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The silence in the luxury hospital suite was deafening. Marcus Thorne’s eyes moved from his wife bleeding on the cold marble to Isabella Rossi, who stood trembling in her crimson dress, crocodile tears streaming down her contoured face. / Chapter 5 / 8

Chapter 5 - The Snake in the BoardroomMarcus entered the top-floor boardroom of Thorne Enterprises like a dark storm.

Julian Thorne, impeccably dressed in a tailored suit, was sitting at the head of the table, sipping espresso while chatting with senior board members.

"Marcus!" Julian smiled smoothly, standing up. "I heard about the tragic news. How is Khloe? I’ve already drafted a corporate press release to protect our stock price—"

SLAM!

Marcus grabbed Julian by the collar and pinned him against the floor-to-ceiling glass window, forty stories above the street.

"Why did you pay Isabella $50 million, Julian?" Marcus growled, his eyes burning with lethal intent.

The boardroom erupted into chaos, executives shouting and backing away.

Julian's smooth smile faltered, replaced by a nervous twitch. "I... I don't know what you're talking about! That was an investment in Rossi Logistics!"

"Isabella didn't just hate Khloe," Marcus said, pulling out a printout of decoded text messages between Julian and Isabella. "You promised her my position as CEO if she caused Khloe to lose the baby. You knew if Khloe had a child, my estate trust locked up 70% of the voting shares permanently!"

Julian realized he was caught. The mask dropped.

"She was a nobody!" Julian spat, his face twisting with jealousy. "You gave everything to a weak, middle-class girl! If that baby is born, I get nothing! Isabella was supposed to make it look like an accident!"

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The silver clasp felt cold against my palm. A single, jagged link of stainless steel, sheared apart rather than unbuckled. Bruno didn't lose his collar; someone had cut it off him.

The silver clasp felt cold against my palm. A single, jagged link of sta...

The broken silver clasp bit into Adrian’s palm, the sharp metal edges drawing a crescent of blood that he barely felt. He stood motionless beneath the dripping leaves of the privet hedge, the beam of his heavy tactical flashlight cutting a stark white tunnel through the mist. The damp night air carried the sharp, unmistakable scent of crushed earth and expensive motor oil—a scent that did not belong to the natural decay of an autumn garden.

The broken silver clasp bit into Adrian’s palm, the sharp metal edges dr...

The heavy iron gates of the Moretti estate hissed shut, sealing off the sprawling Westchester property from the outside world. Inside the main salon, the glittering chandeliers still cast a warm amber glow over the shattered porcelain of Ethan’s ruined birthday cake, but the festive atmosphere had been replaced by a suffocating, lethal silence.

The heavy iron gates of the Moretti estate hissed shut, sealing off the...

"She didn't fail," Alexander's voice echoed from the doorway as he walked in with two federal agents. "She just bought you a front-row seat in federal prison."

CHAPTER HOOK: As Julian was led away in chains, a rogue security guard loyal to Julian quietly slipped out of the building, holding a syringe filled with a deadly neurotoxin, heading straight for Khloe's hospital room.

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