Chapter 9 - The Price of Silence
Marcus spent the afternoon inside a small consultation room with Khloe.
No lawyers.
No uncle.
No security.
Just the two of them.
Khloe had asked for it.
“I want the entire truth.”
Marcus sat opposite her.
“You’ll have it.”
“No editing.”
“No protecting me.”
“No deciding what I should know.”
“I understand.”
Khloe looked directly at him.
“When did you first sleep with Isabella?”
“October nineteenth, two years ago.”
“Where?”
“Boston.”
“How many times?”
Marcus swallowed.
“Eleven.”
Khloe’s fingers tightened around the chair.
He continued because she had asked him not to hide.
“The last time was December eighth.”
“Eight months ago.”
“Yes.”
“The night you told me the acquisition meeting ran late?”
“Yes.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
“That was the night I made dinner.”
Marcus remembered.
Candles.
Her favorite wine.
A box on the table containing tiny baby socks.
They had been discussing trying for a child.
He had come home after midnight.
He had lied.
Khloe opened her eyes again.
“Did you ever bring her into our house?”
“No.”
“Did you ever talk about me?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Marcus looked ashamed.
“I complained.”
“About?”
“Our fights.”
“You feeling neglected.”
“My work.”
“My family.”
“Did you blame me?”
“Sometimes.”
Khloe nodded slowly.
“That may be the ugliest part.”
“I know.”
“You turned our private problems into a story where you were the misunderstood husband.”
“Yes.”
“And that story made it easier to betray me.”
“Yes.”
She looked down.
Marcus did not reach for her.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
“Good.”
“I’m not asking you to stay.”
“Good.”
“But I am going to fix the danger I helped create.”
Khloe looked up.
“You cannot fix what happened to us by saving a company.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“That’s why I’m going to step down.”
Khloe frowned.
“As CEO?”
“Yes.”
“Damian wants you removed.”
“Then I won’t give him a fight over my chair.”
“I’ll give him a fight over the truth.”
Khloe studied him.
“That sounds noble.”
“It isn’t.”
Marcus’s voice remained steady.
“I kept the affair secret because I was terrified of losing you.”
“I paid Isabella because I was terrified of losing you.”
“I hid the surveillance because I was terrified of frightening you.”
“Every decision I called protection was really fear.”
He paused.
“I’m done letting fear make decisions for me.”
Khloe looked away.
Before she could answer, Sebastian entered without knocking.
His expression told them something had happened.
“What?”
Khloe asked.
Sebastian placed a printed bank record on the table.
Marcus picked it up.
A wire transfer.
Two million dollars.
Sent from a Thorne Global discretionary account.
Recipient.
Isabella Rossi.
Date.
Four days before the attack.
Khloe stared at Marcus.
His face went blank.
“I didn’t send this.”
Sebastian watched him carefully.
“The authorization carries your digital signature.”
Marcus stood.
“No.”
“It also came from your executive credentials.”
“No.”
Khloe felt her stomach twist.
Marcus looked at her.
“Khloe, I swear to you.”
She wanted to believe him.
That was the problem.
She had wanted to believe him before.
Sebastian’s voice was cold.
“Detectives are examining it now.”
Marcus looked at the transfer again.
Then his expression changed.
“Damian has access to the executive authorization archive.”
Sebastian shook his head.
“Access isn’t enough.”
“He would need your biometric approval.”
Marcus went silent.
Khloe noticed.
“What?”
Marcus stared at the floor.
“There’s one person who has my biometric backup.”
Sebastian frowned.
“Who?”
Marcus slowly raised his eyes.
“My executive chief of staff.”
Sebastian knew the name.
May you like
Khloe did too.
Elaine Parker.
