Chapter 306: A Storm Brewing

The birthday celebration was held on Saturday.

By Sunday morning, while Isobel and the Daltons were still fast asleep, a storm was brewing online.

It began with a blog post featuring two sets of photographs placed side by side.

The first showed Kristoff Dalton proposing to Charlotte during Alexander’s one-month celebration. The second captured him on one knee before Isobel at Alexander’s first birthday party.

The contrast was damning.

In one photograph, Kristoff was promising Charlotte a lifetime of happiness. In the other, he was offering the same promise to another woman.

And the internet was merciless.

"Kristoff Dalton: A CEO Who Can’t Keep His Promises?"

That was the headline that sent the post soaring across social media.

Within two hours, it had garnered more than a hundred thousand views, with thousands of comments pouring in by the minute.

"I used to admire Kristoff Dalton. He’s an excellent CEO, but his personal life is a complete mess. He proposed to Charlotte, broke things off with her a few months later, and now he’s proposing to another woman? What a joke!"

"Does Kristoff has a fetish for proposing at his son’s milestones? First the one-month celebration, now the first birthday. What’s next? His second birthday?"

"Someone needs to teach this man the meaning of commitment!"

Memes soon flooded the internet, mocking Kristoff for changing partners faster than people could keep track of his relationships.

But the controversy didn’t stop there.

Some netizens began comparing Charlotte and Isobel, debating which woman was more beautiful. Polls appeared on multiple platforms, turning their private lives into a public competition.

Yet the real storm had only just begun.

To everyone’s surprise, Charlotte agreed to an exclusive livestream interview.

When the broadcast began, nearly half a million viewers tuned in.

The comment section moved so quickly that individual messages were almost impossible to read.

"Charlotte, have you seen the photographs of Kristoff proposing to Isobel during Alexander’s first birthday celebration?" the newscaster asked gently.

The camera shifted toward Charlotte before slowly zooming in on her face.

Tears glistened in her eyes. A white handkerchief rested between her trembling fingers, and her lips quivered as though she were struggling to keep herself together.

Even through the screen, she looked heartbreakingly beautiful—fragile, wounded, and utterly helpless.

For many viewers, that was enough.

Before Charlotte had even finished speaking, they had already decided who the villain was.

Isobel was branded the other woman who had destroyed a seemingly perfect relationship.

"Yes, I have," Charlotte replied.

Her voice cracked on the last word.

The newscaster leaned forward sympathetically. "It must be difficult for you. You must be hurting terribly."

Charlotte lowered her eyes. For several seconds, she said nothing, allowing the silence to speak for her.

"I would be a hypocrite if I said I wasn’t hurt," she finally whispered. "Kristoff and I have been together since our college days. We shared so many years together, and I truly believed we would spend the rest of our lives together."

She paused to dab at the tears gathering beneath her lashes.

"He promised me we would grow old together..."

Her voice faltered.

Another tear slipped down her cheek.

"But in the end, I lost to someone he had known for only a few months."

The comment section erupted.

"Charlotte deserves so much better!"

"Stay strong, Charlotte! You don’t deserve this!"

"Isobel is shameless. How could she steal another woman’s man?"

"What kind of woman gets engaged to someone else’s ex?"

The accusations against Isobel grew increasingly vicious. Some called her a vixen; others hurled even uglier insults at her.

Then a different voice emerged from the chaos.

"Why is everyone blaming the women? Kristoff was the one who made promises to Charlotte. He’s the one who broke them!"

Another netizen immediately agreed.

"Exactly! Why do women always bear the blame when a man betrays his partner?"

"Kristoff Dalton has serious moral issues. If he treats his relationships this carelessly, why should we trust him as a businessman?"

"Boycott Dalton products! A man who can’t keep his word doesn’t deserve our support!"

The tide began to turn.

What had started as a comparison between Charlotte and Isobel was rapidly becoming a full-blown smear campaign against Kristoff Dalton.

And with Charlotte’s tearful interview still playing, the damage to his reputation was only beginning.

...

The persistent ringing of his cellphone finally dragged Kristoff out of sleep.

His head throbbed from the alcohol he’d consumed the night before. He had successfully closed an important business deal, but the negotiations had dragged on until late into the night. By the time he returned home, exhaustion had completely overtaken him.

He reached for his phone without opening his eyes.

"Hello?"

"Boss! You finally answered!"

Owen’s anxious voice blasted through the speaker.

Kristoff frowned and slowly sat up. "What happened?"

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed before crossing to the window. Pulling the curtains aside, he squinted against the morning sunlight.

It was already late.

"Boss, you need to check the internet. Your proposal to Isobel yesterday has gone viral. And Charlotte is giving a livestream interview right now."

That was enough to chase away the last traces of sleep.

Kristoff put the call on speaker, grabbed the tablet from his bedside table, and opened the link Owen had sent him.

The moment Charlotte’s tear-streaked face appeared on the screen, his expression darkened.

He watched the interview in silence, his jaw tightening as she recounted their past together. Then he scrolled through the comments.

His brows drew together.

The accusations against him were bad enough. What made his expression turn icy were the vicious insults directed at Isobel.

Some strangers were calling her a homewrecker. Others were questioning her character, judging her appearance, and accusing her of seducing him for his wealth.

Kristoff’s fingers tightened around the tablet.

They could criticize him all they wanted. He had no intention of wasting his morning arguing with strangers on the internet.

But Isobel was different.

She had done nothing to deserve being dragged through the mud.

"Boss," Owen said cautiously, breaking the silence, "someone may be orchestrating this. The photographs are being circulated together, and the timing of Charlotte’s interview is suspicious. Whoever is behind this wants to damage your reputation."

Kristoff’s gaze remained fixed on the screen.

"Then deal with it."

His answer was calm, but there was a dangerous edge beneath it.

Owen hesitated. "And what about the people attacking Isobel?"

"Report every account that’s harassing or threatening her. Get the legal team involved if necessary."

"Understood."

Kristoff ended the call and looked at Charlotte’s frozen image on the tablet.

For a moment, his expression was unreadable.

Then his eyes narrowed.

If Charlotte wanted to tell her side of the story, he wouldn’t stop her.

But if someone thought they could use her tears to destroy his reputation—and drag Isobel down with him—they had made a serious mistake.

Kristoff Dalton had never been a man who allowed others to dictate the terms of a fight.

And whoever had started this storm was about to discover that he could be far more ruthless than the internet imagined.