After Being Rejected, Owned by Two Heirs

Chapter 1: A Devastating Rejection

“Excuse me, I would like to deliver this lunch to Daniel—I mean, Mr. Daniel Moren.”

The blonde receptionist standing in the main lobby of Moren Enterprises lowered her glasses and looked the woman in front of her up and down with obvious disbelief.

The woman standing before her was around 170 centimeters tall, wearing a tight lilac dress that accentuated her extremely curvy figure, her weight nearly reaching 95 kilograms. Her hair was neatly styled, and her face was adorned with sweet makeup thanks to her mother-in-law’s help earlier that morning. However, in the eyes of the office staff who were used to seeing high-class models, this woman looked like a joke.

“Sorry, who are you? Mr. Moren does not accept random visitors, especially... women who clearly came to the wrong place like you,” the receptionist mocked, triggering restrained laughter from several employees passing through the lobby. Soon, mocking whispers began spreading through the air, turning the lobby noisy with ridicule.

“Look at her body size. Is she planning to eat everything in the cafeteria?”

“She really dares to come into this elite building looking like a bear.”

Hearing the insults that pierced her ears, Ann clenched her fists tightly. During five years of marriage, her status had always been kept secret. Today, encouraged by her mother-in-law, Anna finally tried to be brave.

Anna straightened her shoulders and stared sharply at the receptionist with confidence. “I did not come to the wrong place. And I am not just some random guest. I am Annabelle Queen, the legal wife of your CEO, Daniel Moren.”

The lobby, which had been buzzing with whispers, instantly fell silent before an even louder burst of laughter erupted.

“Wife? What kind of dream did you have last night, Miss Bear?” The receptionist laughed hysterically while holding her stomach. “Everyone in this building knows who the real future Mrs. Moren is. She just landed from France this morning. Miss Claire Stralla!”

Right after that name was spoken, the executive elevator doors chimed open. Firm footsteps echoed across the marble floor, drawing everyone’s attention. Daniel Moren walked out in his perfectly tailored black suit, unbelievably handsome yet radiating an intensely cold aura.

“What is all this commotion?” Daniel’s voice interrupted, instantly silencing the employees’ laughter.

Daniel’s eyes swept across the lobby until his gaze locked onto Anna’s curvy figure standing in the middle of the room. His jaw immediately hardened. His eyes radiated overwhelming anger and embarrassment. Why did this stupid woman dare to show herself at the office without my permission?! Daniel thought furiously.

The receptionist quickly stepped forward with a gossiping expression. “Mr. Moren, this ugly overweight woman suddenly came here. She caused a scene and claimed to be your wife! Isn’t that ridiculous?”

Anna looked at her husband with teary eyes, hoping for even the slightest defense or at least a small acknowledgment from the man she had sincerely served for the past five years. “Daniel...” she whispered softly as she held out the lunch box in her hands.

Daniel looked at the lunch box as if it were trash before shifting his gaze toward his employees with a completely emotionless expression.

“She is not my wife,” Daniel said, his voice cold and firm throughout the silent lobby. “I do not know this woman. Escort her out of my building.”

Thud.

Anna’s heart seemed to stop beating. She slowly shook her head as the tears she had been holding back finally streamed down her round cheeks. She knew Daniel did not love her, but she had never imagined her husband would cruelly destroy her dignity like this in public. Five years of devotion vanished just like disgusting dust in Daniel’s eyes.

Not long after, a slender model-like woman dressed in branded Parisian clothes walked gracefully into the lobby—Claire Stralla. She smiled triumphantly. Stepping forward, she looked at Daniel with an affectionate gaze filled with longing.

“Daniel... how have you been? Please forgive my mistakes in the past,” Claire whispered softly, deliberately loud enough for Anna to hear. “Do you... still want to accept me back?”

Instead of being angry after being betrayed and abandoned for another man in France, Daniel looked at Claire with a gaze Anna had never seen before—a look filled with love and deep longing. Without caring that Anna stood frozen just a few steps away, Daniel wrapped his arm around Claire’s slender waist and pulled her tightly into his embrace.

“I have always waited for you, Claire,” Daniel growled softly.

The next second, Daniel lowered his head and immediately captured Claire’s lips in an intensely possessive and passionate kiss right in front of all his employees. That heated kiss showed just how much Daniel had missed his ex-lover, forgetting all the heartbreak he had endured over the past five years within mere seconds.

That sight became the final blow that shattered every wall protecting Anna’s heart. The pain was so unbearable that she could barely breathe. Without caring about the lunch box that fell and spilled across the marble floor, Anna turned around and ran as fast as she could, away from the mocking laughter, away from the contemptuous stares, and away from the man who had just killed her heart.

***

Now Anna was inside an elite nightclub in a corner of Manhattan, surrounded by deafening bass music and flashing neon lights. In one dim corner of the bar, Anna sat alone with several empty glasses scattered in front of her.

“Miss, I think you have had too much to drink. This is already your sixth glass,” the bartender said worriedly as he watched the curvy woman gulp down another glass of strong liquor.

“Shut up and pour me another one!” Anna slurred hoarsely, her eyes red from too much crying and drinking.

Every time she closed her eyes, the image of Daniel embracing and kissing Claire in front of everyone replayed endlessly like a broken tape. The love she had nurtured for five years had now turned into an overwhelming mass of pain and numbness. She hated Daniel, she hated her own body, and she hated the fact that she was so weak.

“Damn you, Daniel... you never saw me! You treated me like trash!” Anna shouted in frustration, though her voice was drowned out by the pounding music of the club.

Staggering while holding her throbbing head, Anna decided to head to the restroom. The alcohol blurred her vision and made her steps unstable. Just as she turned away from the bar table, her warm, curvy body suddenly lost balance.

Bang!

Anna accidentally crashed into the broad chest of a man who had just walked past the bar area toward the VIP room. Her soft, full body lurched forward, causing her entire weight to lean completely against the stranger. The luxurious and expensive masculine scent instantly filled Anna’s drunken senses.

“Damn it!” a low and cold curse came from above Anna’s head.

The man was Ken Alexander Wright. The personal bodyguards standing behind him immediately prepared to yank Anna away roughly, knowing that their boss suffered from severe haphephobia—an extreme fear of physical touch, especially from women, which would usually trigger nausea, shortness of breath, and red rashes on his skin within seconds.

However, before his guards could touch Anna, Ken suddenly raised one hand, signaling for his men to step back.

Ken froze in place. His sharp eyes stared directly at the drunk woman now resting her head against his chest. Ken closed his eyes, preparing himself for the nausea or allergic reaction that always tormented him whenever a woman’s skin accidentally brushed against his.

One second... three seconds... five seconds...

There was no nausea. No itchy red rash. No suffocating tightness in his chest.

Instead, all Ken felt was an incredibly comforting warmth flowing from this curvy woman’s skin, spreading through his veins as though instantly healing the phobia he had suffered from for years.

Ken lowered his gaze and gripped Anna’s warm shoulders as she began losing consciousness from heavy intoxication. His breathing turned uneven, not because of an allergic reaction, but because of the strange sensation violently shaking his chest.

Damn it, who is this woman? Why am I not reacting after touching a woman?