CHAPTER 9 — A FATHER’S CHOICE
The bullet tore through Marcus’s shoulder.
He crashed into the bassinet but caught it before it tipped.
Hope began to cry.
The sound was small.
Weak.
But alive.
Luca raised the gun again.
Marcus threw himself across the bassinet.
“Don’t touch her!”
Sebastian shouted, “Finish it!”
Before Luca could fire, the maintenance hatch burst open.
Adrian charged through and struck Luca with a metal pipe.
The gun slid across the floor.
Security officers tackled him.
Sebastian grabbed the bassinet and pushed it toward the broken window at the back of the room.
“Stay back!”
The old window overlooked an unfinished courtyard four floors below.
Marcus stood despite the blood pouring down his arm.
“You won’t do it.”
Sebastian placed one hand around Hope’s oxygen tube.
“You have always underestimated me.”
“No,” Marcus said. “I spent my whole life making excuses for you.”
Khloe’s voice suddenly came through the room’s old speaker system.
“And so did I.”
Sebastian looked up.
Khloe had accessed the abandoned intercom from the command room.
“You wanted the audit files,” she said. “You got them.”
“You think this changes anything?”
“Yes.”
The lights switched on.
Hidden body-camera feeds from Adrian and the officers appeared on a wall monitor.
Detective Brooks’s voice came over the intercom.
“Sebastian Thorne, the entire conversation has been transmitted to police.”
Sebastian’s face twisted.
“You’re bluffing.”
Khloe answered, “Check the television.”
A news channel appeared on the wall screen.
The gala downstairs had been evacuated. Reporters surrounded the hospital.
A banner ran across the bottom:
THORNE GLOBAL CFO LINKED TO HOSPITAL FUND FRAUD AND INFANT ABDUCTION.
Sebastian stared at the screen.
Marcus moved closer.
“It’s over.”
“No.”
“Give me Hope.”
“She destroyed everything.”
“She’s a baby.”
“She’s your weakness.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“She’s my daughter.”
Sebastian pulled the oxygen tube free.
The monitor beside Hope began to alarm.
Marcus charged.
He hit Sebastian with his uninjured shoulder.
Both men crashed against the wall.
Adrian grabbed the bassinet and reconnected the oxygen.
Security officers restrained Sebastian.
Marcus fell to his knees beside his daughter.
Hope’s tiny fingers moved against the blanket.
He slipped one finger into her hand.
She held it.
Marcus bowed his head and sobbed.
Adrian watched him for a moment.
Then his expression hardened.
“Your shoulder needs treatment.”
“Take Hope first.”
“She’s stable.”
“Take her first.”
Adrian nodded.
For the first time that night, Marcus had chosen correctly without hesitation.
As Sebastian was dragged away, he looked at Marcus and laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
Marcus lifted his head.
“What?”
“Isabella wasn’t the only woman helping me.”
He smiled.
“Someone inside Khloe’s family gave me the audit.”
Adrian’s face changed.
May you like
Sebastian saw it.
And laughed even harder.
