Chapter 6 - THE GALA OF PERFECT LIES
Khloe ended the call before Harrison could speak.
She held the hidden phone against her chest and looked at Richard.
The shower filled the bathroom with steam.
Water struck tile with enough noise to hide the pounding of her heart.
“Who is it?”
Richard stepped inside.
Khloe glanced at the screen.
She had changed Harrison's contact name to JANICE PRENATAL.
“My birth coach.”
“At midnight?”
“I panicked.”
“About what?”
“Cramping.”
The lie frightened her because it resembled what Richard had tried to cause.
His eyes dropped to her stomach.
“Are you having contractions?”
“Not anymore.”
“Let me see the phone.”
Khloe made herself look offended.
“Why?”
“I want the number.”
“You have never attended one appointment with Janice.”
“That does not mean I cannot call her.”
He held out his hand.
Khloe gave him the phone.
Richard studied the recent call.
Harrison had ended the secure connection before his number registered.
The screen displayed only the saved contact name.
Richard pressed call.
Khloe's lungs locked.
Across the city, the encrypted relay redirected the number to an answering service Daniel had prepared.
A woman's recorded voice responded.
“You have reached Janice Bell Prenatal Support.”
“Please leave your name, number, and expected delivery date.”
Richard disconnected.
He returned the phone.
“You should have awakened me.”
“You looked tired.”
“I am your husband.”
His voice softened.
“You do not need to hide things from me.”
Khloe almost laughed.
Instead, she leaned into his chest.
Richard hesitated before wrapping his arms around her.
She listened to his heartbeat.
It was steady.
He felt no guilt.
He felt only calculation.
“I am scared.”
Khloe allowed the words to tremble.
Richard stroked her hair.
“Everything will be fine.”
“I need you with me.”
“I am here.”
He lied while holding her.
Khloe closed her eyes and lied back.
“I know.”
At five the next morning, Daniel entered the fertility clinic disguised as a courier.
At five-twenty, a federal magistrate signed the emergency preservation order Harrison had drafted.
At five-thirty-one, a process server handed the order to the clinic administrator.
At five-thirty-eight, Dr. Crane tried to proceed anyway.
The administrator locked the laboratory.
At five-forty, Vanessa arrived wearing dark glasses and an ivory coat.
At five-forty-two, Richard called Khloe from the driveway and claimed he had an early meeting in Boston.
Khloe watched his taillights disappear through the gate.
At five-forty-three, Harrison called her.
“The transfer is stopped.”
Khloe sat on the edge of the bed.
“Is the embryo safe?”
“The clinic must preserve everything pending review.”
“What did Richard do?”
“He threatened to bankrupt the administrator.”
“And Vanessa?”
“She threw a metal tray at a nurse.”
Khloe looked toward the unfinished nursery.
“She knows the embryo is mine?”
“Crane told her the order came from an anonymous ownership challenge.”
“That will not remain anonymous.”
“No.”
“When will Richard connect it to me?”
“He already has.”
Khloe's hand moved to the compass pendant.
“How?”
“Because the order cites the forged authorization form.”
“You said we could keep that sealed.”
“I asked the court to seal it.”
“Mercer denied the request.”
“Judge Mercer?”
“He was waiting when the filing reached the duty docket.”
Khloe remembered the payments in Laura's file.
“He is protecting Richard.”
“He is protecting himself.”
“What now?”
“Now Richard knows someone reached the hidden room.”
The estate gate opened outside.
Richard's car returned forty minutes after leaving.
“He is here.”
“Do not confront him.”
“I know.”
“Khloe.”
“I said I know.”
Richard did not come upstairs.
He went directly to his office and remained there for three hours.
Phones rang.
Doors slammed.
Two company executives arrived before breakfast.
A private security team searched the library, garage, and basement.
Khloe watched from the second-floor landing while men carried equipment through her home.
Richard eventually appeared beneath the chandelier.
He looked up at her.
Neither of them smiled.
That evening, he entered the bedroom with the postnuptial agreement.
His attorney and a notary waited downstairs.
“You wanted time.”
Richard placed the document on the dresser.
“You had it.”
Khloe touched the papers.
“Why are they here?”
“To witness.”
“I told you I would sign.”
“You also asked questions about embryos yesterday.”
Khloe allowed confusion to cross her face.
“What does that have to do with this?”
Richard stepped close.
“You visited Harrison.”
“You searched the library.”
“You asked about Dr. Crane.”
“And this morning, someone filed an order using documents taken from my private office.”
Khloe stared at him.
“Are you accusing me of stealing from my own house?”
“I am asking whether Harrison used you.”
The accusation was designed carefully.
Richard wanted her angry at her brother, not suspicious of him.
Khloe lowered her voice.
“Is there an embryo?”
Richard's face went still.
“That is not the issue.”
“It is the only issue.”
“Did we have a surviving embryo?”
“Khloe.”
“Answer me.”
He moved closer.
For one second, she thought he might strike her.
Instead, he placed both hands on her face.
“Harrison is trying to destroy our marriage.”
“Did we have a surviving embryo?”
“No.”
The lie was absolute.
Khloe looked into the eyes of the man who had stolen part of her body and felt something inside her finally become quiet.
Love had not vanished all at once.
It had died in sections.
The final section disappeared then.
She stepped away.
“Bring the witnesses.”
Richard blinked.
“You will sign?”
“Yes.”
Relief moved through him.
Khloe signed the prepared copy at seven-fifteen.
She used a hurried version of her signature.
The notary stamped each page.
Richard's attorney placed the document inside a blue leather folder.
