Chapter 4 - THE FIRST STRIKE
Khloe stood alone in the kitchen with Richard's rage pressed against her ear.
"I filed for divorce."
There was no point pretending now.
Silence followed.
Then Richard laughed once.
It was not amusement.
It was disbelief.
"You filed for divorce?"
"Yes."
"Without speaking to me?"
Khloe looked at the small cream baby booties still sitting inside the gift box on a shelf near the breakfast table.
"You had two years to speak to me."
The line went silent again.
Richard's voice changed when he returned.
Lower.
Careful.
"What do you think you know?"
Khloe almost told him everything.
The messages.
The photographs.
The debt.
The foreclosure.
Vanessa's company.
The fake signatures.
Instead, she repeated Harrison's instruction.
"Enough."
Richard inhaled slowly.
"Is Harrison behind this?"
"No."
"Do not lie to me."
"He is my lawyer."
"He is your brother."
"Today he is both."
Richard's next words came sharp and immediate.
"You are making a catastrophic mistake."
Khloe's hand tightened around the phone.
"No."
"I made the catastrophic mistake six years ago."
She ended the call.
Her entire body started shaking afterward.
Not because she regretted it.
Because she had finally said aloud what she had been too frightened to admit.
The marriage was over.
Less than twenty minutes later, Harrison's security man entered through the service entrance with two female associates from Miranda's office.
They were there to document the condition of the house, inventory personal property, and make sure nothing disappeared before the temporary order could be served locally.
Khloe walked them room by room.
Wedding silver.
Art.
Family photographs.
Her mother's jewelry.
Richard's watch collection.
Wine.
Furniture.
The nursery supplies.
Every item suddenly had a legal category.
Marital.
Separate.
Disputed.
Documented.
Khloe hated how quickly a life could become an inventory.
At eleven fifteen, Thomas appeared in the doorway of the library.
"Mrs. Harrington."
His face was pale.
"Mr. Harrington is here."
Khloe heard the front door slam before she could respond.
Richard entered the library still wearing his suit coat.
Two attorneys followed him.
Vanessa was not with them.
That almost surprised Khloe.
Richard stopped when he saw the women photographing the room.
"Get out of my house."
One of Miranda's associates calmly held up a copy of the order.
"We are here with Mrs. Harrington's authorization."
Richard's eyes moved to Khloe.
"My office."
"No."
His jaw flexed.
"Khloe."
"Anything you need to say can be said in front of counsel."
Richard looked at the associate.
"She is not counsel of record."
"I am."
Harrison's voice came from the doorway.
Richard turned.
For the first time in six years, Khloe saw fear touch her husband's face.
It disappeared almost immediately.
But she saw it.
Harrison walked into the room carrying nothing but a slim leather folio.
"Good morning, Richard."
"You filed an emergency property order without notice."
"The rules allow it where there is a credible risk of dissipation."
"There is no risk."
Harrison glanced around the room.
"Then you should enjoy proving that at the hearing."
One of Richard's attorneys stepped forward.
"Mr. Cole, we can discuss this professionally."
Harrison looked at him.
"That would be refreshing."
Richard's face darkened.
Khloe almost felt sorry for his lawyer.
Almost.
They moved into the formal dining room because it had the largest table.
Khloe sat beside Harrison.
Richard sat opposite her.
His attorneys flanked him.
The arrangement looked more like a deposition than a marriage ending.
Richard pushed a paper across the table.
"Withdraw the emergency motion."
Harrison did not touch it.
"No."
"Then we will move for sanctions."
"Please do."
"Harrison."
Richard leaned forward.
"This is a family matter."
Harrison's expression did not change.
"You made it a financial matter when you forged my sister's signature."
The room went silent.
Richard's attorney slowly turned toward him.
That reaction told Khloe something important.
They had not known.
Richard recovered quickly.
"I have never forged her signature."
Harrison opened his folio.
He removed one page.
Then another.
Then another.
"Three point two million."
He placed the first page down.
"Two point four million."
The second.
"Eleven million in contingent guarantees."
The third.
"Would you like me to continue?"
Richard did not look at the pages.
"Those are legitimate transactions."
"Excellent."
Harrison sat back.
"Then you will have no objection to a forensic handwriting examination and full discovery."
One of Richard's lawyers whispered something to him.
Richard ignored it.
His eyes stayed on Khloe.
"You went through my private records."
Khloe felt Harrison tense beside her.
