Chapter 13 - Twenty Hours
Khloe watched herself become breaking news from a hospital television.
Her face appeared beside Marcus’s.
Then Isabella’s.
Then an old photograph from Khloe and Marcus’s wedding.
Reporters stood outside the hospital.
Outside Thorne Global.
Outside their home.
A commentator called it a billionaire love triangle.
Another called Khloe the possible victim of a corporate conspiracy.
Nobody knew the truth.
That did not stop anyone from selling a version of it.
Sebastian turned off the television.
“You don’t need this.”
“I need to know what Damian is doing.”
“He’s trying to define the story before court.”
Khloe looked at the clock.
Twenty hours remained until the hearing.
Her obstetrician entered.
“I want you resting.”
Khloe almost smiled.
“That sounds wonderful.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
The doctor checked the monitor.
“The baby is stable.”
“But stress can trigger contractions.”
Khloe placed her hand over her daughter.
“I’ll be careful.”
Sebastian waited until the doctor left.
Then he handed her a tablet.
“There’s something you should see.”
It was a forensic report.
The messages supposedly sent by Marcus had been created on a cloned authentication environment.
The access key belonged to Damian.
But that still did not prove Damian personally used it.
“We need him tied directly to the attack.”
Khloe said.
“Yes.”
“What about Isabella?”
“She’s cooperating.”
“Then why isn’t that enough?”
“Because Damian’s lawyers will call her unreliable.”
“She was Marcus’s mistress.”
“She assaulted you.”
“She lied initially.”
Khloe sighed.
“So we need evidence from someone respectable.”
Sebastian nodded.
“Or evidence Damian cannot explain away.”
Khloe stared at the paused security footage from the suite.
Something bothered her.
She replayed it.
Isabella entered.
She argued.
She reached into her purse twice.
Khloe zoomed in.
“What is she doing?”
Sebastian leaned closer.
“Checking her phone.”
“Can we recover it?”
“The prepaid phone is with police.”
“No.”
Khloe pointed.
“That isn’t the prepaid phone.”
Sebastian looked carefully.
She was right.
The device Isabella checked in the suite had a gold edge.
Her prepaid phone was black.
A second phone.
Police searched her possessions again.
Nothing.
Then Detective Ortiz remembered something.
Isabella had visited the restroom while escorted after her initial medical examination.
Security searched the plumbing area.
They found the missing phone taped beneath a trash receptacle.
Damaged.
But recoverable.
At 1:10 a.m., technicians extracted seventeen deleted text messages.
Most came from Damian.
One was sent eleven minutes before Isabella entered Khloe’s suite.
DO NOT HURT HER.
Sebastian stared at the screen.
Khloe felt her hope collapse.
“That helps him.”
“Yes.”
The next message was worse.
WE ONLY NEED THE MARRIAGE BROKEN.
Damian had instructed Isabella not to attack her.
Legally, that complicated everything.
Khloe looked at Sebastian.
“So he can say he never wanted violence.”
“He will.”
“And still get the trust?”
“Possibly.”
Khloe scrolled further.
The final message had been sent after the attack.
YOU IDIOT. WHAT DID YOU DO? DELETE EVERYTHING AND GET OUT.
Khloe stopped.
Sebastian read it twice.
Then smiled for the first time all night.
“What?”
Khloe asked.
“He knew about the attack before the police announced it.”
“Is that enough?”
“It proves communication.”
“Not the larger conspiracy.”
“No.”
Sebastian pointed toward another recovered file.
“But this might.”
It was an audio attachment.
Three minutes and fourteen seconds long.
Isabella had secretly recorded a meeting.
The date was six weeks earlier.
The same week someone tampered with Khloe’s car.
Damian’s voice came through clearly.
“If the marriage survives, we use Plan B.”
Isabella asked.
“What is Plan B?”
A pause.
Then Damian answered.
“Make sure she never reaches the delivery room.”
Khloe stopped breathing.
May you like
They finally had him.
But only nineteen hours remained.
