The Surrogate He Discarded

Marco’s expression became colder.

”Once the public starts questioning the company, investors will start asking questions too.”

”Stock prices could fall, among other things.”

Charlotte looked at him.

”And you intend to buy?”

Marco said nothing. The look in his eyes said it all.

A slow smile spread across Charlotte’s face.

”You want to weaken Dalton Real Estate, make everyone panic, then acquire their assets while they’re vulnerable.”

”Now you’re thinking.”

Charlotte laughed softly.

For the first time that night, the bitterness inside her began to transform into something else.

Purpose.

She had spent weeks moping and feeling humiliated by Kristoff that she had almost forgotten what it felt like to have power.

Now Marco was placing that power within reach.

But there was still one problem.

”Kristoff isn’t stupid.” Marco’s expression hardened when he spoke.

”No.” Charlotte agreed. She knew just how cunning Kristoff was.

”He’ll investigate. I expect him to. He’ll know someone is targeting him,” she added.

”I expect that too.”

Charlotte studied him.

”Then why aren’t you worried?”

Marco walked back toward the window.

The Dalton headquarters reflected faintly in his eyes.

”Because Kristoff will be looking for an enemy.”

Marco turned toward her, his expression calm, almost amused.

”And we’re going to give him a scandal instead.”

Charlotte’s brows lifted. ”A scandal?”

”Yes.” Marco leaned back, swirling the liquor in his glass. ”Something explosive enough to consume his attention. Something that will make him look in every direction except ours.”

His gaze settled on her.

”Then, when he’s distracted, we strike.”

Charlotte remained silent.

She knew Kristoff better than most people did. She knew his habits, his temper, the people he trusted—and, more importantly, the things he would never tolerate.

Marco noticed the hesitation.

”You were with him for a long time,” he said quietly. ”You should know where his weaknesses are.”

A slow smile returned to Charlotte’s lips.

This time, there was nothing warm about it.

”Of course I do.”

She lifted her glass and took a small sip.

”I know a lot more than his weaknesses.”

Marco’s eyes narrowed with interest.

Charlotte’s smile deepened.

”I know what makes him angry. What makes him suspicious. Who he protects. And what he would do to protect his family.”

She placed the glass down.

”And I know exactly what kind of scandal would make him lose control.”

Marco’s eyes narrowed.

He could hear the certainty in Charlotte’s voice.

”What kind of scandal?”

Charlotte didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, she stared through the glass windows at the distant city, her fingers slowly tightening around her glass.

”There is one thing Kristoff has become extremely protective of,” she finally said.

Marco waited.

”His son.”

”Alexander?”

Charlotte’s expression darkened at the name.

”Yes. Alexander.”

For a moment, something bitter flashed across her face.

That child had become the center of Kristoff’s world almost overnight.

Ever since Alexander appeared in his life, everything had begun falling apart for her. Kristoff’s attention shifted. His priorities changed. Every decision seemed to revolve around the baby.

To Charlotte, Alexander wasn’t simply a child.

He was the symbol of everything she had lost.

Her bane.

Her jinx.

And perhaps, now, the weapon she needed.

Marco studied her carefully.

”Isn’t Alexander your son and Kristoff’s?” he asked. ”I thought he was conceived through surrogacy.”

Charlotte gave a cold, humorless laugh.

”No.”

Marco’s brows lifted.

Charlotte turned toward him.

”That is what everyone believes. But the truth is very different.”

She paused, letting the words settle.

”Alexander’s biological mother is an orphan.”

Marco’s expression changed.

”An orphan?”

”Yes.”

Charlotte’s voice became quieter.

”She had nothing. No powerful family. No influence. No name that could protect her.”

Marco stared at her, beginning to understand.

”That is why Alexander is the perfect pressure point.”

Marco’s gaze sharpened.

”If something about the boy’s origins came to light...”

”Kristoff would tear the city apart trying to find out who was behind it.”

Charlotte finished the thought for him.

”And while he is busy protecting his son and searching for the person responsible, he won’t see the real attack coming.”

A calculating silence settled between them.

Then Charlotte’s expression changed.

”What happens if he traces it back to us?”

Marco’s smile disappeared.

His eyes gleamed beneath the dim light.

”Then we make sure there is nothing to trace.”

Charlotte stared at him.

For the first time that night, they both understood exactly what they were agreeing to.

This was no longer about humiliating Kristoff.

They were going after the one thing he would fight hardest to protect.

His son.

The words hung between them.

Cold and final.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city glittered beneath them. Towers of glass and steel rose into the night, their windows glowing like countless stars. Traffic flowed through the streets below, completely unaware that two people in a quiet room had just begun plotting the downfall of one of the city’s most powerful families.

Charlotte turned toward the window.

Far across the city stood Dalton headquarters.

The building that had once represented everything she wanted. The life she had imagined. The future she had believed Kristoff would give her.

For a moment, the old bitterness surfaced.

Then it disappeared.

Charlotte stared at the Dalton logo glowing against the night.

This time, she didn’t see the future she had lost.

She saw a target.

”All right,” she whispered.

”I’m in.”

Marco raised his glass.

”To the beginning.”

Charlotte picked up hers. Her eyes never left the distant headquarters.

”To the end of Kristoff Dalton.”

Their glasses touched.

Clink.

The sound was soft.

But to Charlotte, it sounded like the first crack in something much larger.

She drained her drink.

The liquor burned down her throat, leaving warmth spreading through her chest. A faint flush crept across her cheeks.

Marco quietly took the empty glass from her hand and placed it on the side table.

Then he stepped closer.

His arms slipped around her from behind, his hands settling lightly at her waist.

Charlotte didn’t pull away.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

Marco lowered his gaze.

And then, unexpectedly, the image of Isobel surfaced in his mind.

Her graceful figure. Her delicate features.

The effortless elegance she carried without even trying.

Charlotte was beautiful, certainly—but Isobel had something different. Something that had stayed lodged in his memory long after she had walked away.

He remembered the warmth of her waist beneath his hand.

The memory irritated him. He pushed it aside.

Tonight, Isobel didn’t matter. Charlotte was here.

And for the moment, she would have to be enough.

His arms tightened slightly around her.

Charlotte closed her eyes, unaware of the thoughts running through his mind.

Neither of them noticed the irony.

They had just made a pact to destroy Kristoff Dalton.

But neither understood that their first move might ignite a scandal far more dangerous than either of them had planned.