From the very beginning, Kristoff Dalton had drawn the line with brutal clarity.
Rule number one: Never kiss me on the lips. That place belonged to only one woman.
Rule number Two: Do not fall in love with me.
Just two simple rules.
Back then, Isobel genuinely believed she could follow them. Only one year. That was all.
She would stay by his side long enough to give him the child he desperately wanted. In return, he would give her enough money to disappear and live the rest of her life in peace.
A clean transaction.
No feelings. No attachments. No heartbreak.
After that, she would leave and forget...
Forget the warmth of his voice in the middle of the night.
Forget the way his fingers absentmindedly brushed her hair while she slept.
Forget the rare softness hidden beneath the cold, untouchable mask the world feared.
Forget him completely.
And fifteen months passed in what felt like the blink of an eye.
In the end, their relationship ended just as abruptly as it began.
Cold and final. There wasn’t even a proper goodbye.
Only then did Isobel fully realize the cruelest truth of all—
Everything Kristoff had done for her...
Every touch...
Every sleepless night wrapped in his arms...
Every quiet tenderness that made her believe—if only for a second—that she meant something to him...
None of it had ever been for her.
It had all been for the child.
For the heir he needed.
So he could finally marry the woman he truly loved.
...
The sound of approaching footsteps shattered her thoughts.
Isobel instinctively stepped farther behind the marble pillar, her fingers tightening around the thin hospital gown wrapped around her frail body.
Then she saw them.
An elderly couple dressed in understated luxury walked toward Kristoff, followed by four bodyguards.
Even without introductions, Isobel immediately knew.
His parents.
A bitter smile tugged at her lips.
She had spent more than a year with Kristoff, yet she had never once met his family.
Kristoff had kept her hidden away in a private villa surrounded by a beautiful garden and iron gates—where she quietly carried his child.
A gilded cage.
She was safe, yes. She was comfortable.
But invisible.
"Dad. Mom." Kristoff’s deep voice rang through the hallway, and for the first time since Isobel met him, she heard unmistakable emotion beneath his calm tone. "I have a son now."
The older woman’s eyes instantly reddened.
Kristoff carefully placed the baby into her waiting arms.
"Oh my ...." she whispered shakily as she looked down at the tiny bundle. "He’s beautiful. He looks exactly like you when you were little."
The elderly man immediately leaned closer, pride practically radiating from his face.
"Hah! Of course he does." He laughed loudly. "Look at this face shape. Definitely a Dalton. Sharp jawline, diamond shaped face—this boy inherited my superior genes."
Kristoff actually chuckled.
A genuine chuckle.
Isobel froze.
Because she realized she had rarely heard him laugh like that around her.
His arm slipped naturally around Charlotte’s waist as he pulled her closer beside him. When he lowered his head to look at her, his usually cold eyes softened with unmistakable affection.
"Honey," he murmured gently, "we can finally get married soon. Nothing is standing in our way anymore."
Then he pressed a tender kiss against Charlotte’s forehead.
The pain in Isobel’s chest became unbearable.
Not from the soreness of her body after childbirth. Not from the milk painfully swelling in her breasts.
But from seeing him love a woman so openly... so naturally.
"You fool, Isobel," she mocked herself bitterly. "He warned you from the very beginning."
Her nails dug into her palms.
"He told you not to fall in love with him."
Yet she still did. Hopelessly and completely.
The baby suddenly squirmed in Mrs. Dalton’s arms before slowly opening his eyes.
"Oh!" she exclaimed softly. "Honey, look at his eyes..."
Everyone instinctively looked closer.
Then the older woman blinked in surprise.
"These eyes..." she muttered. "They don’t look like Kristoff’s... or yours, honey..."
"They aren’t yours either," Mr. Dalton pointed out.
"Then they must resemble the mother," Mrs. Dalton concluded.
For a split second, disappointment flickered across her face.
But it vanished almost immediately when the baby blinked again with those beautiful dark eyes—bright, crystal clear, impossibly pure.
Mrs. Dalton laughed warmly.
"My grandson is even more handsome than Kristoff."
Kristoff frowned slightly.
Truthfully, he had barely paid attention before. Every time he held the baby, the child had either been sleeping or crying.
But now...
He stepped closer. And the moment he saw those eyes clearly, his entire body stilled.
Black. Bright. Very much alive.
Innocent beyond words.
Just like hers.
A memory surfaced without warning—
Isobel standing barefoot in the villa garden beneath the afternoon sun... smiling at him with those same sparkling eyes.
For one brief moment, Kristoff fell into a daze.
"Auntie, what are you saying?" Charlotte suddenly laughed sweetly, breaking the strange silence. "The baby is obviously Kristoff’s miniature version."
Her smile remained flawless.
But beneath it, jealousy quietly twisted inside her chest.
Because she suddenly realized something dangerous.
This child might forever remind Kristoff of the woman who gave birth to him.
"Ah, right. Silly me." Mrs. Dalton waved it off casually. "Babies change as they grow."
The atmosphere settled again.
Then Kristoff spoke lightly, clearly in an excellent mood.
"Dad, Mom, it’s time to prepare for my engagement with Charlotte."
"Huh?" Old Master Dalton looked genuinely surprised. "Engagement? Why not go straight to marriage? You’re not getting any younger."
Kristoff smirked faintly before glancing at Charlotte with indulgent eyes.
"I won’t shortchange my Charie," he said softly. "I’ll give her the most unforgettable engagement in the country... then the grandest wedding afterward."
Charlotte’s eyes sparkled triumphantly.
Rising onto her toes, she wrapped her arms around Kristoff’s neck and kissed him directly on the lips.
The very thing he had forbidden Isobel from ever doing.
Mrs. Dalton rolled her eyes dramatically.
"Alright, alright. Do whatever you want."
Her tone carried obvious impatience now that she already had the grandson she wanted. Charlotte could forget about persuading Kristoff to adopt her relatives in the future.
"Let’s bring my grandson to the VIP suite," Mrs. Dalton said happily. "The doctors said he can’t be discharged for another two days."
Soon, the entire group disappeared down the corridor.
Their laughter slowly faded into the distance.
Only after they were gone did Isobel finally step out from behind the pillar.
Her pale face looked utterly lifeless.
She stared blankly in the direction they left.
"They really do look like one happy family..."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Then she lowered her head and pressed a trembling hand against her chest.
Because it felt as though someone had stabbed a knife directly into her heart... and twisted it slowly.
"My baby....I will never get a chance to see you ever..."