The Surrogate He Discarded

Charlotte grumbled as she blindly reached for her phone on the bedside table, her fingers fumbling across the smooth surface until they finally closed around it.

The shrill ringtone had already shattered the last remnants of her dream.

She didn’t need to look at the screen.

She knew that ringtone.

Her manager.

Charlotte squeezed her eyes shut and resisted the urge to hurl the phone across the room. She had been having the most beautiful dream—one she desperately wanted to return to.

Kristoff standing at the altar, looking at her with that smile that always made her heart stumble.

Her phone had rung.

And just like that, the dream disappeared.

So did her happiness.

Charlotte answered the call with a murderous scowl.

”Rica Blanca,” she muttered, her voice thick with sleep. ”What time is it?”

She squinted at the clock beside her and groaned.

”Whatever you’re about to tell me had better be worth waking me up for.”

There was a brief silence on the other end.

Then Rica spoke, deliberately slow.

”Charlotte Harris, do you know that you’re trending right now?”

Charlotte frowned.

”I don’t care,” she mumbled, pulling the blanket over her head. She did not realize yet the gravity of Rica’s words.

”You’re sleeping soundly while the internet is practically on fire.”

”I said I don’t care. Let me sleep some more!”

”Charlotte.”

Rica’s voice rose, but Charlotte only groaned in response.

”You interrupted my beautiful dream.”

There was a pause.

Charlotte pushed the blanket down just enough to glare at the phone.

”I was getting married.”

Rica remained silent.

”To Kristoff,” Charlotte added, as if there were any other possible answer. ”And it was perfect.”

She sighed dreamily for half a second before remembering who had ruined it.

”So unless you’re calling to tell me that someone has actually arranged my wedding, I really don’t want to hear it.”

A long sigh came through the speaker.

”Charlotte, get a grip.”

”I’m trying. You woke me up.”

”You might want to wake up completely before you start complaining.”

Charlotte frowned and reluctantly pushed herself upright. Her hair was tangled around her face, and her eyes were still heavy with sleep.

”Why?”

Rica’s tone changed.

”Because there are rumors circulating that you and Kristoff are in a cold war.”

Charlotte blinked.

”What?”

”And apparently, your relationship is on the rocks after a heated argument.”

The words cut through her remaining sleep like ice water.

Charlotte straightened.

”What did you say?”

Her voice trembled slightly.

”You heard me.” Rica sounded calm this time.

”Who started that?”

”I don’t know yet,” Rica replied.

But the slight hesitation in her voice made Charlotte suspicious.

”You have a suspect.”

Rica didn’t answer.

Charlotte stared at the wall, trying to make sense of what she had just heard.

”That’s ridiculous,” she said, her voice sharpening. ”Kristoff and I aren’t—”

”Check the internet.”

Rica’s tone was unusually serious.

”You’ll see.”

Charlotte reluctantly switched the call to speaker and dropped the phone onto the bed.

She reached for her tablet, nearly knocking over a glass of water in her haste. Her fingers moved quickly as she opened the trending topics.

The moment the page loaded, her stomach dropped.

There it was.

Her name and Kristoff’s.

And beneath them, a flood of vicious headlines.

CHARLOTTE HARRIS AND KRISTOFF ON THE ROCKS?

HEATED ARGUMENT EXPOSES TROUBLE IN PARADISE

HAS CHARLOTTE’S FAIRY-TALE ROMANCE COME TO AN END?

Charlotte stared at the screen.

For several seconds, she couldn’t speak. Her fingers tightened around the tablet.

”Who started this rumor?” she finally asked.

Her voice was low and controlled.

”Who leaked it?”

”That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

Rica’s voice softened.

Charlotte began scrolling.

The further she went, the worse it became.

Some accounts claimed they had ”inside sources.” Others analyzed old photographs of her and Kristoff, scrutinizing every expression and every distance between them as if they were detectives investigating a crime.

One post even claimed the couple had been overheard having a massive argument.

Another insisted that their relationship had been ”quietly falling apart for weeks.”

”These people are insane,” Charlotte whispered.

”Aren’t you used to it?”

Charlotte continued scrolling, her jaw tightening with every new accusation.

Then Rica spoke again.

”And there’s something else.”

Charlotte stopped.

”What?”

”Did you know that your two good friends, Phoebe and Shania, gained more than a hundred thousand followers tonight?”

Charlotte’s thumb froze against the screen.

”Phoebe and Shania?”

”Yes.”

Charlotte stared at their names.

”Why?”

”That’s the interesting part.”

A strange uneasiness settled over her. She looked back at the trending headlines.

Then at the posts about Phoebe and Shania.

”No.”

Her voice became firmer.

”It couldn’t be them.”

”Could be what?”

”They’re my best friends.”

The words came out defensively, almost instinctively.

Phoebe and Shania had been beside her through everything—the good days, the bad days, the scandals, the heartbreaks. They knew things about her that almost no one else knew.

She had trusted them. Completely.

There was no way they would betray her. There had to be another explanation.

”There has to be,” Charlotte whispered.

Rica didn’t respond. The silence stretched between them.

Charlotte’s chest tightened.

”What?”

”I’m not accusing them of anything.”

”But you think the sudden increase in their followers is suspicious.”

Rica hesitated.

”I think the timing is suspicious.”

Charlotte looked down at the screen again. Her name was still trending. Kristoff’s name was right beside hers.

And somewhere beneath the thousands of comments, strangers were dissecting her private life as though they had a right to it.

She clenched her jaw.

Just hours ago, she had been dreaming about marrying Kristoff.

Now she was being forced to defend a relationship she hadn’t even realized the world believed was falling apart.

Her eyes drifted back to Phoebe and Shania’s names. Could it really be them?

The thought made her stomach twist.

”No,” she whispered again, almost as though saying it aloud could make the suspicion disappear.

Then she looked at the phone.

”Rica, can you trace who started this rumor?”

”Do I need to?”

Charlotte frowned.

”What does that mean?”

Rica chuckled softly.

”You should already have a hint, shouldn’t you?”

Charlotte’s expression hardened.

She hated the way Rica said it—as though there were something obvious that Charlotte was refusing to see.

”Just find out,” she said.

”I’ll see what I can dig up.”

Charlotte leaned back against the headboard, staring at the screen.

The room was quiet now. Too quiet.

The warmth of her dream was gone. All that remained was the cold glow of her tablet illuminating the dark bedroom.

She thought of Kristoff.

Then Phoebe. Then Shania. Two people she trusted.

And suddenly, for the first time, Charlotte wondered whether she truly knew any of them as well as she thought she did.

Her anger slowly gave way to something far more unsettling.

Fear.

Because it wasn’t just some random rumor...

But a reality.