The Surrogate He Discarded

The man with the eyeglasses chuckled and it echoed from the two others inside the elevator.

Isobel coughed awkwardly, but for some reason, her embarrassment eased.

Kristoff’s gaze lingered on her. Longer than it should have.

His eyes traveled over her face, taking in her flushed cheeks, her nervous expression, and the determination that still shone beneath her embarrassment.

Then his gaze shifted briefly to the folder clutched tightly against her chest.

He saw the worn edges.

Then it moved to the carefully mended sleeve of her blouse and to the fair skin of her arms.

He looked down on the tucked blouse and noted how slim her waist was.

Despite the simplicity of her dress, it could not hide her shapely figure.

He looked down further, to the straight and slender legs that were not covered by stockings and then to the black leather shoes that had been polished countless times to hide their age.

Kristoff’s gaze landed back to her face.

She was a woman who had very little. Yet somehow carried herself with dignity.

The elevator continued its ascent.

No one noticed the subtle change in the CEO’s expression. No one knew that a decision had just been made.

A decision that would alter both their lives forever.

The elevator dinged and stopped at the 21st floor.

The elevator doors slid open.

The young woman, fresh from college murmured a thank you and hurriedly slipped out.

Kristoff followed her with his gaze. A single thought crossed his mind.

She’s the one.

...

The elevator doors slid open.

Everyone stepped out, assuming the brief encounter had ended.

It hadn’t.

”Jack.” Kristoff’s deep voice cut through the bustle of the executive floor.

The man in the rimless glasses immediately halted and turned around.

”Boss?”

Kristoff’s gaze remained fixed on the closing elevator doors.

For a moment, he said nothing.

Then he spoke.

”Find out who she is.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. Kristoff rarely took an interest in strangers.

”Everything?” He asked.

”Everything.”

Kristoff’s answer came without hesitation.

”I want her family background, education, financial records, employment history...” His eyes narrowed slightly.

Jack stared at his CEO in surprise.

That level of investigation was usually reserved for business partners worth billions or enemies worth destroying.

Not a nervous young woman who had accidentally stepped into the wrong elevator.

”Have the report on my desk before the end of the day.”

”Understood.”

Jack watched as Kristoff turned toward his office. There was something different in his expression. Something unusually determined.

After years of being just interested with one woman named Charlotte, Kristoff Dalton had finally shown interest in another one.

And it happened because she stepped into the wrong elevator.

As Kristoff walked away, a faint smile touched his lips.

For the first time in a very long while, the future seemed interesting.

He had a feeling that the young woman named Isobel was about to change everything.

...

Jack was as efficient as ever. By five o’clock that afternoon, a thick file landed on Kristoff’s desk.

Kristoff set aside the contract he had been reviewing and opened it immediately.

Page after page detailed the life of a young woman named Isobel Lancey.

A life that was far more difficult than he had imagined.

As he read, the faint smile on his lips disappeared.

”So I was right,” he said quietly. ”She really has no one to back her up.”

”No one, Boss,” Jack replied. ”Isobel Lancey was abandoned as an infant and raised at Saint Marianne’s Orphanage. She lived there until she turned sixteen. She only left when she earned a full scholarship to Novare State University.”

Kristoff continued turning the pages.

His eyes paused on her academic records.

The grades were flawless.

The list of awards seemed endless.

”And Boss...” Jack added, unable to hide his admiration, ”she graduated at the top of her batch. Summa Cum Laude.”

A flicker of surprise crossed Kristoff’s face. That was no small achievement.

Especially for someone who had grown up with so little.

His gaze lingered on Isobel’s graduation photo attached to the report.

She was smiling brightly, holding her diploma with both hands. For a moment, he found himself staring longer than necessary.

Then he closed the file.

”Does she have a boyfriend?”

Jack nearly choked. Of all the questions he expected, that wasn’t one of them. Why would his boss interested to know?

”No, Boss.”

Kristoff frowned.

”No?”

”None.” Jack replied with certainty.

”That’s impossible.”

Jack blinked.

”Boss?”

Kristoff leaned back in his chair.

”You’re telling me a woman who looks like that spent four years in university without a boyfriend?”

Jack cleared his throat.

”According to everyone we interviewed, she never had one.”

Kristoff raised an eyebrow.

”Not even once?”

”Not even once.” Jack confirmed.

Jack flipped through his notes.

”She had plenty of admirers. Several students confessed to her over the years.”

”And?”

”She rejected all of them.”

A strange satisfaction settled inside Kristoff.

”Why?”

”She told them she wanted to focus on her studies. According to her friends, she considered relationships a distraction.”

The corner of Kristoff’s lips lifted.

Interesting. Very interesting. Most people chased romance.

Isobel chased goals.

He liked that.

”Any weaknesses?” he asked.

Jack hesitated. Then he pulled out his phone and opened another file.

”There is one.”

Kristoff’s eyes narrowed.

”Go on.”

”Saint Marianne’s Orphanage is on the verge of closure.”

The amusement vanished from Kristoff’s face.

”The orphanage has been struggling financially for years. The director has been desperately seeking donors.”

Jack scrolled through several photos.

”Miss Lancey is helping them raise funds. That’s why she’s working multiple jobs.”

”Multiple?”

”Yes, Boss. She works part-time at a coffee shop. She also tutors several children from wealthy families after their classes.”

Kristoff was silent. He glanced again at Isobel’s file. At the long list of achievements. At the scholarships and the awards. At the recent photographs of her volunteering at the orphanage.

She had spent her entire life fighting for other people. And now she was fighting to save the only home she had ever known.

Slowly, a calculating smile appeared on Kristoff’s face.

Jack immediately recognized that smile.

Someone was about to be outmaneuvered.

”Perfect.”

The single word sent a chill down Jack’s spine.

Kristoff closed the file and tapped it lightly against his desk.

”Tell Sharon to schedule an interview with Miss Lancey tomorrow.”

Jack nodded.

”Yes, Boss.”

As he turned to leave, Kristoff’s voice stopped him.

”And Jack?”

”Yes?”

Kristoff glanced once more at Isobel’s photograph.

His smile deepened.

”Make sure she doesn’t decline.”

For the first time, Jack almost felt sorry for Miss Isobel Lancey.

Because once Kristoff Dalton set his sights on something...

He never failed to get it.