Chapter 2 - The Heir Clause
Marcus reached the maternity floor moments before the elevator doors opened.
A doctor was already waiting.
“Mr. Thorne.”
“How is my wife?”
“We've stabilized her.”
Marcus almost collapsed with relief.
“And my son?”
The doctor hesitated.
“The baby's heartbeat dropped after the trauma.”
Marcus stopped breathing.
“But it recovered.”
Marcus pressed both hands against the wall.
“Can I see her?”
“In a few minutes.”
Damian arrived behind him.
Unlike Marcus, he did not look relieved.
He looked dangerous.
“What did Isabella mean about the baby?”
Marcus slowly turned.
“I don't know.”
“That's becoming a very expensive answer.”
Marcus understood the warning.
Damian Hale had spent thirty years building one of the largest private medical networks in the country.
He loved very few people.
Khloe was one of them.
Marcus looked through the glass toward the treatment room.
“There was something my father established years ago.”
Damian waited.
“A family trust.”
“What kind of trust?”
“The controlling shares of Thorne Global.”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“When my father died, I became acting chairman.”
“Acting?”
“Until the next generation is born.”
Damian's eyes narrowed.
Marcus nodded.
“When my first legitimate child is born, the trust restructures.”
“How?”
“Half of the controlling interest remains with me.”
“And the other half?”
Marcus looked toward Khloe's room.
“It transfers to the child's mother as guardian until the child turns twenty-five.”
Damian's expression became cold.
“So when Khloe gives birth, she becomes one of the most powerful shareholders in your company.”
“Yes.”
“And your mother?”
“Loses most of her influence.”
The answer hung between them.
Marcus's mother, Victoria Thorne, had spent decades controlling the family empire from behind the scenes.
Publicly, she had embraced Khloe.
Privately, she had never hidden her contempt.
Damian suddenly understood Isabella's words.
Give him an heir.
Then disappear.
“If Khloe dies after the child is born?”
Marcus's face tightened.
“Guardianship returns to the surviving Thorne trustee.”
“Your mother.”
“Yes.”
“And if the baby doesn't survive?”
“Nothing changes.”
Damian stared at him.
“That's motive.”
Marcus immediately shook his head.
“My mother is cruel.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“She would never hurt Khloe.”
Damian stepped closer.
“You didn't believe Isabella would either.”
Marcus had no answer.
The treatment room door opened.
Khloe lay pale against the hospital pillows.
Marcus approached carefully.
Her eyes opened.
“You watched it?”
“Yes.”
“Everything?”
Marcus nodded.
Khloe stared at him.
“Then tell me why she talked about our baby like he was part of a contract.”
Marcus sat beside her.
He wanted to lie.
He wanted to postpone the truth until she was stronger.
But the woman staring back at him had nearly lost their child because his family had hidden too many secrets already.
“My father's trust changes when our son is born.”
Khloe listened without interrupting.
When Marcus finished, her expression was not frightened.
It was wounded.
“You never told me.”
“I didn't think it mattered.”
“Someone kicked me while I was pregnant because apparently it mattered to them.”
Marcus lowered his head.
Khloe pulled her hand away when he reached for it.
Then Damian entered.
“There's something else.”
Marcus stood.
Security had searched Isabella's purse.
They found two phones.
One was hers.
The second was registered under a false identity.
On it were twenty-seven deleted messages recovered by hospital cyber security.
Most came from an encrypted number.
But the final message had not been erased.
Damian placed the phone before Marcus.
The message contained only seven words.
FINISH IT TONIGHT.
THE BOARD VOTES TOMORROW.
Marcus looked at the timestamp.
It had been sent eleven minutes before Isabella attacked Khloe.
Khloe stared at her husband.
“What board vote?”
May you like
Marcus went completely still.
Because suddenly he knew exactly what tomorrow's vote was about.