"I found messages on our family tablet."
"After that, I reviewed accounts and documents I am legally entitled to see."
"You invaded my privacy."
The absurdity almost took her breath away.
"You brought another woman into our marriage and then put debt in my name."
"Do not lecture me about privacy."
Richard's face hardened.
"Vanessa has nothing to do with this."
Harrison's eyes flickered.
Khloe understood why.
Richard had just volunteered her name.
No one at the table had mentioned Vanessa.
Harrison closed the folio.
"Interesting."
Richard realized it a second too late.
His attorney placed a hand flat on the table.
"We are done for today."
Richard stood.
"No, we are not."
He pointed at Khloe.
"You need to think about what you are doing to our daughter."
Khloe went still.
The word our felt like theft.
"I am thinking about her."
"Are you?"
Richard's voice became softer.
"Because this level of stress is not healthy."
"You have been emotional for months."
"You barely sleep."
"You cry constantly."
"You have had trouble eating."
Khloe stared at him.
There it was.
The script Miranda had predicted.
He was performing it in front of four lawyers.
Harrison did not interrupt.
He wanted Richard to keep going.
Richard did.
"I have been worried about your judgment."
"I have talked to people about getting you help."
"People?"
Khloe asked the question quietly.
"Your doctor."
"My mother."
"Some of the staff."
Khloe felt sick.
Richard's lawyer closed his eyes for half a second.
Another mistake.
Harrison leaned forward.
"Which doctor?"
Richard glanced at him.
"That is private."
"My sister's medical information is private."
"Your contacts with her doctor are discoverable if you intend to make her health an issue."
Richard finally looked uncertain.
"I am not making anything an issue."
"You just did."
Harrison's voice remained almost gentle.
"Thank you."
Richard turned toward Khloe.
"This is what he does."
"He twists everything."
Khloe stood slowly.
"No."
"He listens."
"You are just not used to anyone doing that when you lie."
Richard's face flushed.
For one second, Khloe thought he might shout.
Instead, he smiled.
That frightened her more.
"Fine."
He straightened his cuffs.
"You want a war?"
Harrison answered before Khloe could.
"No."
His voice was flat.
"We want documents."
Richard looked at him with open hatred.
"You will get what the law entitles you to."
"I always do."
Richard left with his attorneys.
The front door closed behind them.
Khloe sank back into her chair.
"He has been talking to my doctor."
Harrison was already typing on his phone.
"Miranda is contacting the practice now."
"Can he do that?"
"He can say whatever he wants."
"They cannot disclose protected information without authorization."
"But if someone did, we will find out."
Khloe rubbed both hands over her face.
"He is going to say I am unstable."
"Yes."
"He is going to try to take the baby."
Harrison looked at her.
"He is going to try a lot of things."
"Trying and succeeding are different events."
Khloe wanted to believe him.
At two thirty that afternoon, Miranda called.
Her voice was tight.
"We have a problem."
Khloe put the call on speaker.
"What?"
"Your obstetrician's office confirms Richard called twice in the last month."
"They did not release your records."
Khloe exhaled.
Then Miranda continued.
"But he was not calling to ask for information."
"He was providing it."
Khloe's breath caught.
"Providing what?"
"Claims that you had stopped eating."
"Claims that you had threatened to leave the state with the baby after delivery."
"Claims that you were having episodes of confusion."
Khloe stared at Harrison.
"None of that is true."
"We know."
Miranda's voice softened.
"Your doctor documented the calls and noted that Richard's claims were inconsistent with her observations of you."
Relief hit Khloe so hard her shoulders sagged.
Then Miranda said one more thing.
"There is something else."
Harrison's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"Richard asked the practice whether they would support an emergency psychiatric evaluation if he believed Khloe became dangerous after the birth."
Khloe felt the room go cold.
Her daughter was not born yet.
And Richard was already building a path to have her mother declared dangerous.
That night, Khloe slept at Harrison's Philadelphia townhouse instead of the Lower Merion estate.
The temporary order allowed both spouses access to the home, but Harrison no longer wanted her there alone.
At 1:07 in the morning, Khloe woke to her phone vibrating on the nightstand.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
Then a text appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE SIGNED THE AGREEMENT.
Khloe sat up.
A second message arrived.
NOW HE IS GOING TO TAKE EVERYTHING.
May you like
A third followed before she could wake Harrison.
INCLUDING THE BABY.
