Chapter 2 - THE RED FOLDERDetective Lena Brooks placed the folder on a side table.
“We were already on our way here.”
Marcus looked from the folder to Isabella.
“Why?”
Brooks opened it.
Inside were photographs, hotel receipts, financial statements, and printed messages.
“We have been investigating an extortion operation involving several prominent families.”
Isabella laughed nervously.
“This is ridiculous.”
Detective Brooks turned one photograph around.
It showed Isabella entering a private hotel suite with Daniel Voss, Marcus’s chief financial officer.
The date was six weeks earlier.
Marcus felt the floor shift beneath him.
Daniel had managed Thorne Global’s finances for eleven years.
He had stood beside Marcus at his wedding.
He had toasted Khloe at the reception.
“What does this have to do with my wife?”
Brooks removed another document.
“A confidential medical report concerning Mrs. Thorne’s pregnancy was stolen from this hospital.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“From whose system?”
“We are still determining that.”
Isabella shook her head.
“I do not know anything about stolen records.”
Detective Brooks tapped the tablet.
“Your recorded conversation says otherwise.”
Security had recovered audio from earlier that evening.
Isabella’s voice filled the suite again.
Once Khloe lost the baby, Marcus would be emotionally destroyed.
Daniel would force a board vote.
Isabella would become the sympathetic woman who helped Marcus rebuild his life.
Then Daniel would take control of the company through a series of fraudulent loans.
Marcus listened without blinking.
Every word was another blade.
Isabella had not only wanted Khloe gone.
She had planned to use the death of his child as a business opportunity.
Two officers placed her in handcuffs.
She struggled.
“You cannot do this to me.”
Marcus finally spoke.
“You kicked my pregnant wife.”
His voice was quiet.
That frightened Isabella more than shouting would have.
“You stood over her and lied while she was bleeding.”
“I was angry.”
“You were calculating.”
“I love you.”
“No.”
Marcus looked at the screen where the frozen image showed Isabella’s heel against Khloe’s side.
“You loved what you thought you could take from me.”
The officers led Isabella toward the elevator.
Before the doors closed, she smiled.
It was not the smile of a defeated woman.
“You still do not understand.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Understand what?”
Isabella’s eyes moved toward the red folder.
“Khloe was never supposed to reach seven months.”
The elevator doors closed.
Marcus turned toward Detective Brooks.
“What did she mean?”
Before Brooks could answer, Adrian’s phone rang.
He listened for several seconds.
Then his face lost all color.
“The baby’s heart rate has collapsed.”
Marcus ran toward the operating wing.
Behind him, Detective Brooks opened the final envelope inside the red folder.
It contained an ultrasound image.
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Written across the bottom were four words.
FIRST ATTEMPT WAS INCOMPLETE.
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