CHAPTER 23 — ISABELLA’S TRUE NAME
Khloe turned toward Celeste.
“What does she mean?”
Celeste’s hand began to shake.
Evelyn answered for her.
“Isabella Rossi was not chosen randomly.”
Marcus frowned.
“Who is she?”
Victor Hale closed his eyes.
Evelyn looked almost pleased.
“Isabella is H-1.”
The statement silenced the corridor.
Khloe remembered the DNA results.
The hidden woman shared half her DNA and Thorne markers.
But the photograph recovered from Peter Voss’s apartment had shown a brunette.
Isabella had dyed her hair for years.
The crescent birthmark near her eyebrow had been covered with makeup.
Khloe stared at her mother.
“Isabella is my sister?”
Celeste nodded.
“And Alexander Thorne’s daughter,” Evelyn added.
Marcus looked horrified.
He had been sleeping with his half-sister.
His knees almost gave way.
“No.”
Evelyn’s voice was merciless.
“You wanted the truth.”
Khloe felt the corridor spin.
“Did Isabella know?”
“Not at first,” Celeste said. “I found her when she was twenty-three. I told her enough to make her question the Thornes.”
“You used her?”
“I tried to protect her.”
“You sent her after me.”
“I told her to frighten you, not hurt you.”
Khloe stared at her mother.
“You planned the confrontation.”
“I needed the security footage to expose Evelyn.”
“You gambled with my baby’s life.”
“I did not give her the syringe.”
Evelyn laughed softly.
“No. That was my contribution.”
Federal agents turned toward her.
Evelyn raised both hands.
“My attorneys will handle this.”
One agent stepped forward.
Before he could arrest her, an explosion shook the lower floor.
Smoke poured from the hidden elevator.
The lights failed.
When emergency power returned, Celeste was gone.
So was Victor Hale.
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And inside Isabella’s secure room, guards found only an empty chair and a message written across the wall:
H-1 HAS GONE HOME.
