Chapter 17 - THE RECORDING
The recording lasted six minutes and fourteen seconds.
Khloe had made it two nights before the courthouse hearing.
Richard's voice was unmistakable.
"You have no idea what you're doing."
Khloe answered.
"I'm divorcing a man who forged my signature."
"You freeze those assets and thousands of people lose jobs."
"Then maybe you should have thought about them before you stole from me."
Richard's voice became colder.
"If you weren't pregnant, Harrison wouldn't be treating you like glass."
Khloe said nothing.
Then Richard made the mistake that would eventually destroy him.
"If something happened to you before this divorce was final, at least the company would survive."
Khloe's voice changed.
"Is that a threat?"
Richard laughed.
"Don't be dramatic."
"I asked you a question."
"No."
"It's reality."
The recording ended with Khloe ordering him out.
Harrison listened twice.
Then he stopped.
He could not listen a third time.
The district attorney could.
Federal investigators could.
The judge could.
Richard's board could.
Within twenty-four hours, search warrants were executed at Harrington Commercial Group.
Marcus Vale was arrested at a private airfield in New Jersey.
He had two passports.
Three phones.
And access codes to offshore accounts containing more than forty million dollars.
Richard was arrested the following morning.
Reporters were waiting outside his townhouse.
He walked through them in handcuffs.
For six years, magazines had photographed him entering charity galas.
Now cameras photographed him entering a federal vehicle.
Khloe watched from her hospital room.
She felt no triumph.
Only exhaustion.
Richard looked toward the cameras and said one sentence.
"My wife is being manipulated by her brother."
Khloe turned off the television.
Harrison sat beside her.
"Do you regret marrying him?"
Khloe looked at Caroline.
"No."
Harrison seemed surprised.
Khloe smiled sadly.
"If I hadn't married him, I wouldn't have her."
That answer silenced him.
Three weeks later, Caroline finally left intensive care.
Khloe carried her daughter through the hospital doors.
Harrison walked beside them.
For the first time since the courthouse, Khloe felt sunlight on her face.
Then Detective Ruiz called.
May you like
Vanessa had withdrawn her cooperation.
And her new attorney claimed the confession had been coerced.