Daniel replaced it forty minutes later when the attorney stopped for fuel on City Avenue.
The original reached Naomi by nine.
The substituted version looked identical.
It contained one difference.
Page thirty-one had been replaced with language granting both spouses equal access to all corporate and trust records affecting a child of the marriage.
Richard filed it the next morning without reading it.
Harrison called the mistake a door.
Naomi called it a gift.
Khloe called it the first time Richard's arrogance worked for her.
Three days later, Harrington Commercial Group held its annual foundation gala at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Richard insisted Khloe attend.
He claimed the public needed to see stability after rumors about the clinic order reached two board members.
Khloe wore a deep emerald maternity gown with long sleeves and a high neckline.
Harrison arranged for Daniel to remain inside the museum disguised as event security.
Naomi attended as the guest of an investor who disliked Richard enough to help.
Vanessa designed the gala.
Every room carried her signature.
Black orchids climbed silver columns.
Glass candles floated above mirrored tables.
A nursery-themed auction display occupied the center of the main hall.
The cruelty was deliberate.
Vanessa stood beside it in a fitted white gown.
She wore no sign of pregnancy.
Her smile widened when Khloe entered on Richard's arm.
“There she is.”
Vanessa kissed Richard's cheek before greeting his wife.
The kiss lasted one second too long.
Cameras captured it.
Khloe smiled.
“You have outdone yourself.”
Vanessa touched the front of her white gown.
“I wanted the evening to feel like a new beginning.”
“For whom?”
Richard's fingers tightened around Khloe's arm.
Vanessa laughed.
“For the foundation.”
A photographer asked the three of them to stand together.
Richard positioned Khloe on his left and Vanessa on his right.
Vanessa slipped her hand through Richard's elbow.
Khloe rested one palm over her stomach.
The cameras flashed.
By morning, the photograph would appear in society columns beneath harmless captions.
No caption would explain that one woman carried Richard's daughter while the other had tried to receive the first woman's stolen embryo.
During dinner, Vanessa sat across from Khloe.
She spoke constantly about motherhood.
She praised women who knew when to put a child's future above their own pride.
She described the penthouse nursery as a project for a private client.
She mentioned that some women were naturally suited to motherhood while others only wanted the title.
Guests shifted uncomfortably.
Richard never stopped her.
Khloe ate slowly.
She allowed Vanessa to believe each sentence caused pain.
In reality, the woman was giving Daniel exactly what he needed.
The dinner table stood beneath an event camera.
The museum had posted signs informing guests that all conversations in the main hall could be recorded for promotional use.
There was no reasonable expectation of privacy.
Vanessa leaned forward after the dessert plates were removed.
“Richard tells me you have been very emotional.”
Khloe looked at her.
“My husband discusses my emotions with his interior designer?”
Vanessa's smile sharpened.
“We are close.”
“How close?”
Richard set down his glass.
“Khloe.”
She did not look at him.
Vanessa lifted one shoulder.
“Close enough to know he worries about the baby.”
“Which baby?”
The question silenced everyone within ten feet.
Vanessa's face changed.
Richard stood.
“My wife is tired.”
Khloe remained seated.
“I am comfortable.”
Richard bent close to her ear.
“Get up.”
His voice was almost inaudible.
Khloe looked toward the event camera.
Then she looked back at him.
“No.”
It was the first direct refusal she had given him in years.
Richard's hand closed around the back of her chair.
Before he could answer, Harrison appeared beside the table.
He wore a black tuxedo and an expression that made three executives step away without being asked.
“Good evening.”
Richard straightened.
“You were not invited.”
“The museum invited me.”
Harrison looked at Khloe.
“May I have this dance?”
She stood and took her brother's hand.
The orchestra played a slow waltz.
Harrison guided her toward the center of the floor.
“You handled that badly.”
Khloe almost smiled.
“I thought you would be proud.”
“I am.”
“That is why it was bad.”
He turned her carefully.
“Richard is frightened.”
“Good.”
“Frightened men make mistakes.”
“Better.”
“They also become dangerous.”
Khloe glanced toward the table.
Vanessa whispered furiously at Richard.
He did not answer.
“What did Naomi find?”
“The postnuptial door opened six domestic trusts.”
“How much?”
“Thirty-eight million dollars.”
Khloe missed a step.
Harrison steadied her.
“Where did it come from?”
“City development funds, pension investments, and insurance payments from construction accidents.”
“People died?”
“At least three.”
Khloe looked across the room at Richard.
He smiled for a donor's camera.
“What else?”
“One trust pays Judge Mercer.”
“For Evan?”
“We think so.”
“Did you find him?”
“Not yet.”
The music ended.
Guests applauded.
Harrison kissed Khloe's forehead.
“Leave with Daniel in five minutes.”
“Why?”
“Because Naomi accessed a file Richard created this afternoon.”
“What file?”
Harrison's eyes moved toward Richard.
“The title is Dead Weight.”
Khloe felt cold despite the crowded room.
“What is inside?”
“A timeline.”
“For what?”
“Your medical collapse.”
The lights above the dance floor dimmed for Richard's keynote speech.
He walked toward the stage while guests turned their chairs.
Vanessa slipped away through a side door.
Harrison looked at Daniel near the service corridor.
“Go now.”
Khloe took one step.
A waiter approached carrying a silver tray.
On it sat a single cup of coffee.
The waiter stopped in front of Khloe.
May you like
“From your husband, Mrs. Harrington.”
THE MISTRESS SHOVED HIS PREGNANT WIFE
