Chapter 5 - The Messages I Wasn’t Supposed to Read
Marcus eventually gave me his phone.
Not voluntarily.
I told him that if he wanted even the smallest chance of keeping our marriage intact long enough to discuss it later, secrecy ended that night.
He unlocked it.
I searched Isabella’s name.
Most messages were deleted.
That itself was information.
But one backup thread remained on a work application.
The affair had ended.
That part appeared true.
Isabella hadn’t accepted it.
Her messages became increasingly personal.
You don’t get to use me and crawl back to your perfect wife.
Marcus repeatedly told her their relationship was finished.
Then I found something else.
Three weeks earlier:
ISABELLA: Is Khloe still having contractions?
MARCUS: Don’t ask about my wife.
I read it twice.
“How did she know?”
Marcus looked confused.
“I assumed someone at the office told her.”
“Who at your office knows?”
“My assistant. Maybe legal because of travel scheduling.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
I kept scrolling.
Another message.
ISABELLA: You should be careful what stress does to women in her condition.
My stomach turned.
Marcus had responded:
Stay away from my family.
That changed part of the story.
He had known Isabella was becoming threatening.
Maybe not physically violent.
But threatening enough to tell her to stay away.
And then he handed her an access badge.
I looked at him.
“You knew she was unstable around me.”
“I thought she wanted the contract issue resolved.”
“You thought what you needed from her mattered more than what she might do to me.”
He looked devastated.
But devastation wasn’t accountability.
Then I found a message from a number with no name attached.
Sent to Isabella two days earlier.
Private suite assigned to Khloe: East Wing, Room E412.
Marcus stared at the number.
“I didn't send that.”
I believed him.
Because the sender wasn't saved in his phone.
But someone inside either his company or the hospital had been feeding Isabella information.
May you like
The attack hadn’t begun when she entered my room.
Someone had helped her find me.
