Between Duty And Desire

Chapter 2

Kyle

I was five minutes late, to a meeting and this wasn’t just any meeting, it was with the owner of a property I had chased for two years.

Investors had begged him to sell, offering ridiculous sums, and he ignored them all. Only after seeing my development proposal did he finally agree to meet me. This was supposed to be my victory, i don’t plan to ruin it with my lateness.

I was running through the entrance of a restaurant like an amateur, the moment I pushed the door open, someone slammed into me. Papers nearly slipped from my hand, irritation flared through me instantly.

“Why do people have eyes if they don’t use them? Are you blind?” I snapped, brushing down my suit.

The woman gasped, her voice soft but rushed. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you, so sorry.”

I finally looked at her, she was beautiful. Not painted up beauty like most women who orbit my world, but raw, striking, natural. Her kind of beauty didn’t need effort.

But I knew her type, women like her pretended accidents just to get noticed. She must have heard I would be coming here today, what better way to catch my attention than bumping into me at the entrance? Pathetic.

“Clumsy and dumb,” I muttered, brushing past her.

Inside, Martha, my secretary, was waiting, but the table was empty. “Where is he?” I demanded.

She immediately called, after a short exchange, she hung up, her eyes hesitant. “Sir… Mr Wes said his wife has a fever, they won’t make it.”

My fists tightened, a wasted trip. He could have called earlier instead of letting me race here like a fool.

I was about to leave when a commotion drew my eyes to the entrance.

A woman in a green dress walked in, clutching the arm of a man desperately, the way she leaned into him as though clinging to his money rather than his presence.

At a corner table, a little girl was eating with a man, the moment the child spotted the woman, her whole face lit up. She jumped from her chair and ran across the restaurant.

“Mummy!” she cried, her tiny hands reaching out.

The woman in green dress stiffened, she glanced at her companion, then quickly shoved the little girl away.

The child’s smile collapsed into tears, she clung again, sobbing, confused.

Her father rose at once, fury sharp in his voice. He stormed toward them, demanding how she could deny her own daughter like that. The man the woman had arrived with shifted uncomfortably, clearly embarrassed by the scene.

Security intervened, trying to calm things down. In the end, they escorted the father and child out, the little girl still crying in his arms. The woman stayed behind, fixing her hair, pretending none of it mattered as she clung tighter to her companion.

Pathetic.

A mother throwing her child away to keep a man by her side, humiliating her child like that in public. And a father forced to carry the weight of it all.

I shook my head, woman never failed to prove me right. They sell loyalty for comfort, they choose greed over love. And that poor girl would carry the scar of rejection for life.

It reminded me why I had made my decision years ago. I would never let a woman into my life again. No matter how much my parents pressured me, no matter how many friends reminded me of my age, marriage was not for me.

Now that I want a child, I would have one my way, through surrogacy.

The hospital was still searching for the right candidate. Not because there weren’t healthy women available, plenty passed the medical requirements. But I wanted more, beauty mattered a lot to me. I wanted my child to inherit the best traits possible.

And as my mind wandered back, I remembered the woman I’d bumped into earlier, her beauty was real and effortless. Exactly what I’d been searching for, if only I had paused long enough to get her contact.

When I stepped outside, fate offered me another chance.

She was there, woman in the red dress but now she she was alone, I see the car she was supposed to drive speed off , leaving her Confused. She stood stranded, as though she didn’t know which way to turn.

I smiled to myself, “Martha,” I said quietly. “You brought your car, right, I will ride with you. Go ahead, I’ll join you shortly.”

She blinked at me in confusion but nodded and walked away.

I slid into my own car where my driver, Vincent, waited. “Do you see that woman in the red dress?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Offer her a ride and if she refuses, follow discreetly. I want to know where she lives, do not lose her.”

“Yes, Mr Dwayne.”

Satisfied, I got into Martha’s car.

All my life, I have chased the best of everything. While my twin brother wasted his years on parties and reckless living, I buried myself in books, building discipline. My family’s wealth could have carried me easily into our business empire, but I wanted more. I wanted something that was mine, so I worked harder, invested smarter, and sacrificed until the world finally noticed me, Kyle Dwayne, one of the youngest billionaires alive.

When I wanted love, I pursued the most beautiful and unattainable girl in school. Everyone wanted her, but I loved the challenge, so I gave her everything, gifts, devotion, my heart. Winning her felt like victory, until the day she humiliated me. She left me standing at the altar, abandoned in front of family, friends, and business associates. Overnight, I became a joke on the internet but that was eight years ago. The betrayal turned me into the man I am today, cold and unloving.

To prove I wasn’t a fool, I made sure no woman ever got that close again. I dated only the most desired, models, actresses, singers, even escorts. Never with attachment, I built an image, and no one dared laugh again.

Now, all I want is a child, One I can raise with love and discipline, without betrayal, without rejection. Just me and my heir.

For that, I need a surrogate, a woman with the right beauty, who will carry my child, sign away every right, and leave quietly. No strings, no drama.

My phone buzzed, Vincent’s name appeared.

“Sir,” he said. “I’ve got her.”

I leaned back in my seat, a slow smile tugging at my lips.

Because in my world, no matter the game, no matter the players I always win.