”

The answer hurt more than the kick.

Khloe closed her eyes.

“How long?”

“It wasn’t what she made it sound like.”

“That is not a number.”

“Khloe.”

“How long?”

Marcus lowered his head.

“Three months.”

Khloe opened her eyes again.

Three months.

She was seven months pregnant.

She mentally counted backward.

“When did it start?”

Marcus said nothing.

She already knew.

“While I was pregnant.”

“It started before I knew you were pregnant.”

“And continued after.”

His silence gave her the answer.

Khloe turned her face toward the window.

New York glittered beyond the glass.

Thousands of lights.

Thousands of strangers living ordinary lives.

She wondered how many women were standing in rooms just like this one, discovering that the life they thought they had never existed.

Marcus moved closer.

“I ended it.”

“When?”

“Five months ago.”

“Before or after our anniversary?”

His eyes closed.

Khloe felt something inside her go cold.

“After.”

Marcus began talking quickly.

“I know how it sounds.”

She looked at him.

“You slept with another woman while I was pregnant.”

“It was wrong.”

“You lied to me every day afterward.”

“Yes.”

“You brought her into my charity events.”

“I didn’t invite her tonight.”

“Did you tell her you would leave me?”

Marcus hesitated again.

Khloe’s voice dropped.

“Did you?”

“I said things I shouldn’t have said.”

“That means yes.”

“I never planned to leave you.”

“But you told her you would.”

“I was trying to end it without creating a scandal.”

Khloe stared at him.

“You promised your mistress my life so she wouldn’t embarrass you?”

“No.”

“That is exactly what you just said.”

Marcus rubbed both hands over his face.

“I was a coward.”

Finally.

One truthful sentence.

Khloe looked at Julian.

“What are the trust papers?”

Julian’s expression changed.

“I don’t know.”

Marcus did.

Khloe saw that immediately.

“Tell me.”

Marcus looked toward the door.

“Not tonight.”

“Tell me.”

“The Thorne family trust was restructured.”

“When?”

“Six months ago.”

Khloe frowned.

“My signature was required.”

“Yes.”

“I never signed anything.”

Marcus did not answer.

Her heart began pounding.

Julian stepped forward.

“What exactly was restructured?”

Marcus looked trapped.

“The voting shares in Thorne Global.”

Khloe sat straighter despite the pain.

“My mother’s shares?”

“Yes.”

Khloe’s late mother had owned twelve percent of Thorne Global through an investment partnership created decades earlier.

When she died, those shares had passed to Khloe.

They were worth billions.

They were also the reason Marcus’s family could not remove Khloe from the company’s board without her consent.

“What did you do?”

Marcus stared at her.

“I used a temporary authorization.”

“What authorization?”

“A signature page.”

“I didn’t sign one.”

His face answered before his mouth did.

Khloe’s voice became almost inaudible.

“Marcus.”

“I thought you had.”

She stared at him.

“Who gave it to you?”

Marcus did not need to answer.

The name was already hanging in the room.

Isabella.

Julian swore quietly.

Khloe looked toward the tablet again.

He promised me once the trust papers were signed, you’d be gone.

Suddenly, Isabella’s words carried a different meaning.

She had not simply been sleeping with Khloe’s husband.

She had been helping him move assets.

Khloe felt sick.

“Was my signature forged?”

Marcus said, “I don’t know.”

Julian stepped closer.

“You better find out.”

A knock sounded at the door.

The hospital security director entered.

He looked at Julian.

Then at Marcus.

“There’s a problem.”

Julian frowned.

“What problem?”

The man held out a phone.

“Ms. Rossi’s attorney just arrived.”

“That’s not a problem.”

“He says she has evidence.”

“Evidence of what?”

The security director glanced toward Khloe.

“He says if Isabella is arrested tonight, she will release documents proving Marcus Thorne committed financial fraud.”

No one spoke.

Then Khloe looked directly at her husband.

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Marcus did not look surprised.

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