Chapter 2 - THE WIFE WHO KNEW NOTHING
Khloe returned to the Lower Merion estate before midnight.
Richard was sitting in the kitchen with a glass of bourbon.
He looked irritated rather than concerned.
“Where were you?”
“With Rachel.”
Rachel was Khloe’s closest friend from college.
Richard disliked her because she asked direct questions.
He accepted the answer.
“You should not be driving this late.”
“I took a car.”
His gaze moved to the pendant around her neck.
“That’s new.”
“Rachel gave it to me.”
He reached toward it.
Khloe stepped back before she could stop herself.
Richard noticed.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
“You’ve been strange for weeks.”
Khloe forced herself to smile.
“I’m eight months pregnant.”
“I’m uncomfortable.”
Richard sighed as though her pregnancy were another delayed construction permit.
“You need to rest.”
He pushed a glass of water toward her.
Khloe remembered Harrison’s warning.
Do not drink anything Richard gives you.
“I’m not thirsty.”
“You should hydrate.”
“I had water in the car.”
Richard stared at her for a moment.
Then he picked up the glass and drank from it himself.
Khloe felt foolish.
Perhaps Harrison’s suspicion had infected everything.
Then Richard smiled.
“Vanessa will be here tomorrow.”
Khloe’s pulse jumped.
“For the nursery?”
“Yes.”
“She has revised the design.”
“I thought we approved the cream walls.”
“She thinks the room needs a stronger concept.”
Khloe rested one hand against the kitchen island.
“Our daughter does not need a concept.”
Richard’s expression cooled.
“Vanessa understands luxury branding.”
“It is a nursery.”
“It is part of the house.”
“And the house matters to investors.”
There it was again.
Even the baby’s room belonged to the company’s image.
Khloe went upstairs.
She placed her phone beside the sink and turned on the shower.
Then she sent Harrison one message from the encrypted device hidden inside her jewelry case.
Vanessa coming tomorrow.
He replied immediately.
Do not be alone with her.
The next morning, Vanessa arrived wearing a white suit and the floral perfume Khloe recognized from Richard’s shirts.
She carried fabric samples and spoke as though nothing existed between them.
“You look radiant.”
Khloe smiled.
“You look familiar.”
Vanessa’s eyes sharpened.
Only for a second.
Then she laughed.
“We have met at company events.”
“Of course.”
Richard entered the nursery behind her.
His hand nearly touched Vanessa’s lower back.
He caught himself.
Khloe saw it.
Vanessa saw that she saw it.
The three of them stood inside the unfinished room.
Cream paint covered the walls.
A white crib remained inside its shipping crate.
Vanessa spread blue fabric across the window seat.
“I thought we might move away from the feminine theme.”
Khloe looked at her.
“The baby is a girl.”
Richard cleared his throat.
“We do not know that with complete certainty.”
Khloe stared at him.
They had received the test results months earlier.
“It was ninety-nine percent certain.”
Vanessa folded the fabric slowly.
“Tests can be wrong.”
Her hand rested unconsciously against her stomach.
Khloe understood.
Vanessa was pregnant.
The message had not been fantasy.
Richard was preparing a nursery for his other child inside a penthouse purchased with stolen marital money.
Khloe smiled because Harrison had told her to smile.
“When are you due?”
Vanessa froze.
Richard’s face lost color.
Khloe picked up the blue fabric.
“I meant when is the final design due?”
Vanessa exhaled.
“Next Friday.”
Khloe handed the sample back.
May you like
“I look forward to seeing what you create.”
She walked from the nursery before either of them could see her hands shaking.
