Chapter 4 - THE NURSE WHO KNEW TOO MUCHMelissa Grant’s car had been found near an abandoned warehouse along the river.
There were no signs of a struggle inside the vehicle.
Her purse remained on the passenger seat.
Her hospital badge was missing.
Detective Brooks believed she had been silenced.
Marcus believed the same thing.
By sunrise, reporters had gathered outside St. Catherine’s Medical Center.
Someone had leaked the hospital footage.
Clips of Isabella attacking Khloe spread across every major network.
The woman in the crimson gown became the most hated face in America before breakfast.
Marcus did not watch the coverage.
He sat beside Khloe’s bed.
Machines measured every fragile heartbeat.
Her face looked pale against the white pillow.
A bruise darkened along her temple.
Another spread beneath the fabric covering her ribs.
Marcus took her hand.
“I should have believed you.”
She could not hear him.
Or perhaps she could and had no reason to respond.
Across the hall, their daughter rested inside an incubator.
Adrian had allowed Marcus to see her for five minutes.
She was impossibly small.
A breathing tube covered half her face.
Her fingers were thinner than the gold chain Marcus wore around his wrist.
A nurse asked whether they had chosen a name.
Marcus could not answer without Khloe.
At noon, Detective Brooks arrived carrying Melissa Grant’s recovered laptop.
“We found encrypted files.”
“What was inside them?”
“Medical records.”
Brooks placed several printed pages on the table.
The first showed that Khloe’s blood sample from three months earlier had tested positive for a drug capable of triggering premature contractions.
Melissa had altered the result.
The second page showed a payment of two hundred thousand dollars from a shell company linked to Daniel Voss.
The third showed a second payment.
This one had never been completed.
Marcus saw the scheduled date.
It was tomorrow.
“Melissa was going to receive more money after Khloe lost the baby.”
Brooks nodded.
“Someone canceled the transfer after the hospital attack.”
“Daniel?”
“Possibly.”
Marcus looked toward his unconscious wife.
“Arrest him.”
“We need evidence connecting him directly to the assault.”
“The payment is evidence.”
“It connects him to Melissa.”
Brooks closed the laptop.
“Isabella’s attorney claims she acted alone because she was emotionally unstable.”
“She planned this with Daniel.”
“I believe you.”
“But belief is not enough.”
Marcus understood the message.
Daniel Voss had already begun protecting himself.
That evening, Marcus received a call from the Thorne Global board.
An emergency meeting had been scheduled.
Daniel planned to remove him as chief executive officer.
Marcus almost laughed.
His wife was unconscious.
His daughter could barely breathe.
And the man responsible was trying to steal his company before the blood had dried.
Then Khloe’s fingers moved.
Marcus leaned closer.
Her lips parted.
“Not Daniel.”
Her voice was barely audible.
Marcus froze.
“Khloe, who?”
May you like
Her eyes opened for one second.
“Your mother.”
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