Chapter 135: The Man Chasing Her

Kristoff’s gaze lingered on Isobel, his expression growing increasingly complicated.

Had she and Richard really grown up together?

After visiting the orphanage, he had intended to investigate Richard Learson. But then Alexander’s accident happened, throwing everything into chaos. The matter had quietly slipped to the back of his mind.

Now, watching them together, doubt resurfaced.

The moment he entered the restaurant earlier, he found Isobel and Richard chatting as if they had known each other for a lifetime.

No...

Not just familiar but comfortable.

Isobel smiled at Richard with an ease Kristoff had never seen before. There was no awkwardness, no restraint. Every gesture between them felt natural—almost intimate.

An unpleasant tightness settled in his chest.

Jealousy.

The realization irritated him more than he cared to admit.

On his way back to the office, Kristoff’s car slowed as it passed Novare’s Finest.

Through the glass windows, he caught sight of two familiar figures.

Isobel.

Richard Learson.

The two walked inside together.

Novare’s Finest was one of the most expensive restaurants in the city. Reservations were difficult to secure, and the prices alone were enough to discourage most people.

Yet Richard had brought her there.

"Turn around," Kristoff ordered.

His secretary looked up from her tablet. "Sir? You have a meeting at one."

"Move it to two."

Without another word, she nodded, pulled out her phone, and began rearranging his schedule as the driver made a U-turn toward Novare’s Finest.

...

"Mind if we join you?"

Kristoff spoke as though he were asking to borrow a chair, not intrude on someone else’s lunch.

Behind him, his secretary lowered her eyes, pretending to study the tablet in her hands.

She had worked for Kristoff Dalton for nearly five years.

Never—not once—had she seen him chase after anyone.

Meetings revolved around his schedule. People waited for him, not the other way around.

Yet here he was, inserting himself into what was obviously a date.

She had read countless articles painting Isobel as an ambitious woman who had seduced the Kristoff Dalton.

Looking at the scene before her, she almost laughed.

If anyone was doing the chasing...it certainly wasn’t Isobel.

Even the man sitting across from her looked at her differently.

Every time Richard’s eyes landed on Isobel, the sharpness in them softened. It was subtle, but impossible to miss.

"I do mind."

Richard’s answer came without hesitation. His voice was calm, but the chill in it was unmistakable.

Kristoff didn’t even spare him a glance. His eyes remained fixed on Isobel.

"Isobel," he said, his voice noticeably gentler, "I need to discuss something with you."

She looked at him apologetically.

"But I already promised Richard we’d have lunch together."

She paused before asking, "Is it urgent?"

Before Kristoff could answer, Richard spoke.

"I didn’t know the president of Dalton Group conducted business like this." His lips curved into a faint smile that held no warmth. "Crashing someone else’s appointment instead of scheduling one."

The words landed like a slap. Kristoff’s jaw tightened. Richard wasn’t wrong.

Under normal circumstances, he would have considered this beneath him. So what was he doing?

The moment he saw Isobel enter the restaurant with another man...it seemed like reason had abandoned him.

For the first time in years, impulse had won over logic.

After a long moment of silence, Kristoff let out a quiet breath.

"My apologies," he said at last.

Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked to an empty table nearby.

A waiter hurried over with the menu.

Kristoff barely looked at it. His attention remained on the woman only a few tables away.

He told himself he was only there for lunch.

Yet every few seconds, his eyes drifted back to Isobel.

And every time Richard smiled at her...

The food in front of him became a little harder to swallow.

...

Kristoff regretted sitting so close.

Because he heard her every laugh.

Every smile, and every glance they exchanged found its way into his eyes whether he wanted it to or not.

He picked up the glass and it stayed suspended in the air for some time.

"Sir?"

The waiter waited patiently.

"What is your oder?"

"Bring me your signature dish." Kristoff said irritably.

"Yes, sir."

The waiter hurried away.

Across the room, Isobel looked completely at ease. She wasn’t the least bit intimidated by Richard, despite his composed demeanor.

Instead, she teased him.

"So you really climbed over the orphanage wall just to steal mangoes?"

Richard chuckled.

"I wasn’t stealing. I was rescuing overripe fruit before it fell."

Isobel laughed.

It wasn’t the polite smile she wore during the business meeting earlier.

It was genuine. Bright. Unrestrained.

Kristoff had seen her smile many times before.

But never like this.

He realized, with an uncomfortable certainty, that there were years of memories between them that he knew nothing about.

Another laugh escaped Isobel’s lips.

Kristoff’s grip tightened around the glass in his hand. The crystal let out a faint creak.

His secretary, seated across from him, quietly pretended not to notice. She had never seen her boss lose his composure.

Not during billion-peso negotiations nor hostile acquisitions. Not even when competitors publicly challenged him.

Yet one woman’s laughter had reduced his concentration to nothing.

The food arrived. Neither Kristoff nor his secretary touched it.

"Boss... You’ve been holding your fork for three minutes."

Kristoff glanced down.

Only then did he realize he had been staring in the same direction the entire time.

He cleared his throat and finally took a bite. It tasted like cardboard.

Meanwhile, another dish was placed before Isobel.

She blinked.

"I don’t remember ordering this."

Richard smiled.

"You didn’t but I did."

"This looks expensive."

"It is."

Isobel narrowed her eyes.

"I’m paying for my own lunch, then."

"I invited you."

"And I accepted, but not for you to splurge."

Richard sighed dramatically.

"Alright! You’ve become troublesome."

"I’ve always been troublesome."

He laughed softly.

Without another word, Richard picked up the dessert spoon and scooped a small piece of chilled preserved fruits. Isobel instinctively leaned back.

He held it toward her.

"Taste it first."

"I can feed myself."

"I know." Richard replied.

"Then why are you doing that?"

"To annoy you."

She stared at him for two seconds before bursting into laughter.

"You haven’t changed at all."

Richard finally withdrew the spoon and ate it himself.

"Still too cautious."

Watching them, Kristoff’s expression darkened. They moved around each other with effortless familiarity. As if they had done this countless times before.

A strange bitterness settled in his chest. He had always believed that time was on his side.

If Isobel stayed by him long enough...perhaps one day she would look at him the way she looked at Richard now.

For the first time, he wasn’t so sure. His phone vibrated. The screen lit up with a message from Jack.

Have you looked into Richard Learson yet?

Kristoff stared at the name for several seconds.

Then another message arrived.

You should. His background isn’t as simple as it looks.

Kristoff’s gaze slowly lifted.

Richard was pouring tea for Isobel.

His movement was graceful and calm.

Too perfect.

Who exactly... was Richard Learson?