CHAPTER 8: THE WOMAN WHO WITNESSED THE TRUTH
For fifteen years, Marcus Thorne had carried the same memory.
The phone call.
The hospital.
The funeral.
The empty chair at the dinner table.
The moment he realized his father was never coming home.
Everyone told him it was an accident.
Everyone told him there was nothing anyone could have done.
But now, standing in the hospital hallway, Marcus was looking at a woman who had just destroyed everything he believed.
“Say that again.”
His voice was low.
Dangerously calm.
The woman standing before him looked older than he remembered.
Her hair was streaked with gray.
Her face carried years of regret.
But her eyes…
Her eyes belonged to someone who had spent fifteen years carrying a secret.
“Isabella Rossi was there the night your father died.”
Marcus stared at her.
“You expect me to believe that?”
The woman lowered her eyes.
“No.”
A pause.
“I expect you to hear me.”
Marcus looked at the envelope in his hand.
The photograph.
The message.
The impossible connection.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Clara Bennett.”
The name meant nothing to him.
But the way she said it told him everything.
She was not here for money.
She was not here for attention.
She was here because she was afraid.
“I worked for your father.”
Marcus’s expression changed.
“What kind of work?”
Clara took a deep breath.
“I was his executive assistant.”
The hallway became silent.
Marcus immediately looked toward the security cameras.
Clara noticed.
“You think this is a trap.”
“I don’t know what to think anymore.”
She nodded.
“That’s exactly how they wanted you to feel.”
“Who?”
Clara looked directly at him.
“Everyone who benefited from your father’s death.”
Marcus brought Clara into a private conference room inside the hospital.
Victor arrived minutes later.
The moment he saw Clara, he froze.
Not surprised.
Not confused.
Terrified.
Marcus noticed immediately.
“You know her.”
Victor didn’t answer.
“Uncle.”
Victor slowly closed the door.
“Yes.”
Marcus looked between them.
“Explain.”
Victor sat down.
His face looked older.
“Clara was there that night.”
Marcus stared at him.
“And you knew?”
Victor looked away.
“I knew she survived.”
The room went silent.
Marcus felt something break inside.
“You knew?”
His voice rose.
“You knew there was a witness?”
Victor stood.
“Marcus—”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You don’t get to explain this away.”
His eyes filled with anger.
“My father died, and you let me believe it was an accident.”
Victor swallowed.
“Because the truth was dangerous.”
“For who?”
Nobody answered.
And Marcus knew.
That was the answer.
Clara slowly opened a small bag she had been carrying.
Inside was an old recorder.
A simple device.
But everyone in the room looked at it like it was a weapon.
“What is that?”
Marcus asked.
Clara looked at it.
“Your father’s last recording.”
The room went completely still.
Marcus stepped forward.
“You have a recording from my father?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you release it?”
Pain crossed her face.
“Because I was scared.”
“Of Isabella?”
Clara nodded.
“And others.”
Marcus looked at Victor.
“How many people knew?”
Victor answered quietly.
“Too many.”
Marcus clenched his fists.
“Play it.”
Clara hesitated.
“This will change everything.”
Marcus looked at her.
“My life already changed tonight.”
She pressed play.
A few seconds of static filled the room.
Then…
A man’s voice.
Older.
Familiar.
Richard Thorne.
Marcus stopped breathing.
His father.
After fifteen years…
He heard his father again.
“If you’re hearing this…”
Richard’s voice sounded tired.
“Something happened to me.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Clara watched him.
Richard continued.
“I discovered someone inside the company has been stealing from Thorne Holdings.”
Marcus looked at Victor.
Victor’s expression became serious.
“I trusted this person.”
A pause.
“But I was wrong.”
A sound of papers moving.
Then Richard said:
“Isabella Rossi knows about it.”
Marcus’s heart dropped.
Khloe, who had joined them quietly, covered her mouth.
The recording continued.
“She knows where the money went.”
Another pause.
“And she knows who ordered it.”
The recording suddenly became quieter.
Then Richard whispered:
“If anything happens to me, do not trust anyone who says they loved me.”
Static.
Then silence.
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Marcus looked completely shattered.
Not because Isabella was guilty.
He already knew that.
Because his father had known.
His father had been afraid.
And nobody protected him.
Meanwhile, Isabella was sitting in her apartment watching the news.
A report about the Thorne family appeared.
She quickly turned up the volume.
“Sources close to the Thorne family have confirmed an internal investigation regarding financial misconduct…”
Her face changed.
“No.”
She grabbed the remote.
The reporter continued.
“The investigation follows a recent incident involving Marcus Thorne’s pregnant wife, Khloe Thorne, at a private hospital.”
Isabella threw the remote across the room.
She knew.
The story was changing.
People were no longer seeing her as the victim.
They were looking closer.
Her phone rang.
Daniel.
She answered immediately.
“You need to disappear.”
Isabella froze.
“What?”
“Leave the country.”
Her expression hardened.
“I’m not running.”
“You don’t understand.”
Daniel’s voice became urgent.
“Marcus has the recording.”
Silence.
Isabella felt the blood leave her face.
“How?”
“Someone betrayed us.”
She slowly sat down.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“And I think I know who.”
“Who?”
A pause.
“The person who has been protecting Marcus all these years.”
Isabella whispered:
“Victor.”
“No.”
Daniel answered.
“Someone closer.”
Back in the hospital conference room, Marcus stared at the old recorder.
“My father knew.”
Clara nodded.
“He knew Isabella was dangerous.”
“Then why didn’t he expose her?”
Clara looked at Victor.
And that single look made Marcus turn.
“What?”
Victor remained silent.
Marcus stood.
“Victor.”
The older man finally spoke.
“Because your father wasn’t trying to expose Isabella.”
Marcus frowned.
“Then what was he doing?”
Victor looked at the recorder.
“He was trying to save you.”
A chill ran through the room.
“Save me from what?”
Victor’s face became filled with regret.
“From inheriting an empire built on a crime.”
Marcus froze.
“What are you talking about?”
Victor looked at him.
Then quietly said:
“Your father wasn’t killed because he discovered a thief.”
A pause.
“He was killed because he discovered the person who created the entire empire’s biggest secret.”
Marcus stared.
“Who?”
Victor took a deep breath.
And answered:
“The person who raised you.”
Marcus felt his entire world collapse.
Because there was only one person Victor could mean.
May you like
His own mother.
TO BE CONTINUED...
