Chapter 5 - Isabella’s Confession
Isabella lasted nineteen hours.
Then she asked for a deal.
Her attorney contacted prosecutors.
Marcus was not allowed inside the interview room.
Khloe refused to watch.
David did.
Later, he told them everything.
Isabella admitted the plan.
She had been sleeping with Adrian for eighteen months.
He promised they would marry after the acquisition closed.
He told her he had spent his life being treated as the “spare son.”
Marcus inherited respect.
Marcus inherited leadership.
Marcus married Khloe.
Marcus’s child would inherit what remained.
Adrian wanted one victory nobody could take from him.
Helix Crown.
The $1.1 billion payout.
Then he would leave Thorne Meridian forever.
Isabella believed him.
“What was your role?” the prosecutor asked.
“Delay Khloe.”
“How?”
“Stress her.”
“By drugging her?”
Isabella cried.
“Adrian gave me tablets. He said they would only make her dizzy.”
“Did you know she was pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“Did you understand medication could affect her?”
“Yes.”
“Then why?”
Isabella had no good answer.
She was supposed to provoke an argument.
Create a scene.
If Khloe became unwell, doctors might place her on bed rest and delay a scheduled induction planned for Sunday night.
Why induction?
Khloe had mild pregnancy complications.
Her obstetrician planned delivery at thirty-seven weeks.
Sunday.
One day before the acquisition vote.
The timing made Khloe legally dangerous to Adrian’s plan.
The shove was not part of the original instructions.
Isabella lost control when Khloe discovered the affair.
Marcus frowned when David told him.
“Khloe knew?”
“Apparently she confronted Isabella.”
Khloe later explained.
She had seen a message on Isabella’s phone that afternoon.
After Monday, I won’t have to hide you anymore.
Khloe assumed Isabella was sleeping with a married donor.
She confronted her privately.
Then Isabella confessed.
Not out of guilt.
Out of cruelty.
“She told me Adrian chose her over the family.”
Khloe looked at Marcus.
“She said the baby was about to destroy their future.”
Marcus squeezed her hand.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because thirty seconds later I was on the floor.”
Fair.
Isabella’s testimony gave police enough for warrants.
Adrian’s financial accounts were frozen.
Airport alerts issued.
Properties searched.
He remained missing.
Then Victoria finally agreed to cooperate.
She admitted knowing about Adrian’s hidden ownership in Helix Crown.
Marcus stared at his mother across a conference table.
“You knew he was stealing a billion dollars?”
“I knew he had an interest.”
“You signed the acquisition recommendation.”
“I believed the company would benefit.”
“Did Dad know?”
Victoria looked away.
That answer became another investigation.
Daniel Thorne had died from a stroke.
Natural.
At least medically.
But two weeks before his death, he had apparently discovered Adrian’s scheme.
His final will revision suddenly made sense.
He did not simply trust Khloe.
He was building a barrier Adrian could not easily cross.
Marcus whispered:
“Dad was protecting the company from you.”
Victoria cried.
“I was protecting my son.”
“So was Dad.”
She looked confused.
Marcus continued:
“He was protecting Adrian from becoming exactly this.”
That was the tragedy Victoria never understood.
Every debt she paid.
Every scandal she buried.
Every consequence she removed.
She called it love.
Adrian learned something else:
There would always be someone to clean up after him.
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Until now.
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