Chapter 2
The physician confirmed that Khloe and the baby were stable.
I heard the words clearly.
They did not make me calm.
Khloe was moved onto a padded chaise while Elaine remained nearby. Isabella sat beneath the tilted display frame with two guards watching her, but even from across the room I could see that her attention was not on me.
It was on Elaine.
“Why is she afraid of you?” I asked.
Elaine froze.
Isabella gave a dry laugh. “Because she knows this event is ruined.”
Elaine shook her head.
“No.”
I turned toward her.
She looked at Isabella’s phone.
“She’s afraid I’ll tell you what the recordings were for.”
Isabella’s expression hardened.
“Be careful.”
Elaine flinched.
I had seen that reaction too many times in men around my father when I was younger. A body remembers threats even when nobody else hears them.
“Tell me,” I said.
Elaine swallowed.
“She made me walk Khloe’s routes.”
“What routes?”
“Foundation events. Private entrances. Stairs. Hallways. Places cameras don’t cover properly.”
I looked at Isabella.
That sounded exactly like something she would disguise as concern.
“What changed?”
Elaine gripped the phone tighter.
“She started asking where people would stand if Khloe slipped.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
I looked at my wife.
“How long have you suspected this?”
“Six weeks.”
My chest tightened.
“And you didn’t tell me.”
Khloe looked directly at me.
“I tried.”
That stopped me.
“When?”
“The night after the staircase.”
I remembered.
She had told me Isabella always seemed too close when something went wrong. She said she felt watched.
I told her Isabella had protected my family for years.
I asked whether pregnancy was making her anxious.
The memory tasted rotten now.
Khloe saw it on my face.
“You didn’t believe me.”
I had no defense.
Because she was right.
Isabella smiled faintly.
“There. Finally. Something honest.”
I looked at her.
She leaned back despite the guards.
“You trusted me before you trusted your wife.”
May you like
It was not an accusation.
It was pride.
