Chapter 4 - The Mother Behind the Throne
Victoria Thorne arrived at the hospital at 7:12 the next morning.
She came through the private entrance wearing a cream suit, pearl earrings, and the expression of a woman attending an inconvenient business meeting.
Marcus was waiting.
“So it's true.”
Victoria stopped.
“What is?”
“You met Isabella.”
Her face did not change.
“Of course I've met Isabella.”
“Last Thursday.”
A pause.
Then Victoria removed her gloves.
“Yes.”
Marcus stared at his mother.
“What did you talk about?”
“Business.”
“She nearly killed my wife.”
For the first time, Victoria's composure slipped.
“What?”
Marcus studied her carefully.
Khloe had insisted he reveal nothing about the recovered photograph.
He needed to see whether Victoria already knew.
“She attacked Khloe last night.”
Victoria's face became genuinely pale.
“And the baby?”
“Alive.”
Victoria sat down.
Marcus watched her.
He had expected denial.
Perhaps anger.
What he saw instead looked almost like fear.
“Why were you meeting Isabella?”
Victoria looked toward the security camera above the hallway.
“Not here.”
“Here is exactly where we're talking.”
Damian stepped from the adjoining room.
Victoria's expression hardened.
“Damian.”
“Victoria.”
They had known each other for twenty years.
They had never liked each other.
Damian placed the photograph on the table.
Victoria stared at it.
“You've been busy.”
“What is the Succession Contingency Plan?”
Victoria looked at Marcus.
“If I tell you, everything changes.”
“My pregnant wife was kicked to the floor.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“Everything already changed.”
Victoria finally opened her handbag.
She removed a small silver key.
“Your father didn't create one succession document.”
Marcus frowned.
“He created two.”
“What?”
“The version you've seen determines control when your child is born.”
“I know.”
“The second activates if there is evidence that the child's mother is incapable of acting as guardian.”
Khloe had entered quietly from the treatment room in a wheelchair.
Marcus immediately turned.
She was pale but steady.
“Incapable how?”
Victoria stared at her.
“Criminal behavior.”
“Addiction.”
“Severe mental illness.”
“Violence.”
Khloe understood instantly.
“Isabella said I attacked her.”
Nobody answered.
Victoria nodded.
“If police records had shown Khloe violently attacking another woman while pregnant, the trustees could petition to prevent her from receiving voting authority.”
Marcus stared at his mother.
“And you knew?”
“I discovered the document three months ago.”
“Why didn't you tell us?”
“Because somebody else had already accessed it.”
Damian folded his arms.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Victoria opened the silver key.
It was actually a small encrypted USB drive.
“I hired Isabella to find out.”
Marcus laughed once in disbelief.
“You hired the woman who attacked my wife?”
“I hired your former girlfriend because whoever was targeting the trust already believed she hated Khloe.”
“She does hate Khloe.”
“Yes.”
Victoria's voice became colder.
“Which made her convincing.”
Khloe stared at her.
“What was she supposed to do?”
“Pretend to cooperate.”
“With whom?”
“That was what she was supposed to discover.”
Marcus slammed his palm onto the table.
“Instead she attacked Khloe.”
Victoria's eyes hardened.
“Then somebody bought her loyalty.”
Damian pointed toward the USB.
“What's on it?”
“Everything Isabella sent me during the first six weeks.”
Marcus inserted the drive into an isolated laptop.
Folders appeared.
Photographs.
Bank transfers.
Recorded phone calls.
Board documents.
Then one folder caught Khloe's attention.
ELAINE PARKER.
Marcus opened it.
There were surveillance photographs of Elaine meeting a man outside Thorne Tower.
The man was tall, gray-haired, and familiar.
Marcus stared at the photograph.
“No.”
Khloe looked at him.
“Who is he?”
Marcus could barely speak.
“Warren Sloan.”
The Thorne family's attorney.
The man who had drafted Marcus and Khloe's prenuptial agreement.
May you like
The man who controlled access to the family trust.
And the man who would supervise tomorrow's succession vote.
