Chapter 10 – Phase Two
The interrogation room fell silent as Detective Brooks unfolded the handwritten note.
Phase Two was always the real plan.
Every person in the room stared at the words.
Marcus slowly looked toward Victor.
"What does Phase Two mean?"
Victor remained silent.
Brooks placed the note on the table.
"I'm asking you one last time."
"What was Phase Two?"
Victor leaned back in his chair.
"I have nothing to say."
Detective Ramirez frowned.
"You've already lost."
Victor looked at her with surprising calm.
"You think this was about winning?"
"No."
"It was about making sure Adrian Thorne lived long enough to feel what I felt."
Adrian lowered his head.
Marcus's voice turned cold.
"You almost killed my wife."
Victor finally looked at him.
"I never ordered anyone to kill her."
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
"You expect us to believe that?"
"I told Isabella to destroy your family."
"I never told her to harm your unborn child."
Nathan Carter, who had been standing quietly near the wall, stepped forward.
"Hatred doesn't come with instructions."
"When you teach someone to hate, you don't get to choose how far they'll go."
Victor had no answer.
Meanwhile, forensic investigators continued searching Victor's estate.
Every room revealed another piece of the puzzle.
In the basement, officers discovered a hidden office behind a reinforced steel door.
The walls were covered with photographs.
Marcus as a teenager.
Marcus graduating from college.
Marcus proposing to Khloe.
Their wedding.
Their honeymoon.
Charity events.
Business conferences.
Even photographs taken through the windows of their own home.
Samuel Grant stared at the wall in disbelief.
"This wasn't revenge."
"It was an obsession."
One investigator called from across the room.
"Mr. Grant."
Samuel walked over.
"What did you find?"
The investigator held up a stack of notebooks.
"These are journals."
Samuel carefully opened the first one.
Every page was dated.
Every page described the Thorne family.
Their routines.
Their habits.
Their schedules.
One entry caught his attention.
If Marcus ever has a child, Adrian will finally understand what it means to fear losing everything.
Samuel closed the notebook immediately.
His stomach turned.
At the hospital, Khloe had finally been discharged.
Marcus insisted on bringing her home personally.
Their estate had been transformed into a fortress.
Private security officers stood at every entrance.
Additional cameras had been installed overnight.
Khloe looked around as Marcus helped her inside.
"This feels like a prison."
Marcus gently took her hand.
"It's temporary."
"I promise."
She smiled weakly.
"I know you're trying to protect us."
He kissed her forehead.
"I failed once."
"I won't fail again."
Khloe looked into his eyes.
"You didn't fail."
"The person responsible is already in custody."
Marcus wanted to believe her.
But something still felt wrong.
Victor had surrendered too easily.
Far too easily.
That evening, Samuel arrived carrying another evidence box.
"We found something you need to see."
Marcus led him into the study.
Samuel removed an old cassette recorder from the box.
"A recorder?"
"It was hidden in Victor's office."
"And?"
"It contains one message."
Samuel pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then Victor's voice emerged.
If you're hearing this...
...then I've already been arrested.
Marcus exchanged a glance with Samuel.
The recording continued.
You believe you've stopped me.
You haven't.
Because revenge was never the destination.
It was only the beginning.
Marcus's expression hardened.
Victor's voice remained calm.
There is one truth Adrian never told his family.
One secret he buried thirty years ago.
When that truth becomes public...
...the Thorne name will collapse on its own.
The recording ended.
Silence filled the study.
Samuel looked at Marcus.
"Do you know what he's talking about?"
Marcus slowly shook his head.
"No."
Across town, Adrian sat alone in his library.
He stared into the fireplace as old memories flooded back.
A soft knock interrupted his thoughts.
His longtime housekeeper entered.
"Mr. Thorne."
"There's someone here to see you."
"I told everyone I wasn't receiving visitors."
"I know."
"But she said you'd want to hear her name."
Adrian looked up.
"Who is it?"
The housekeeper hesitated.
"Margaret Ellis."
Adrian froze.
His face lost all color.
"No..."
He whispered the name as though speaking to a ghost.
"That's impossible."
Marcus had never heard that name before.
But somewhere deep inside, Adrian knew exactly who she was.
The woman he had spent thirty years hoping never to see again.
The front door slowly opened.
An elegant woman in her late sixties stepped inside.
Her silver hair framed a composed but weary face.
She carried a worn leather envelope in her hands.
Adrian stood without saying a word.
Margaret looked at him quietly.
"I wish this visit weren't necessary."
Adrian swallowed hard.
"You should have stayed away."
"I tried."
She glanced at the envelope.
"But Victor forced my hand."
Adrian's voice trembled.
"What do you want?"
Margaret held up the envelope.
"The truth."
She placed it on the table.
"I've kept these documents sealed for thirty years."
"They belong to your family."
Adrian stared at the envelope but didn't touch it.
Marcus entered the library just in time to hear Margaret's next words.
"I'm sorry, Marcus."
"What you're about to learn..."
"...will change everything you believe about your father."
Marcus looked from Margaret to Adrian.
His father's eyes were filled with shame.
May you like
For the first time in his life, Marcus saw fear in the man he had always believed was unshakable.
And lying inside the old leather envelope was a birth certificate, a handwritten confession, and a faded photograph of a little boy no one in the Thorne family had ever known existed.
