Chapter 15 - The Lowest Point
The arrest warrant for Damian was signed at 7:12 a.m.
Police reached his Manhattan residence at 7:31.
He was gone.
His driver was gone.
His private aircraft remained at Teterboro.
His passport had not been used.
But Damian Thorne had vanished.
At 8:20, his lawyers appeared at the trust hearing without him.
They argued that Damian was unavailable due to a medical emergency.
Sebastian almost laughed.
The judge did not.
Khloe appeared remotely from the hospital.
Marcus sat behind her.
The opposing attorney attacked immediately.
“Mrs. Thorne’s marriage is unstable.”
“Her husband publicly admitted an affair.”
“He has resigned as CEO.”
“He was arrested in connection with payments to the woman who assaulted Mrs. Thorne.”
Sebastian’s attorney stood.
“Those charges have not been filed.”
“The investigation remains active.”
The judge raised a hand.
“Enough.”
Damian’s attorney continued more carefully.
“The trust requires stability.”
“It requires nothing of the sort.”
Sebastian’s lawyer answered.
“The clause is explicit.”
The judge looked through the documents.
After forty minutes, she announced a temporary ruling.
The trust would not transfer to Damian.
Khloe almost exhaled.
Then came the second half.
It would not transfer to Khloe either.
Until allegations surrounding Marcus, Damian, and the assault were resolved, the thirty-eight percent voting block would remain frozen under court supervision.
Damian had not won.
But neither had Khloe.
Worse, the freeze meant the board could still vote on emergency corporate actions without her trust shares.
Including the sale of Thorne Biotech.
The vote was scheduled for four that afternoon.
Marcus stared at the screen.
“Damian can still win.”
Sebastian nodded.
“If he controls enough directors.”
At 10:05, another disaster hit.
Elaine Parker disappeared.
She had been cooperating with police.
She was supposed to sign a sworn statement.
Instead, her hotel room was found empty.
Her phone lay on the bed.
Beside it sat a note.
I lied. Marcus told me to make the transfer. I cannot live with what I did.
Marcus stared at the note.
“It’s fake.”
Sebastian agreed.
“But Elaine is gone.”
Khloe felt the room closing around her.
The witness tying Damian to the authentication scheme had disappeared.
His mother was missing.
Damian was missing.
The board vote was hours away.
And the media now reported that Elaine had recanted.
Marcus walked toward the window.
“I created this.”
Khloe looked at him.
“You didn’t create Damian.”
“I gave him the opening.”
“You did.”
Marcus turned.
She did not soften the truth.
“But standing there hating yourself isn’t useful.”
He looked surprised.
Khloe continued.
“You want to make something right?”
“Yes.”
“Then help me find the one thing Damian couldn’t control.”
Marcus frowned.
“What?”
Khloe looked at the hospital security footage again.
“People.”
“He manipulated Isabella.”
“Elaine.”
“You.”
“Maybe your mother.”
“He manipulated systems.”
“Money.”
“Passwords.”
“Board votes.”
“But he didn’t control every human reaction.”
She replayed the attack.
Isabella shoving her.
Khloe striking the table.
The champagne glass falling.
The camera shaking slightly when the door slammed.
Then Khloe noticed something.
A reflection in the broken glass.
Tiny.
Distorted.
But visible.
A phone screen.
Isabella’s phone.
At the exact moment before the second attack.
A message notification appeared.
Two initials.
DT.
And beneath them.
Four words.
DO IT NOW. SHE’S ALONE.
Sebastian leaned closer.
“That message wasn’t in the recovered phone.”
“Because it came through a different app.”
Marcus stared.
“If we can identify the service, the provider may still have server records.”
Khloe looked at him.
“Then stop staring at me.”
“Go.”
May you like
For the first time in two days, they had a path forward.
But the board vote was less than six hours away.
