CHAPTER 7 — WHAT MARCUS AGREED TO HIDE
Marcus explained the recording.
Six months earlier, he had discovered suspicious transfers from Thorne Holdings into offshore accounts controlled by Richard.
He had confronted his father.
Richard claimed the accounts were part of a private strategy to prevent a hostile takeover.
Marcus agreed not to tell Khloe until he could investigate further.
“She had just become pregnant,” he said. “I didn’t want to put her under more stress.”
Khloe’s expression remained cold.
“You decided for me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You protected secrets. Not me.”
The recording had been cut to remove the earlier conversation.
Elaine confirmed that Richard had deliberately played the edited version for Isabella.
He wanted her to believe Marcus supported removing Khloe.
But the explanation did not erase Marcus’s betrayal.
He had still hidden financial crimes.
He had still kissed Isabella.
He had still left Khloe alone while his father built a conspiracy around them.
The board suspended Marcus as chief executive pending an investigation.
Richard resumed temporary control of the company.
His first decision was to freeze the trust transfer.
His lawyers argued that Khloe’s daughter had been delivered under medical distress and that her legal status as a live-born heir required review.
Adrian called the argument monstrous.
Richard called it business.
The scandal became international news.
Photographs of Khloe being moved through the hospital appeared online.
So did the messages between Marcus and Isabella.
Public sympathy shifted rapidly.
Some people defended Khloe.
Others accused her of using her injured child to seize a billionaire’s company.
Then Isabella was released on bail.
She walked out of the courthouse wearing a pale cream dress and holding her stomach.
Cameras surrounded her.
“My relationship with Marcus Thorne was not one-sided,” she announced.
A reporter shouted, “Are you saying you had an affair?”
Isabella looked directly into the cameras.
“I’m saying Khloe’s baby may not be Marcus’s only child.”
The next morning, Isabella’s attorney released a laboratory report.
According to the report, Isabella was nine weeks pregnant.
Marcus was listed as the probable father.
Khloe read the document in silence.
Marcus denied it immediately.
“I never slept with her.”
Khloe placed the report beside her wedding ring.
“You said that before.”
“This test is false.”
Adrian examined the laboratory seal.
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The test had been performed inside the same hospital where Khloe had been attacked.
And the physician who signed it was a member of Richard Thorne’s private medical board.
