CHAPTER 7 — THE PRENUPTIAL CLAUSE

Gabriel summoned the Thorne family attorney before midnight.

Victor Hale arrived wearing an expensive gray suit and the expression of a man who knew where too many bodies were buried.

He placed Khloe and Marcus’s prenuptial agreement on the conference table.

Gabriel flipped through the document.

“What happens if Khloe dies before the child is born?”

Victor hesitated.

“The voting shares she inherited through her father’s trust transfer temporarily to her husband.”

“For how long?”

“Until a lawful heir is established.”

“And if the child is born alive?”

“The shares move into a protected trust controlled by Khloe.”

Gabriel leaned back slowly.

Marcus stood near the window, his face unreadable.

Isabella’s attack had not only threatened Khloe’s life.

It had threatened the transfer of billions of dollars in voting power.

Gabriel turned toward Marcus.

“You gain control if my niece dies before delivery.”

“I didn’t write the agreement.”

“Your family did.”

Victor cleared his throat.

“There is another clause.”

Marcus spun toward him.

“What clause?”

Victor opened a sealed appendix.

“If evidence of intentional harm by a spouse or any person acting on that spouse’s behalf is discovered, all Thorne voting rights held by the accused branch of the family are frozen.”

Marcus stared at him.

“You never told me that.”

“The appendix was requested by Khloe’s father.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.

“Before he died?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Victor looked toward the security cameras.

“Daniel Cole believed someone would eventually try to stop Khloe from producing an heir.”

Khloe’s father had died in a private plane crash eight years earlier.

The official investigation blamed mechanical failure.

Gabriel’s voice became dangerously quiet.

“Did Daniel believe the Thorne family was involved?”

Victor did not answer.

That was answer enough.

Suddenly, Marcus’s confiscated phone vibrated inside an evidence bag.

A new message appeared.

SHE SURVIVED. MOVE TO THE SECOND PLAN.

May you like

MY SISTER THREW A HOT SKILLET AT MY 4-YEAR-OLD—THEN MY MOTHER’S TEXT EXP...

The next part began before I had time to understand the last one.Hospital social worker Denise reads Helen's message and immediate...

MY MOTHER THREW MY SIX-WEEK-OLD BABY TOWARD THE FIRE—THEN MY QUIET FATHE...

At my backyard baby shower, my mother lifted my six-week-old daughter and said, "You gave birth before your sister... you betrayed...

I FOUND MY EX SLEEPING AT THE AIRPORT WITH TWINS WHO HAD MY EYES—THEN A...

I Found My Ex, Who Vanished 6 Years Ago, Sleeping at JFK With 2 Kids Who Had My Eyes. Then I Heard My Mother Say, “Their Mother Sh...

Below it was a photograph taken inside Khloe’s hospital room only minutes earlier.

Someone was still watching her.