The moment the plane touched down on the tarmac, Richard switched on his phone and began checking his messages.
He had barely finished scanning his notifications when an urgent message from his assistant caught his attention.
Boss, check this link. The news has taken the internet by storm over the past two days.
Richard frowned.
His assistant rarely sent him entertainment news, much less with such urgency. Whatever had happened, it was apparently big enough to warrant his immediate attention.
Curious, he tapped the link.
The moment the article loaded, his heart seemed to stop.
For several seconds, he simply stared at the screen, unable to process what he was seeing.
Kristoff Dalton was kneeling on one knee.
In his hand was an exquisite black velvet box, its lid open to reveal a diamond ring that glittered beneath the lights. The backdrop was unmistakably a theme for a children’s birthday party, complete with colorful decorations and balloons.
It was hardly the setting Richard would have imagined for a marriage proposal.
But the setting wasn’t what caught his attention.
It was the woman standing before Kristoff.
Isobel.
Her eyes were wide, her lips slightly parted. The photograph had captured the exact moment she realized what Kristoff was doing.
She looked shocked.
Richard stared at her face, searching for something that might reassure him.
She wasn’t smiling. She hadn’t thrown her arms around Kristoff. She hadn’t even reached for the ring.
Yet, the sight of another man kneeling before her was enough to make something inside Richard twist painfully.
He had imagined Isobel with another man before. He had even tried to prepare himself for the day she might fall in love with someone else.
But imagining it and seeing it were two entirely different things.
The photograph made the possibility brutally real.
Someone else was asking Isobel to marry him.
Someone was brave enough put a ring before her and openly declare that he wanted her for the rest of his life.
And Richard?
He was sitting inside an airplane, staring helplessly at a photograph.
"Is that Isobel?"
Grandma Sharon’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
She leaned toward him, peering at the screen. Kristal, who had been admiring the scenery through the window, immediately turned around.
Richard was seated between the two women. Kristal had insisted on taking the window seat so she could enjoy the view below, leaving him with little choice but to exchange places with her.
Now, he wished he had stayed by the window.
At least then he would have something else to look at.
"Yes, Grandma. It’s Isobel."
His voice sounded normal enough, but his grip on the phone had tightened until his knuckles turned pale.
"Isn’t that the Dalton heir?" Sharon asked, her eyes widening. "Why is he kneeling? Don’t tell me he’s proposing to Isobel!"
Richard swallowed.
"He’s definitely proposing, Grandma."
Kristal’s words tasted bitter on his tongue.
He hated how easily she had said them. He hated even more that he could recognize the sincerity in Kristoff’s expression.
The man wasn’t playing around.
Whatever else Richard thought of Kristoff Dalton, he couldn’t deny that the other man looked utterly serious about Isobel.
And that was precisely the problem.
If Kristoff had been merely toying with her, Richard could have dismissed him as another man who would eventually disappear from Isobel’s life.
But what if he wasn’t? What if Kristoff intended to stay? What if he was prepared to give Isobel everything Richard had only dared to imagine giving her?
Richard’s gaze darkened.
Beside him, Sharon’s eyes brightened with a very different emotion.
If Kristoff Dalton was proposing to Isobel, perhaps Kristal’s chances of winning his heart had just improved.
After all, if Isobel accepted the proposal, that would mean she was officially out of Richard’s reach.
And if she rejected it, perhaps she wasn’t ready to choose anyone yet.
Either way, Sharon saw a glimmer of hope for her granddaughter.
She felt a little guilty about it. Richard clearly loved Isobel, but Sharon had long suspected that Isobel regarded him as family rather than a man she might someday love as a woman.
Still, she couldn’t help hoping that things might change.
She glanced at Richard, unaware of the storm gathering behind his composed expression.
He wasn’t thinking about possibilities.
He was thinking about the diamond ring.
And about how, for all the time he had spent beside Isobel, he had never once seen her look at him as though she might want him to be the man who placed a ring on her finger.
He had never even asked.
Perhaps that was his greatest mistake.
He had spent so much time trying to remain close to her that he had forgotten closeness wasn’t the same as being chosen.
Before Sharon could say anything else, the flight attendant announced that the cabin doors had opened and passengers could disembark.
Richard put his phone away, but the image remained burned into his mind.
Kristoff on one knee. Isobel standing before him.
A diamond ring waiting for her answer.
Their departure from the airport was quick and effortless. Since they had been seated in business class, they were among the first passengers to leave the plane.
Their respective drivers were already waiting outside. Sharon and Kristal departed in one car, while Richard climbed into his own vehicle.
The moment the door closed, he took out his phone again.
He told himself he was only checking the facts.
He needed to know what had happened, nothing more.
That was what he repeated to himself as he opened the article and began reading every paragraph.
He ignored the comments and the endless speculation flooding social media. He skipped the opinions of strangers who knew nothing about Isobel, Kristoff, or the complicated circumstances surrounding their relationship.
He searched for one thing.
Had Isobel accepted the proposal?
He scrolled faster.
Then he found the answer.
She hadn’t.
Richard leaned back against the seat and released a slow breath.
For the first time since seeing the photograph, he felt as though he could breathe again.
Thank goodness the Fosters intervened.
The thought came so quickly that he almost felt ashamed of himself.
He should have been concerned about Isobel’s happiness. He should have wanted her to make the decision that was right for her, regardless of how much it hurt him.
Instead, his first reaction was gratitude that she hadn’t become another man’s fiancée.
How pathetic.
And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it.
Not when the alternative was watching Isobel slip even further away from him.
He closed his eyes briefly, allowing himself a few seconds of relief.
She hadn’t accepted.
That meant the door wasn’t completely closed.
It was a small, foolish hope, perhaps. But it was the only thing he had left to hold on to.
Then his phone vibrated.
Another notification.