“Because I’m the reason he came back.”
The room became silent.
Khloe frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Isabella looked at her.
“Six years ago, Sofia disappeared.”
“I spent years searching for answers.”
“I found pieces.”
“Small pieces.”
“Enough to understand that Richard Thorne was not dead.”
Marcus’s expression changed.
“You knew my father was alive?”
“I suspected.”
“You suspected?”
Isabella looked at him.
“You have no idea how powerful your father was.”
“He didn’t disappear.”
“He relocated.”
“He built another life.”
Marcus shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
Isabella replied.
“That is exactly what men like Richard do.”
Khloe noticed something.
Isabella was no longer speaking like an enemy.
She was speaking like someone who had been fighting alone for years.
“Then why pretend to be my friend?”
Khloe asked.
Isabella looked at her.
The question clearly hurt.
“Because I needed to get close.”
“To Marcus?”
Isabella nodded.
“But not for the reason you think.”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
“Explain.”
Isabella took a deep breath.
“When Sofia disappeared, she left one message.”
Marcus immediately reacted.
“The same message?”
Isabella nodded.
“Yes.”
“Protect my child.”
Khloe looked between them.
“But Richard said the child was connected to me.”
Isabella shook her head.
“Richard lies.”
“About everything.”
She looked at Marcus.
“He wants you to believe the child is the key because he wants control.”
Marcus became silent.
Khloe asked:
“Then what is the truth?”
Isabella looked at her.
“The truth is…”
She paused.
“Sofia never had a child.”
Nobody moved.
Marcus frowned.
“But Richard said—”
“He lied.”
Isabella interrupted.
“Sofia used the word ‘child’ differently.”
Khloe looked confused.
“What does that mean?”
Isabella walked toward the table.
She picked up the old paper Richard had left behind.
“She was not talking about a baby.”
“She was talking about her discovery.”
Marcus stared.
“The evidence.”
“Yes.”
Isabella nodded.
“Sofia called her research her child.”
“She said it was the only thing she created that could survive after she was gone.”
A silence.
Khloe felt her heartbeat slow.
Because the story was changing again.
The baby.
The secret.
The attack.
Everything.
Maybe none of them had understood.
Marcus looked at Isabella.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her expression changed.
“Because I didn’t know if I could trust you.”
Those words hurt him.
“You thought I was like my father?”
“No.”
Isabella looked away.
“I thought you were worse.”
Marcus froze.
“Worse?”
“Yes.”
“Because Richard destroyed people because he wanted power.”
“But you…”
She looked at him.
“You destroyed Sofia because you wanted to believe the person you loved.”
Marcus said nothing.
Because he knew.
That was the truth.
He had not acted out of greed.
He had acted out of fear.
Fear of losing his family.
Fear of betraying his father.
Fear of believing the wrong person.
And Sofia paid the price.
Khloe looked at Marcus.
She saw the pain.
Real pain.
But pain did not erase betrayal.
“Where is Sofia now?”
She asked.
The question changed Isabella’s expression.
“She is alive.”
Marcus stopped breathing.
“What?”
Isabella nodded.
“I found her.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“And you said nothing?”
Isabella looked at him.
“Because she made me promise.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Where is she?”
Isabella hesitated.
Then said:
“She is hiding.”
“From who?”
Isabella looked at the hospital window.
“Everyone.”
A cold feeling moved through the room.
“Richard.”
Isabella nodded.
“The Thorne family.”
“The Rossi family.”
“Everyone who wants what Sofia knows.”
Khloe touched her stomach.
“And why did you attack me?”
That was the question everyone had been waiting for.
Isabella closed her eyes.
“I made a mistake.”
Marcus looked shocked.
“You attacked my wife and now you say it was a mistake?”
“No.”
Isabella looked at him.
“I mean I made a mistake believing fear would protect us.”
She turned to Khloe.
“When I learned Richard was returning…”
“I knew he would come after the evidence.”
“And I believed the only way to stop him was to make everyone focus on me.”
Khloe stared.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I needed Marcus to look at the past.”
“Not because of jealousy.”
“Because I needed him to remember what his father did.”
Marcus frowned.
“But you could have told me.”
“I tried.”
Isabella’s voice cracked.
“Several times.”
“You never listened.”
That sentence hit harder than expected.
Because Marcus knew.
There had been moments.
Emails he ignored.
Messages he dismissed.
Warnings he considered threats.
He had spent years running from the past.
And now the past had come back.
With a vengeance.
Then suddenly…
The hospital alarm sounded.
Everyone turned.
A nurse ran into the room.
“Mr. Thorne.”
Marcus looked at her.
“What happened?”
Her face was pale.
“The maternity wing security system just went offline.”
Khloe immediately touched her stomach.
“What?”
The nurse continued.
“And someone accessed the emergency patient files.”
Marcus’s expression changed.
