Chapter 1 - The Camera Above the Door
Marcus Thorne did not move.
For several seconds, he simply stared at his pregnant wife curled on the marble floor.
Khloe’s face had gone pale.
One hand pressed against her side.
The other protected the curve of her seven-month belly.
Isabella Rossi stood only a few feet away.
Her mascara was already running.
“She attacked me.”
Isabella pointed at Khloe with a shaking hand.
“She completely lost control.”
Khloe looked up.
She could barely believe what she was hearing.
Elaine Parker, the charity gala coordinator standing behind Marcus, covered her mouth.
There was broken crystal everywhere.
A champagne glass had shattered beside Khloe.
One of the decorative chairs had been knocked over.
From the doorway, the room looked exactly like the aftermath of a violent confrontation.
And Isabella understood something important.
The first person to tell the story often controlled the story.
“She accused me of sleeping with you.”
Isabella’s voice cracked perfectly.
“She started screaming, Marcus.”
“I tried to calm her down.”
“Then she attacked me.”
Marcus finally looked at Isabella.
Something in his expression changed.
Not anger.
Not yet.
Recognition.
Khloe saw it.
And somehow that hurt more than the pain spreading through her abdomen.
“You know her.”
Khloe’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Marcus said nothing.
That silence answered enough.
Khloe closed her eyes.
Another wave of pain tightened across her stomach.
Elaine reacted first.
“Oh my God.”
She rushed forward.
“Khloe?”
Marcus dropped beside his wife.
“Don’t touch me.”
The words stopped him instantly.
Khloe opened her eyes again.
“Do you know her?”
Marcus swallowed.
“Yes.”
One word.
One devastating word.
Isabella suddenly looked less afraid.
Almost relieved.
As though Marcus admitting the connection strengthened her story.
Then Elaine looked upward.
Her face changed.
“Marcus.”
Nobody answered.
Elaine pointed toward the ceiling.
“There.”
Mounted above the suite entrance was a small black security camera.
Its green indicator light was blinking.
Isabella followed Elaine’s finger.
The color drained from her face.
“No.”
The word escaped before she could stop it.
Marcus stood.
Isabella immediately corrected herself.
“I mean, that camera probably doesn’t record inside private suites.”
Elaine stared at her.
“It does.”
Isabella stopped breathing.
“This suite is classified as part of the hospital’s executive security wing.”
Elaine stepped backward toward the hallway.
“Everything near the entrance is recorded.”
Marcus slowly turned toward Isabella.
She had stopped crying.
The transformation happened so quickly that Khloe almost missed it.
The frightened victim disappeared.
Something colder took its place.
Marcus pulled out his phone.
Before he could make the call, heavy footsteps thundered down the hallway.
Three security officers appeared.
Behind them came a tall man in a charcoal suit.
Khloe recognized him immediately.
“Uncle Sebastian.”
Sebastian Kane crossed the room without acknowledging anyone else.
He knelt beside his niece.
His expression remained controlled until he saw the red mark forming beneath the torn fabric at Khloe’s side.
Then his eyes became frighteningly calm.
“Who did this?”
Khloe looked toward Isabella.
Sebastian followed her gaze.
Isabella stepped backward.
“It was self-defense.”
Sebastian looked at Marcus.
Marcus spoke quietly.
“There’s footage.”
Sebastian rose.
“Lock the floor.”
One of the officers hesitated.
“Sir?”
Sebastian’s gaze never left Isabella.
“Seal every exit.”
“No elevators.”
“No stairwells.”
“No vehicle leaves the underground garage without inspection.”
Isabella’s eyes widened.
“You can’t do that.”
Sebastian finally looked directly at her.
“This hospital sits on land owned by the Kane Medical Foundation.”
“My security company manages this executive wing.”
“And my pregnant niece is lying on the floor after being assaulted.”
He turned to the guards.
“Nobody leaves until I know exactly what happened.”
Isabella looked toward Marcus.
For the first time, real panic appeared in her face.
“Marcus.”
He did not respond.
A medical team rushed into the suite.
Khloe was carefully lifted onto a stretcher.
As they moved her toward the door, she caught Marcus watching Isabella.
There was guilt in his eyes.
Not confusion.
Guilt.
Khloe realized the camera might reveal far more than an attack.
And Marcus clearly already knew what that something was.
Twenty minutes later, in a locked security office one floor below, the recording began to play.
Sebastian stood behind the technician.
Elaine sat against the wall.
Marcus remained near the door.
Isabella had been placed in a separate interview room.
On the monitor, Khloe entered the suite.
Thirty-four seconds later, Isabella followed.
The audio was clear.
Painfully clear.
Isabella’s voice came through the speakers.
“Enjoy pretending to be Mrs. Thorne while you still can.”
Marcus lowered his head.
Then Khloe’s voice.
“What are you talking about?”
Isabella smiled on the recording.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
Everyone in the security room became still.
Then Isabella said the sentence that changed everything.
“Ask your husband where he was every Thursday night before you got pregnant.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
May you like
Sebastian slowly turned toward him.
And the video had barely begun.
