Chapter 5 - What Isabella Wanted
Marcus left the suite at dawn.
He claimed he needed to meet the hospital’s technology director.
Khloe knew he was going to search for the camera system.
She used his absence to call Adrian Cole.
The unknown number finally answered.
A man’s voice said, “Do not say my name.”
“You are Adrian.”
“You should not have called.”
“You sent me trust documents.”
“I sent you enough to make you cautious.”
“You also sent the recording to the television.”
“No.”
Khloe sat upright.
“Then who did?”
“I installed a camera, Mrs. Vale. I did not connect it to the suite television.”
“Who else has access?”
“That is what worries me.”
Adrian spoke quickly. He told her to trust no hospital device, no private nurse, and no document presented by Marcus. He warned that Vale Risk Management had gained access to several floors through a cybersecurity contract.
“Why are you investigating my husband?”
“Because someone has been cleaning up his mistakes for more than a decade.”
“What mistakes?”
“Deaths presented as accidents. Financial crimes disguised as settlements. People who signed away their rights while sedated.”
Khloe remembered Dr. Shaw’s sister.
“Do you have proof?”
“Pieces.”
“Then give them to the police.”
“Some of the officers assigned to financial crimes receive donations from the Vale Foundation.”
“So what am I supposed to do?”
“Stay alive until I can get you out.”
The call ended.
Khloe stared at the phone.
A knock sounded.
Isabella entered before Khloe gave permission.
This time she wore a cream coat over the champagne gown, as though she had never gone home.
“You look tired,” she said.
“You threatened me yesterday.”
“I warned you.”
“Why?”
Isabella sat near the window.
“Because Marcus does not forgive people who interfere with his plans.”
“You are helping him.”
Isabella’s expression became distant.
“I used to think helping him would make him choose me.”
Khloe said nothing.
Isabella looked at the city.
“When Marcus married you, he told me it was strategic. Your family’s shipping company gave him access to European contracts. He said the marriage would last five years.”
Khloe felt a quiet ache beneath her anger.
“We have been married eight.”
“Yes.”
“And you waited?”
“I believed him.”
“Did he promise to leave me after the baby?”
Isabella laughed once.
“He promised many things.”
Khloe studied her.
“Did you put the sedative in the drink?”
Isabella turned back sharply.
“What sedative?”
“The laboratory found it.”
Fear crossed Isabella’s face.
“I did not put anything in that glass.”
“You brought it.”
“Marcus gave me the bottle.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You should not.”
The answer surprised Khloe.
Isabella reached into her coat and removed a silver key.
“This opens Marcus’s private archive beneath Vale Tower.”
“Why are you giving it to me?”
“Because I went there last night.”
“What did you find?”
“A file with your name. Medical records, financial agreements, photographs taken without your knowledge.”
Khloe’s stomach tightened.
“What photographs?”
“Your doctor appointments. Your bedroom. Your father’s funeral.”
Khloe’s voice dropped.
“Why?”
“I do not know.”
Isabella placed the key on the table.
“There was also a file labeled Laurent.”
“Your family?”
“My mother died when I was eleven. Marcus’s father paid for her treatment.”
“I thought she died in a car accident.”
“So did I.”
Isabella’s eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away.
“The file included a hospital settlement and a photograph of my mother in this building.”
Khloe looked toward the hidden camera.
“Dr. Shaw’s sister died here too.”
Isabella leaned closer.
“Marcus told me to destroy your laboratory report.”
Khloe’s hand moved instinctively toward the chair.
Isabella noticed.
“He knows you have it.”
“Are you going to take it?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To offer you a deal.”
Khloe waited.
“We leave this hospital together. We go to Vale Tower, open the archive, and take everything.”
“And then?”
“We destroy Marcus before he destroys us.”
A sudden noise came from Isabella’s coat pocket.
Her phone had activated by itself.
Marcus’s voice came through the speaker.
“Isabella, step away from my wife.”
Isabella went still.
Marcus continued.
“I can see both of you.”
Khloe looked up at the hidden camera.
May you like
Its red light was no longer blinking.
It was glowing steadily.
