Chapter 2 - Every Thursday Night
Nobody spoke.
The security technician paused the recording.
Sebastian Kane looked at Marcus with an expression that could have frozen the entire room.
“Tell me she’s lying.”
Marcus stared at the darkened monitor.
“I can’t.”
Elaine inhaled sharply.
Sebastian took one step toward him.
“You have ten seconds to explain that answer.”
Marcus lifted his eyes.
“It started before Khloe became pregnant.”
Sebastian’s jaw tightened.
“That is not an explanation.”
Marcus looked exhausted.
“I met Isabella two years ago.”
“At a financial summit in Boston.”
“She worked for Rossi Strategic Holdings.”
“We began seeing each other.”
Elaine looked away.
Sebastian did not.
“While you were married?”
Marcus hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
“Yes.”
The word landed like a stone.
Sebastian walked closer.
“My niece defended you for years.”
“I know.”
“She ignored every rumor.”
“I know.”
“She told me you were different from the men in your family.”
“I know.”
Sebastian slammed his hand against the desk.
“Then stop saying you know.”
The technician froze.
Marcus did not move.
“I ended it.”
“When?”
“Eight months ago.”
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed.
Khloe was seven months pregnant.
Everyone in the room understood the timing.
Marcus continued.
“Khloe and I had been fighting constantly.”
“I was working eighteen-hour days.”
“She thought I had stopped caring.”
“She was right about that part.”
“I had.”
“Not about her.”
“About everything.”
“And instead of fixing my marriage, I escaped into something easier.”
Sebastian looked disgusted.
“You mean another woman.”
“Yes.”
Marcus did not defend himself.
“I ended the affair after one night when I realized Isabella wasn’t interested in a relationship.”
“She was interested in access.”
“To what?”
Marcus looked toward the monitor.
“My company.”
The technician resumed the recording.
On screen, Khloe stared at Isabella.
“I don’t know what you think Marcus told you.”
Isabella laughed.
“He told me plenty.”
“Things husbands usually don’t tell their wives.”
Khloe tried to walk toward the door.
Isabella blocked her.
“Move.”
“Ask him about Boston.”
Khloe froze.
Marcus lowered his face.
On screen, Isabella stepped closer.
“Ask him about the apartment on Beacon Street.”
“Ask him why his car was there every Thursday.”
Khloe’s voice became quieter.
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
Isabella smiled.
“He lied.”
The room went silent again.
Khloe attempted to pass her.
Isabella grabbed her wrist.
“Marcus promised me things.”
“Let go of me.”
“He promised your marriage wouldn’t last.”
“Let go.”
Then Isabella said something that made Marcus snap his head toward the screen.
“And when the baby is gone, neither will your little inheritance problem.”
Sebastian immediately raised his hand.
“Stop.”
The technician paused.
“What inheritance problem?”
Marcus looked genuinely confused.
“I don’t know.”
Sebastian studied him.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
For the first time, Marcus sounded frightened rather than ashamed.
“I have no idea what she means.”
Sebastian turned toward the technician.
“Continue.”
The footage resumed.
Khloe pulled her wrist free.
“What did you just say?”
Isabella’s expression changed.
She seemed to realize she had revealed too much.
“Nothing.”
“You said something about my baby.”
“I said nothing.”
Khloe moved toward the door again.
Isabella stepped in front of her.
Then came the first shove.
Khloe stumbled backward.
Marcus flinched.
Sebastian did not.
He watched every frame.
Khloe recovered.
“Don’t touch me again.”
Isabella moved closer.
“You think this baby makes you untouchable.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you don’t.”
“Marcus never tells you anything.”
Then Isabella drove both hands into Khloe’s shoulders.
Khloe struck the marble table.
Elaine covered her mouth.
The technician looked sick.
On screen, Khloe wrapped both arms around her stomach.
Isabella leaned down.
“You were never supposed to make it this far.”
Sebastian’s head turned sharply.
Marcus stepped toward the monitor.
“What did she say?”
The technician replayed it.
“You were never supposed to make it this far.”
Marcus went completely still.
Sebastian looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Marcus whispered the answer.
“I don’t know.”
This time Sebastian believed him.
Because the fear in Marcus’s face was unmistakable.
The affair had been real.
The betrayal had been real.
But something far more dangerous had been happening behind it.
May you like
And Isabella Rossi had just revealed that Khloe’s pregnancy was not merely inconvenient.
Someone had been waiting for it to end.
