Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO OPENED THE DOOR
Celeste Thorne arrived at the hospital forty minutes later wearing diamonds, a black evening coat and an expression of calculated concern.
“Where is Khloe?” she demanded.
Marcus waited until she stepped inside the private consultation room.
Then he locked the door.
Celeste looked at him sharply.
“What is this?”
Marcus placed the access-card report on the table.
“You gave Isabella your executive key.”
His mother’s expression barely changed.
“I lent it to her because she needed somewhere private to prepare for the gala.”
“She used it to attack my wife.”
Celeste removed her gloves one finger at a time.
“Isabella said Khloe became hysterical.”
“There is video.”
For the first time, Celeste’s composure cracked.
Marcus placed the tablet in front of her and played the footage.
His mother watched the shove.
The broken glass.
The kick.
The whispered threat against the baby.
By the end, Celeste’s face had gone pale.
“I didn’t know she would do that.”
“But you knew she planned to confront Khloe.”
Celeste looked away.
Marcus leaned forward.
“What did you think was going to happen?”
“I thought Isabella would convince her to accept reality.”
“What reality?”
“That your marriage was already over.”
Marcus’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“My wife is seven months pregnant.”
“And your marriage has been miserable for nearly a year.”
“Because I made it miserable.”
Celeste’s eyes narrowed.
“Isabella understands your world. She understands the company, the board and the obligations attached to the Thorne name. Khloe never has.”
“Khloe never wanted the company.”
“That is exactly the problem. She has influence without understanding how to use it.”
Marcus stared at his mother as if seeing her clearly for the first time.
Celeste continued.
“Your father’s trust gives significant voting authority to the mother of the first legitimate Thorne heir if anything happens to you. Do you have any idea how vulnerable that makes us?”
“Us?”
“The family.”
“You mean the corporation.”
“They are the same thing.”
“No,” Marcus said. “They are not.”
Celeste stood.
“I admit that Isabella lost control. But don’t destroy everything because of one terrible moment.”
“One terrible moment?”
Marcus pushed the tablet toward her again.
“She kicked my pregnant wife.”
“Lower your voice.”
“I will not lower my voice.”
The door opened behind them.
Daniel stepped inside.
“Sir, Mrs. Thorne is awake.”
Marcus immediately turned.
“Is she all right?”
“The bleeding has slowed. The baby is stable for now.”
Relief weakened his legs.
“Can I see her?”
Daniel hesitated.
“She still doesn’t want you in the room.”
Celeste sighed.
“She is punishing you.”
Marcus looked at his mother.
“No. She is protecting herself.”
He turned back to Daniel.
“Tell her I’ll respect whatever she wants.”
Marcus remained outside Khloe’s room for nearly three hours.
Through the window, he watched nurses adjust monitors and check the baby’s heartbeat. He watched Khloe wake, wince and place both hands over her belly.
At dawn, Dr. Park stepped into the hallway.
“She has agreed to speak to you for five minutes.”
Marcus entered slowly.
Khloe looked small beneath the white blankets, but her eyes were steady.
He stopped several feet from the bed.
“How is the baby?”
“Alive.”
The answer held no warmth.
Marcus swallowed.
“I saw the video.”
“Then you know Isabella lied.”
“I know.”
Khloe turned toward the window.
“I knew about the affair.”
His breath caught.
“How long?”
“Four months.”
“Why didn’t you confront me?”
“I did.”
Marcus frowned.
“No, you didn’t.”
“I asked you if there was someone else. You said I was emotional because of the pregnancy.”
Shame burned across his face.
Khloe continued.
“I asked why you kept leaving dinner to answer her calls. You said it was business. I asked why her perfume was on your jacket. You told me I was imagining things.”
Marcus remembered every conversation.
Every lie.
Every moment he had made her doubt herself.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry is a word people use when they want pain to end without repairing what caused it.”
He lowered his head.
“You’re right.”
Khloe studied him.
“I need you to understand something. Isabella may have kicked me, but you gave her permission to believe I was disposable.”
“I never told her that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
The words landed with brutal precision.
“You brought her into our marriage. You laughed at messages from her while I assembled the crib alone. You missed two prenatal appointments because you were ‘working.’ You let her sit beside you at board dinners while your wife stayed home vomiting into a bathroom sink.”
Marcus could barely look at her.
“I was selfish.”
“You were cruel.”
“Yes.”
Tears filled Khloe’s eyes, but her voice did not break.
“When she attacked me, she said I was supposed to have the baby and disappear. Why would she believe that, Marcus?”
He had no answer that could save him.
“I don’t know.”
“Find out.”
“I will.”
“And until you do, stay away from me.”
Marcus nodded.
“I’ll arrange protection, a separate residence, anything you need.”
“I don’t need another mansion.”
“What do you need?”
“My own attorney.”
The words stunned him.
Khloe reached toward the bedside table and lifted a folder.
Inside were unsigned divorce papers.
“I had them prepared two weeks ago.”
Marcus stared at the pages.
Khloe’s hand trembled against the folder.
“I planned to give them to you after the baby was born.”
“Khloe—”
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
She looked directly at him.
“I loved you enough to survive your distance. I will not love you enough to survive your betrayal.”
A nurse entered and indicated that the visit was over.
Marcus walked to the door.
Before he left, Khloe spoke again.
“Your mother came to see me last month.”
Marcus turned.
“What?”
“She offered me one hundred million dollars to leave you after the baby was born.”
His face went blank.
Khloe’s expression hardened.
“She also brought documents transferring control of our son’s trust to her.”
Marcus gripped the doorframe.
“Did you sign anything?”
“No.”
“Where are those documents?”
“I gave them to my attorney.”
Marcus looked through the glass wall toward the waiting area.
Celeste was sitting elegantly beneath a chandelier, speaking to a board member as if the night had been a minor inconvenience.
Marcus finally understood that Isabella’s attack had not begun inside the hospital suite.
May you like
It had begun months earlier.
And the woman who opened the door had been planning to remove Khloe long before Isabella raised her heel.
