Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO DISAPPEAREDVictoria agreed to speak only after Marcus ordered security to lock the neonatal wing.
She sat inside a private consultation room with Detective Brooks watching from the doorway.
“Your father survived the boat explosion.”
Marcus’s hands tightened.
“There was an explosion?”
Victoria nodded.
“Edward discovered that someone inside Thorne Global was laundering money.”
“He planned to contact federal investigators.”
“Who was stealing?”
“His business partner.”
“Daniel’s father.”
Khloe understood first.
“Samuel Voss.”
Victoria looked at her.
“Yes.”
Samuel Voss had died in prison ten years earlier.
Daniel spent his life blaming the Thorne family.
“He wanted revenge.”
Marcus looked at his mother.
“Then why fake Father’s death?”
“Samuel threatened to kill you.”
“You were nineteen.”
“Edward believed disappearing was the only way to protect us.”
Marcus stood so quickly that the chair struck the wall.
“He abandoned me.”
“He protected you.”
“He let me believe he was dead.”
Victoria’s composure began to crack.
“He promised it would be temporary.”
“Then years passed.”
“He built a new identity.”
“He refused to return.”
“And you allowed it.”
“I had no choice.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“You always have a choice.”
Khloe studied Victoria.
“Why did you target me?”
Victoria looked away.
“Because Daniel contacted Edward.”
The room went silent.
“He told me Edward would return if Marcus had a child.”
“Edward still controls a hidden portion of the trust.”
“Grace’s birth would activate it.”
Marcus stared at her.
“My daughter inherits Father’s shares?”
“Forty-one percent.”
That explained everything.
If Grace was born alive, Daniel could not seize the company.
Victoria could not retain control.
Edward might return.
Three people had different motives, but all of them viewed Khloe’s child as a threat.
“You tried to kill your granddaughter for shares?”
Marcus asked.
Victoria’s eyes filled with tears.
“I wanted Khloe frightened enough to leave.”
“The first drug was not supposed to kill the baby.”
“And Isabella?”
“I never ordered the attack.”
“I told her to create a scandal.”
“She became reckless.”
Khloe’s expression remained cold.
“You handed a weapon to someone filled with hatred.”
“You do not get to deny responsibility because she struck harder than you expected.”
Detective Brooks received a message.
Daniel’s aircraft had never left the country.
The flight plan was a diversion.
The empty plane had been found in New Jersey.
Daniel was still nearby.
Marcus’s phone rang from an unknown number.
He answered.
A man’s voice spoke.
“Marcus.”
Marcus stopped breathing.
He had not heard that voice since he was nineteen.
“Father?”
Edward Thorne replied.
May you like
“Do not trust Victoria.”
Then a gunshot sounded through the phone.
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