CHAPTER 9 — THE CAR WITH NO BRAKES
Marcus changed the discharge plan without informing the hospital administration.
An empty Thorne family vehicle left through the main entrance as a decoy.
Khloe and Ava were transported through a private underground exit in an ambulance guarded by federal officers.
The decoy vehicle lost control
less than five miles from the hospital.
Its brakes had been disabled.
It crashed through a barrier and struck an empty construction zone.
Had Khloe and Ava been inside, neither would have survived.
Police arrested Martin Vale, the hospital’s director of security.
He had deleted surveillance footage, abducted Elaine, and arranged access to the NICU.
But during questioning, Martin made an unexpected claim.
“Richard paid me to control the cameras,” he said. “He did not order the car.”
“Who did?” the detective asked.
Martin requested immunity.
Then he named Marcus’s mother.
Vivian Thorne.
Vivian had remained almost invisible throughout the scandal.
She had visited Khloe once after the surgery, offered a cold prayer, and left before Ava’s condition stabilized.
When police arrived at her estate, Vivian was sitting in the garden drinking tea.
She did not appear surprised.
“Did you arrange the sabotage of your daughter-in-law’s vehicle?” the detective asked.
“No.”
“Martin Vale says you did.”
“Martin Vale is a criminal.”
“Did you pay him?”
Vivian set down her cup.
“I paid him to protect this family.”
“By killing Khloe and her newborn?”
Vivian’s face tightened.
“You misunderstand who the danger is.”
Marcus arrived before they could take her away.
“Mother, what have you done?”
Vivian looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“Everything I did was for you.”
“My wife nearly died.”
“Your wife’s father created this nightmare.”
“Khloe’s father saved the company.”
“No,” Vivian said. “He purchased control of your life before you were old enough to understand.”
Khloe listened through Marcus’s phone.
Vivian continued.
“Daniel Cole did not give us money because he believed in the company. He had evidence against your father.”
“What evidence?”
Vivian looked toward the officers.
Then she spoke directly to Marcus.
“Ask Khloe why her father left a sealed letter stating that you must never inherit Thorne Holdings.”
Khloe’s hand tightened around the phone.
She had never heard of any letter.
May you like
But Adrian had.
And he had been hiding it since the night Ava was born.
