The Surrogate He Discarded

Richard finally managed to stop his tears.

He drew a slow, unsteady breath, trying to regain control of himself. His arms were still around Isobel when her cellphone suddenly rang.

The sound cut through the quiet room.

Richard reluctantly loosened his embrace and stepped back.

Isobel glanced at the screen.

A video call.

The moment Richard saw the name, something in his expression changed.

Kristoff.

He said nothing, but his shoulders stiffened.

Isobel answered the call.

Kristoff’s face appeared on the screen. He was sitting on a rocking chair inside the nursery. His usually composed expression immediately replaced by concern when he saw her.

His eyes narrowed.

”Isobel.” His voice softened. ”What’s wrong?”

”Nothing.”

His gaze lingered on her face.

”Don’t give me that.” A faint crease appeared between his brows. ”Your eyes are swollen. Have you been crying?”

Isobel instinctively touched the corner of one eye.

”It’s nothing, Kristoff. I’m fine.”

”You’re obviously not fine.”

There was no irritation in his voice, only quiet concern—the kind that came from knowing her well enough to recognize when she was trying to hide something.

Isobel’s lips curved into a small, helpless smile.

”You are overthinking it. Someone just told me something that made me cry. You are far too observant.”

”I should be. I wouldn’t be at my position if I don’t have sharp eyes..”

”Alright.”

She said in low voice.

Kristoff’s expression softened. He was silent for sometime just watching Isobel.

Despite herself, Isobel let out a quiet laugh.

Richard watched them in silence.

There was something painfully familiar about the way Kristoff spoke to her. The gentle reprimand. The ease between them. The way Isobel didn’t seem bothered by his questions but instead seemed comforted by them.

Kristoff sighed when he saw her smile.

”Look who is here.”

He turned the phone.

The screen shifted, revealing the nursery.

A moment later, the nanny placed Alexander into Kristoff’s waiting arms.

Isobel’s entire expression changed.

Her eyes immediately brightened.

”Oh...”

Kristoff smiled when he saw her reaction.

”I had a few things to take care of at home, so I thought I’d spend some time with him before heading back.”

He adjusted Alexander in his arms and angled the phone toward him.

”Come on, Alex. Say hi to Mommy.”

Alexander stared at the screen for a moment, his round eyes fixed on the familiar face staring back at him.

Then, as if he suddenly recognized her, his little face brightened into a delighted smile. He reached for the phone with both hands, his tiny fingers patting and rubbing against the screen as though he could somehow touch her.

His brows furrowed when his fingers met the smooth glass instead of the warm face he was reaching for. He gave a tiny pout, clearly puzzled by what stood between him and his mother.

But the confusion lasted only a moment.

His eyes remained fixed on Isobel, and his lips parted.

”Mama.”

Isobel’s breath caught.

Her entire face softened.

”Alex!”

She leaned closer to the phone, her smile growing as Alexander reached his tiny hand toward the screen.

”Look at you,” she murmured. ”Mommy missed you.”

Kristoff watched her with a quiet smile.

”You see that?” he said to Alexander. ”That’s the reaction you get every time you call her Mama.”

Isobel laughed softly.

”Don’t tease him.”

”I’m not teasing him. I’m telling him he’s spoiled.”

”He’s a baby.”

”Exactly. Which means he’s already figured out how to get whatever he wants from you.”

Alexander babbled happily, seemingly delighted by the sound of his mother’s voice.

Isobel’s eyes never left the screen.

Richard stood a few steps away, watching.

He had expected to feel grateful seeing Isobel smile.

Instead, an unfamiliar bitterness settled in his chest.

He remembered another little girl.

His little Isobel.

He remembered those same bright eyes looking up at him when she was small, sparkling whenever he came home with a new toy hidden behind his back or slipped her favorite treat into his pocket.

Back then, he had been the person who could make her face light up with something as simple as a gift.

Now, years later, that same light appeared when she looked at another man’s child.

Richard’s jaw tightened.

It wasn’t Alexander’s fault. Richard knew that.

It wasn’t even Kristoff’s fault.

But jealousy had never cared about reason.

His gaze settled on Kristoff through the screen.

The man held Alexander comfortably in his arms, as though the child belonged there—and he did. They were both smiling at Isobel, sharing a moment that seemed so natural, so intimate, that Richard suddenly felt like an outsider looking into a life he should have been part of.

But what hurt most was the way Isobel looked at them.

There was a softness in her eyes that Richard hadn’t seen directed at anyone else. She looked at Alexander with a mother’s tenderness, but when her gaze shifted to Kristoff, there was something else there—trust, familiarity, and a quiet warmth that spoke of a bond built over time.

She trusted him.

She allowed him to worry about her.

She smiled when he teased her.

And Richard hated how easily Kristoff seemed to fit into her life.

He swallowed hard.

He had only just found his way back to Isobel. He hadn’t even found the courage to tell her how deeply he felt about her—how much she had remained in his heart despite all the years they had been apart.

And already, he was being forced to face an uncomfortable truth.

There were places in Isobel’s life that someone else had filled while he was gone.

Places that had once belonged to him.

And perhaps the cruelest part was knowing that he had no one to blame for it but himself.

Reclaiming what he had lost would not be easy. Not when Kristoff wasn’t simply another man in Isobel’s life.

He was the father of her child.

And that meant he would never truly be a stranger to her.

Richard clenched his fists until his fingernails bit deep into his palms, drawing blood.

The sharp sting grounded him.

Good.

He needed the pain.

Because if he allowed himself to dwell on what he was seeing, the jealousy twisting inside his chest would consume him.

He had already lost too many years with Isobel.

He refused to stand by and watch another man slowly push him out of her heart.

Even if he was the father of her son.