Chapter 11
I called Elena myself.
She did not answer the first three times.
On the fourth, she did.
“Who is this?”
“Marcus Thorne.”
Silence.
Then the line died.
I stared at the phone.
Khloe almost smiled.
“She believes the stories.”
“I know.”
I called again.
This time Elena answered without speaking.
“I know about Adrian.”
Breathing.
Nothing else.
“I’m not calling to take him.”
Silence.
“I’m calling because Isabella tried to hurt my wife and used your son’s existence as part of the reason.”
That changed something.
“Is Khloe alive?”
I looked at her.
“Yes.”
“And the baby?”
“Yes.”
A long pause.
“Good.”
That was not what Isabella’s story had prepared me to expect.
Elena did not hate Khloe.
That already mattered.
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
She laughed bitterly.
“Because your father told me you would kill Adrian.”
“Did you believe him?”
“For years.”
“And now?”
“Now I think Anthony was afraid of what you’d do if you learned what he did.”
My expression changed.
“What did he do?”
Elena became quiet.
“Anthony didn’t send us away to protect Adrian.”
“Then why?”
“He sent us away to protect himself.”
Khloe looked toward me.
“From what?”
Elena hesitated.
Then said:
“Adrian wasn’t the only child.”
Silence.
My father had hidden children for years.
Different women.
Different promises.
Different factions.
Every child tied him to something he wanted buried.
Elena continued.
“Adrian was different because Anthony actually cared about him.”
“And?”
“And that made Isabella jealous.”
I looked at her across the room.
Elena’s final sentence landed hardest.
“She didn’t start trying to remove Khloe when Khloe got pregnant.”
May you like
Pause.
“She started practicing on me seven years ago.”
