Chapter 3 - The Baby’s Heartbeat
Khloe woke to the sound of a monitor.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
For several confused seconds, she did not know where she was.
Then she felt the ache along her side.
Everything returned at once.
The suite.
Isabella.
Marcus.
Boston.
The affair.
Khloe instinctively touched her stomach.
A nurse noticed immediately.
“Your baby is okay.”
Khloe’s eyes filled before she could stop them.
“Are you sure?”
“The fetal heart rate is strong.”
“You had contractions after the impact, but they’ve slowed.”
“The obstetrician wants you monitored overnight.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
Relief came first.
Then anger.
Then something deeper.
A hollow feeling she could not name.
The door opened.
Sebastian entered.
Marcus was behind him.
Khloe’s face hardened.
“No.”
Marcus stopped.
Sebastian glanced back.
“Give us a minute.”
“Khloe.”
“Marcus, leave.”
His jaw tightened.
But he obeyed.
The door closed.
Sebastian sat beside the bed.
Khloe stared at the ceiling.
“How much did you see?”
“All of it.”
“Did he admit it?”
Sebastian did not lie.
“Yes.”
Khloe laughed once.
It was a small, broken sound.
“Of course.”
Sebastian reached for her hand.
She pulled it away.
“I defended him.”
“I know.”
“I told everyone he was working.”
Sebastian remained silent.
“I told myself the late nights were because his father left him a company buried under debt.”
“I told myself the missed dinners didn’t matter.”
“The canceled weekends didn’t matter.”
“The strange perfume on his jacket didn’t matter.”
Her voice broke.
“I knew.”
“You suspected.”
“No.”
Khloe turned toward her uncle.
“I knew.”
“I just didn’t want the answer.”
Sebastian gave her time.
Finally, she whispered.
“What else was on the recording?”
Sebastian hesitated.
Khloe noticed.
“What?”
“She said something about the baby.”
Khloe’s expression changed.
Sebastian told her.
Every word.
The inheritance.
The statement that Khloe was never supposed to make it this far.
Khloe stared at him.
“What inheritance?”
“I’m finding out.”
“My parents left everything to you when they died.”
“Yes.”
“And my trust was settled years ago.”
“Yes.”
“Then what was she talking about?”
Sebastian’s phone buzzed.
He glanced at the screen.
His face changed.
“What is it?”
Sebastian stood.
“Your father-in-law’s estate attorney just returned my call.”
“And?”
“He asked whether Marcus knows about the Thorne succession clause.”
Khloe’s pulse quickened.
“What succession clause?”
Sebastian looked toward the closed door.
“I think we’re about to find out.”
Marcus was allowed back inside ten minutes later.
Khloe refused to look at him.
Sebastian stood near the window.
A speakerphone sat on the bedside table.
The voice of Harold Mercer, the Thorne family attorney, came through clearly.
“The clause was created by Marcus’s grandfather in 1987.”
Marcus frowned.
“I’ve read my grandfather’s trust.”
“Not this section.”
“It was sealed until the triggering condition occurred.”
“What condition?”
Harold paused.
“The pregnancy of the first lawful spouse of the controlling Thorne heir.”
Khloe opened her eyes.
Marcus looked at her.
Harold continued.
“If Khloe gives birth to a living child, thirty-eight percent of Thorne Global voting control transfers into a protected family trust.”
“And who controls that trust?”
Sebastian asked.
“Khloe.”
Marcus stared at the phone.
Khloe felt cold.
Harold continued.
“If something happens to Khloe before the child is born, control remains with the existing Thorne board structure.”
Sebastian’s expression hardened.
“Meaning?”
Harold answered quietly.
“Meaning someone has roughly two months left to stop Khloe from becoming the most powerful voting shareholder connected to Thorne Global.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Khloe finally looked at Marcus.
His face had changed completely.
The affair still mattered.
The lies still mattered.
But now there was another question.
A much darker one.
“How long have you known?”
Khloe asked.
Marcus met her eyes.
“About the trust?”
He shook his head.
“I learned about it thirty seconds before you did.”
Khloe studied him.
For once, she believed him.
Then Sebastian’s phone rang again.
He answered.
His security chief spoke so loudly that Khloe could hear him from across the room.
“Mr. Kane, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“Someone accessed the hospital security server seven minutes ago.”
Sebastian looked toward the ceiling camera.
“And?”
“The attacker deleted the original footage from the central system.”
Marcus stepped forward.
Sebastian’s voice became cold.
“Do we still have the copy?”
“Yes.”
“Only because the executive suite camera stores twenty-four hours locally before syncing.”
Sebastian looked at Khloe.
May you like
Someone inside the hospital had tried to erase the truth.
Which meant Isabella had not come alone.
