Chapter 2
“Move!” the doctor shouted.
Nurses surrounded Khloe.
One attached monitors to her stomach while another started an IV.
Khloe searched the room for Marcus, but the doors had already closed.
“Your baby is in distress,” Dr. Reid said. “We need to stop the contractions.”
“Is he going to survive?”
“We’re doing everything we can.”
Outside, Marcus stood with blood on his hands.
Khloe’s blood.
Daniel grabbed his shirt and slammed him against the wall.
“What did Isabella mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
Marcus pushed Daniel away.
“I signed hospital admission papers. That’s all.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You’re lying.”
Two officers escorted Isabella toward the elevator.
She smiled when she saw Marcus.
“Tell him,” she called. “Tell him whose name is on the custody agreement.”
Daniel turned back to Marcus.
“What custody agreement?”
Marcus’s shoulders dropped.
Before he could answer, his mother, Evelyn, hurried down the hallway.
Her expensive coat was half-buttoned, and panic covered her face.
“Where is Khloe?”
“In there,” Marcus said.
Evelyn noticed Isabella in handcuffs.
“What happened?”
“She attacked Khloe.”
Evelyn looked horrified.
But Daniel saw something else.
Recognition.
“You know her,” he said.
Evelyn avoided his eyes.
“Of course I know her. She worked for our family.”
“No,” Daniel replied. “You knew she would be here.”
The surgery doors opened.
A nurse rushed out.
“We need permission for an emergency procedure.”
Marcus reached for the form.
Daniel stopped him.
“Khloe is conscious. She can consent for herself.”
The nurse hesitated.
“Mr. Hale is listed as the only authorized decision-maker.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“That’s impossible.”
Marcus stared at the floor.
Evelyn stepped closer.
“This is not the time.”
“This is exactly the time,” Daniel said. “What did you do to my niece?”
Inside the room, Khloe heard raised voices through the doors.
Then Dr. Reid leaned over her.
“Khloe, we stabilized the heartbeat, but there’s something you need to know.”
“What?”
“Your chart says you agreed to surrender custody of your baby immediately after delivery.”
Khloe stopped breathing.
“I never agreed to that.”
“There is a signed contract in your file.”
“I didn’t sign it.”
Dr. Reid handed her a tablet.
At the bottom of the document was her name.
The signature looked perfect.
But the date was from the night Khloe had been brought to the hospital after fainting at home.
She barely remembered that night.
Marcus had told her she was dehydrated.
He had placed several papers in front of her and said they were insurance forms.
Khloe’s eyes filled with tears.
“Who gets custody?”
Dr. Reid scrolled down.
The answer appeared beneath a sealed legal clause.
Marcus Hale and Isabella Crane.
Khloe ripped the monitor from her finger.
“Bring my husband in here.”
Marcus entered alone.
He looked broken.
Khloe turned the tablet toward him.
“Tell me this is fake.”
Marcus said nothing.
“Tell me!”
“I didn’t know Isabella’s name was added.”
“But you knew about the contract.”
“My mother said it was temporary protection.”
“Protection from whom?”
Marcus looked at her stomach.
“From you.”
Khloe stared at the man she had loved for six years.
“You planned to take my baby.”
“No. Khloe, listen—”
“Get out.”
“I can explain.”
“Get out!”
The monitor began screaming as her blood pressure rose.
Dr. Reid ordered Marcus from the room.
Before he left, Daniel stepped inside.
He held a clear evidence bag.
Inside it was a bottle of Khloe’s prenatal vitamins.
“The police found this in Isabella’s purse,” he said.
Khloe looked at the label.
It had her name on it.
May you like
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“The pills inside aren’t vitamins.”
