CHAPTER 8-THE CONTRACT HIDDEN FOR YEARS
The photograph remained on Marcus Thorne’s phone screen.
A picture of Khloe.
Standing inside the hospital room.
Only minutes earlier.
Everyone saw it.
Everyone understood what it meant.
The person who sent the message was not watching from outside.
They had access.
They had been close.
Too close.
Khloe slowly looked around the room.
The walls.
The cameras.
The doors.
The people.
For the first time since marrying Marcus, she felt like her entire life had been a room with invisible windows.
Everyone could see inside.
Everyone knew things about her.
Except her.
“The baby is not the secret.”
“The mother is.”
Those words followed her.
Not because she understood them.
Because she didn’t.
And that terrified her.
Marcus immediately moved toward the door.
“Security.”
Alexander grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Someone was inside this room.”
“Yes.”
“And they photographed my wife.”
“I know.”
“Then why are we standing here?”
Alexander’s expression was serious.
“Because that is what they want.”
Marcus stopped.
“What?”
“They want you angry.”
“They want you moving without thinking.”
Alexander looked at the phone.
“This entire night has been designed.”
Khloe looked at him.
“Designed?”
“Yes.”
“Isabella’s attack.”
“Richard appearing.”
“The security footage.”
“The fake confession.”
“The message.”
“Everything happened at the exact moment to force us into a reaction.”
Marcus stared at the floor.
He hated admitting it.
But Alexander was right.
Someone was controlling the situation.
And Marcus Thorne hated one thing more than losing.
Being controlled.
“Then we find who did it.”
Marcus said.
Alexander nodded.
“But first…”
He looked at Khloe.
“We need to know what they know.”
Khloe frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Alexander looked at her.
“Khloe.”
“What?”
“Before you met Marcus…”
“Did anything unusual happen?”
The question surprised her.
“What kind of unusual?”
“Anything.”
“Someone following you.”
“Someone asking about your family.”
“Someone trying to access your personal information.”
Khloe shook her head.
“No.”
Then she stopped.
A memory appeared.
Small.
Almost forgotten.
But now…
Important.
“There was something.”
Marcus immediately looked at her.
“What?”
Khloe took a breath.
“About three years ago.”
“Before we married.”
She looked down.
“I received a letter.”
“What kind of letter?”
“I thought it was a mistake.”
“Why?”
“Because it was from a law firm.”
Alexander became more serious.
“What law firm?”
Khloe looked at him.
“I don’t remember.”
Marcus stepped closer.
“What did the letter say?”
Khloe hesitated.
“I never opened it.”
Everyone froze.
“You never opened it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the name on the envelope scared me.”
Marcus frowned.
“What name?”
Khloe looked at him.
“Thorne.”
Silence.
Marcus’s expression changed.
“You received a legal document with my family name before we met?”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me?”
“I threw it away.”
“Why?”
Khloe looked hurt.
“Because I thought it was someone trying to contact me because of you.”
Marcus stared.
“And you ignored it?”
“Yes.”
A long silence.
Then Isabella spoke.
“Where did you throw it away?”
Khloe looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
Isabella shook her head.
“You do.”
“What?”
“You remember.”
Khloe became defensive.
“I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.”
Isabella stepped closer.
“Because people remember things that frighten them.”
Khloe looked away.
And then…
She remembered.
A rainy afternoon.
Three years earlier.
She had been living alone.
Working.
Building her own career.
Before Marcus.
Before the mansion.
Before the billionaire world.
She remembered opening her mailbox.
Seeing the envelope.
Seeing the name.
Thorne Legal Holdings.
She remembered opening the letter.
Only enough to see one sentence.
You have been identified as a potential beneficiary under the Thorne Family Protection Agreement.
She remembered thinking it was some kind of scam.
She remembered throwing it away.
But now…
Her hands became cold.
“Wait.”
Marcus looked at her.
“What?”
Khloe whispered:
“There was something else.”
“What?”
“A document.”
“Inside the envelope.”
Alexander stepped forward.
