Chapter 3 - the woman in burgundy
Inside the suite, every camera was positioned toward the door.
Isabella knew exactly where to stand.
She grabbed Khloe’s wrist and pulled her forward.
Khloe twisted away.
“Do not touch me.”
“You signed the amendment,” Isabella said. “That was your mistake.”
“What did it really authorize?”
“Nothing you will be able to prove.”
Isabella reached for Khloe’s handbag.
Khloe held it behind her.
The movement caused a sharp pressure beneath her ribs.
She steadied herself against a chair.
Isabella noticed.
For a second, something almost like fear appeared in her expression.
Then it vanished.
“You should sit down.”
“Open the door.”
“I cannot.”
“You entered before me.”
“Someone let me in.”
“Who?”
Isabella smiled.
“You married him.”
Khloe’s blood went cold.
“Marcus would never help you.”
“Are you sure?”
Khloe thought of the missing document, the anonymous legal office, and Marcus’s surprise when she mentioned the amendment.
Isabella moved closer.
“He has been protecting you from the truth. The Vale trust was created long before you arrived. Your child’s inheritance does not belong to you.”
“My child is not an account you can control.”
“No. Your child is the final signature.”
Khloe pressed the emergency call button beside the bed.
Nothing happened.
The suite’s communication system had been disconnected.
She moved toward the wall phone.
Isabella blocked her path.
“Let me pass.”
“Give me your bag.”
“No.”
“Then Marcus will watch a recording of you attacking a woman who tried to help you.”
Khloe looked toward the camera.
“It is recording you too.”
“Only the parts we need.”
Isabella lunged for the handbag.
Khloe turned sideways, but Isabella caught the strap.
The bag fell open.
A sealed envelope slid across the floor.
Isabella dropped to retrieve it.
Khloe reached first.
Inside the envelope was not the trust amendment.
It was a photograph.
The image showed Marcus entering a law office two weeks earlier with a man whose face was hidden beneath an umbrella.
On the back, someone had written a single sentence.
Ask Marcus why your baby has two birth certificates.
Khloe stared at the words.
“This is not mine.”
Isabella snatched the photograph.
Her confidence disappeared.
“Where did you get this?”
“It was in my bag.”
“You were not supposed to have it.”
That was the first honest thing Isabella had said.
A sound came from the corridor.
Someone entered a code into the lock.
Isabella looked toward the door with visible panic.
“Who is that?”
Khloe backed away.
“You tell me.”
The door opened.
A shadow crossed the carpet.
Before Khloe could see the person’s face, Isabella shoved the door closed again.
The motion sent Khloe off balance.
She caught the edge of the console table, but the table shifted beneath her hand.
A lamp crashed to the floor.
Khloe lowered herself carefully, one arm wrapped around her stomach.
Isabella stared at her.
“I didn’t mean…”
Khloe looked up.
“You planned everything except what would happen to my baby.”
Footsteps approached outside.
Isabella tore the strap from Khloe’s handbag and wrapped it around her own wrist.
Then she scratched her skin with the broken metal clasp.
“What are you doing?”
“Surviving.”
Isabella screamed.
May you like
When the door finally opened, she pointed at Khloe.
“She attacked me.”
