CHAPTER 4 — THE ACCUSATION
No one spoke.
The only sound was the soft mechanical hum from the NICU beyond the hallway doors.
Marcus stared at Isabella as though he no longer recognized her.
“What did you say?”
“You heard me.”
The officer turned toward Marcus.
“Sir, don’t leave the floor.”
“This is insane.”
Isabella wiped a tear from her cheek.
“He told me the pregnancy trapped him.”
“You’re lying.”
“He said if Khloe lost the child, the divorce would be easier.”
Marcus lunged toward her.
Two officers restrained him.
“You vicious—”
“Marcus!” Adrian snapped.
Marcus stopped struggling.
Isabella reached into her purse.
The officers tensed.
“Slowly,” one warned.
She pulled out her phone.
“I have messages.”
Marcus’s face tightened.
Isabella opened a conversation and handed the phone to the officer.
The officer read silently.
“What does it say?” Adrian demanded.
The officer looked at Marcus.
“There are messages from a contact saved under Mr. Thorne’s name. One says, ‘I need this pregnancy problem handled before the board meeting.’”
Marcus shook his head.
“I never sent that.”
Another message read, “Do whatever it takes. I’ll protect you.”
Elaine covered her mouth.
Marcus turned to her.
“Those are fake.”
She stepped back.
The rejection in her eyes cut deeper than he expected.
Adrian’s voice turned ice cold.
“Did you have an affair with Isabella?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
The word echoed through the hallway.
“But it ended months ago.”
“You betrayed my niece while she was pregnant.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You made a choice.”
Marcus looked through the glass toward the recovery area.
“Let me see Khloe.”
“No.”
“I’m her husband.”
“And right now, you are also a suspect.”
Marcus looked at the officers.
“You can verify the messages. Check my phone.”
“We will.”
Daniel Reyes returned carrying a laptop.
“The footage is ready.”
Isabella’s confidence flickered.
The officers escorted everyone into a small conference room.
Daniel connected the laptop to a wall screen.
The video began.
Khloe entered the suite first.
Isabella followed two minutes later.
The audio was clear.
“You sent me those photographs,” Khloe said on screen.
“I thought you deserved to know what your husband does when you’re not watching,” Isabella replied.
Then came the shove.
The crash into the table.
The second shove.
Khloe’s plea.
The kick.
Marcus shut his eyes.
Elaine began to cry.
The officer paused the video.
Isabella’s face had gone gray.
“You are under arrest for aggravated assault,” he said.
She laughed nervously.
“No. Keep watching.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“You need to watch what happened before Khloe entered the suite.”
Daniel rewound the recording.
At 9:16 p.m., the empty room appeared on screen.
A man wearing a hospital maintenance uniform entered.
He walked directly to the camera.
Then he reached up and adjusted something outside the frame.
Marcus leaned forward.
“Who is that?”
Daniel zoomed in.
The man turned slightly.
Elaine gasped.
“I know him.”
Everyone looked at her.
“He works for Mr. Thorne.”
Marcus frowned.
“No, he doesn’t.”
Elaine shook her head.
“I saw him downstairs with your chief financial officer.”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
“My CFO?”
Daniel froze the image.
The man’s face became clear.
Marcus recognized him.
May you like
It was Victor Dane, his company’s head of private security.
And Victor had been missing for three hours.
