Chapter 3
Khloe woke to the sound of a heart monitor.
For several seconds, she did not remember where she was.
Then pain tore through her abdomen.
She touched the bandage beneath her hospital gown.
“My baby.”
A nurse hurried to her bedside.
“Try not to move.”
“Where is she?”
“Your daughter is in the neonatal intensive care unit.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes.”
Khloe began to cry.
“I need to see her.”
“You lost a lot of blood. The doctor wants you to rest.”
“I was pushed down a staircase. I woke up without my child. Do not tell me to rest.”
The nurse’s expression softened.
“I’ll get a wheelchair.”
Harrison entered before she returned.
Khloe saw the dried blood on his shirt.
“Did they arrest Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“And Richard?”
“Yes, but his lawyer is trying to get him released.”
Khloe looked toward the window.
“He called you, didn’t he?”
Harrison did not answer.
“What did he say?”
“He wants you to drop the charges.”
A broken laugh escaped her.
“He didn’t ask about the baby.”
“No.”
“I spent seven years believing there was still a good man somewhere inside him.”
“You loved the man he pretended to be.”
The nurse returned with a wheelchair.
Harrison helped Khloe sit up.
Every movement hurt, but she refused to stop.
They took her to the neonatal unit.
When Khloe saw her daughter, she pressed both hands against the incubator.
The baby looked impossibly small.
Her chest rose only when the machine pushed air into her lungs.
“What did you name her?” the nurse asked.
Khloe stared through the glass.
“Hope.”
Harrison smiled through his tears.
“That’s perfect.”
The doctor explained that Hope had suffered oxygen deprivation, but it was too early to know whether there would be permanent damage.
Khloe listened without blinking.
“Can I touch her?”
The nurse opened a small panel.
Khloe slipped her hand inside and placed one finger against Hope’s palm.
The tiny fingers closed around her.
At that moment, Khloe made a promise.
No one would ever use her love against her again.
Detective Ortiz came to her room that afternoon.
She placed printed messages on the bedside table.
“These were recovered from Richard’s phone.”
Khloe read the first exchange.
Vanessa had written, Once the baby is born, she’ll use it to take everything.
Richard replied, The hearing comes first. After tomorrow, Khloe won’t control anything.
Another message made Khloe’s hands tremble.
Vanessa had asked, What if she refuses to sign?
Richard responded, Then we make sure she can’t fight.
Khloe looked up.
“Were they planning to hurt me?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“I want the truth.”
“We searched Richard’s car. We found a folder containing your medical schedule, your insurance information, and a copy of your will.”
Harrison stood so quickly that his chair fell backward.
“Her will?”
Khloe felt sick.
Richard had insisted they update their wills after she became pregnant.
He had told her it was responsible parenting.
Under her will, he would inherit her share of the house, her savings, and the ownership stake her father had left her in his construction company.
“How much would Richard receive if you died?” Detective Ortiz asked.
“Almost four million dollars.”
The room went silent.
Khloe remembered Richard making tea for her two nights earlier.
It had tasted bitter.
She had poured most of it into the sink when he left the kitchen.
“Test my blood,” she said.
The detective leaned closer.
“Why?”
“Richard gave me tea before the hearing. It tasted wrong.”
Ortiz called the hospital laboratory immediately.
Two hours later, a doctor returned with the results.
“We found traces of a prescription sedative in your blood.”
“I don’t take sedatives.”
“We know.”
Khloe looked at her brother.
The fall had not started with Vanessa’s hands.
It had started in her own kitchen.
Detective Ortiz’s phone rang.
She listened, then turned toward Khloe.
“Richard has been released on bail.”
Harrison’s face darkened.
“How?”
“His attorney convinced the judge he wasn’t the person who pushed her.”
Khloe’s phone lit up on the table.
May you like
A message from an unknown number appeared.
Drop the charges, or the next person who falls will be your brother.