“What document?”
Khloe swallowed.
“A contract.”
Nobody spoke.
Marcus stared.
“What kind of contract?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I only saw the first page.”
Khloe closed her eyes.
“But there was a name.”
Marcus waited.
“What name?”
Khloe looked at him.
“Mine.”
The room became silent.
“Your name?”
“Yes.”
“Why would your name be on a Thorne contract three years before we met?”
Nobody had an answer.
Until Isabella spoke.
“Because Khloe wasn’t chosen by Marcus.”
Everyone turned.
“What?”
Isabella looked at Marcus.
“She was chosen by Richard.”
Marcus’s expression darkened.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
Isabella shook her head.
“That is exactly what Richard did.”
Khloe looked confused.
“What are you saying?”
Isabella took a breath.
“Before Marcus met you, Richard was searching for someone.”
“For what?”
“For a person who could legally protect Sofia’s evidence.”
Marcus froze.
Khloe stared.
“You think I was involved?”
“No.”
Isabella answered.
“You were selected.”
The word felt wrong.
Selected.
Like she was an object.
Not a person.
Marcus stepped between them.
“Explain.”
Isabella looked at him.
“Richard created a legal structure.”
“A hidden agreement.”
“A protection contract.”
“It was designed so that if anything happened to Sofia…”
“The evidence would automatically transfer to someone outside the Thorne family.”
Alexander’s eyes widened.
“And that person was Khloe.”
“Yes.”
Khloe felt dizzy.
“But why me?”
Nobody answered.
Then Marcus looked at Alexander.
“Find the contract.”
Alexander nodded.
Immediately.
But Khloe grabbed Marcus’s arm.
“Wait.”
He looked at her.
“Why are you not surprised?”
The question stopped him.
“What?”
“You heard that my name was connected to your family before we met.”
“And you look shocked.”
“But not confused.”
Marcus said nothing.
Khloe’s heart sank.
“You knew something.”
“No.”
“Marcus.”
“I didn’t know about the contract.”
“Then why do you look like you’re remembering something?”
The silence answered for him.
Khloe slowly stepped away.
“Tell me.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Six years.
Too many secrets.
Too many things buried.
Finally, he spoke.
“When I first met you…”
A pause.
“I recognized your name.”
Khloe stared.
“What?”
“I had seen it before.”
“Where?”
“In my father’s files.”
The room went silent.
Khloe felt like the floor moved beneath her.
“My name was in your father’s files?”
“Yes.”
“Before you knew me?”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“And you still married me?”
Marcus looked devastated.
“Because I thought it was a coincidence.”
Khloe laughed softly.
A painful laugh.
“A coincidence?”
“Yes.”
“You thought the woman whose name appeared in your father’s secret files was a coincidence?”
Marcus had no answer.
Because there wasn't a good one.
Khloe looked away.
“Maybe I was never the person who entered your world.”
“Maybe your world found me first.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Alexander’s phone rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His face slowly changed.
“What?”
Everyone looked at him.
He ended the call.
“The contract has been found.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Where?”
Alexander looked at Khloe.
“It wasn’t in Thorne archives.”
“Then where?”
Alexander’s voice became quiet.
“It was registered six years ago.”
“Under Khloe Thorne’s identity.”
Khloe froze.
“But I didn’t sign anything.”
Alexander nodded.
“I know.”
“Because the person who signed it…”
A pause.
“Was not you.”
Marcus stared.
“Who?”
Alexander looked at the document.
Then said:
“Your mother.”
Khloe went completely still.
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
Alexander looked at her.
“I know.”
“Then how?”
He handed her the file.
And on the first page…
Was a signature.
A signature Khloe had never seen before.
But the name underneath made her blood run cold.
CLAIRE THORNE.
Marcus looked at Khloe.
Because he knew that name.
Everyone in the Thorne family knew it.
The woman Richard Thorne had spent years trying to erase.
The woman who disappeared before Marcus became the heir.
May you like
His mother.
And the woman who was supposed to be dead.
