Claimed by the Rejected Author

Rain tapped against the café window as I stared at the blinking cursor on my laptop. One sentence. That was all I had managed to write in the last hour. Funny. The girl who dreamed of becoming a bestselling romance author couldn't even finish a single paragraph about love. Maybe because I no longer believed in it. I wrapped both hands around my mug, letting the warmth seep into my cold fingers. Outside, couples hurried through the rain beneath shared umbrellas, laughing as though the world belonged to them. Once, I had imagined that kind of future. With him. Ethan Blackwood. The man who had taught me that promises could sound beautiful right before they broke you. My phone buzzed. Maya: Stop hiding in that café. Your manuscript is due next week. I sighed. She wasn't wrong. My publisher had been waiting months for my latest novel, but every time I tried to write a happy ending, my memories got in the way. Because happy endings weren't real. Not for girls like me. Not after the night Ethan looked into my eyes and said, "You'll never be enough for the life I want." Those words still echoed through my mind two years later. I closed my laptop with more force than necessary. Maybe I needed fresh air. Or maybe I needed to stop letting a man who had already forgotten me continue living rent-free in my head. As I stepped outside, the rain had softened into a drizzle. I pulled my coat tighter and started walking without a destination. Then I saw him. Across the street. Tall. Dark-haired. Perfectly tailored suit. My heart stopped. It couldn't be... Ethan. He was laughing with a stunning woman whose hand rested comfortably on his arm. He looked... happy. Like the years hadn't touched him. Like breaking my heart had cost him nothing. Before I could turn away, his eyes met mine. For a split second, surprise flashed across his face. Then recognition. My pulse thundered in my ears. I didn't wait to see what he would do. I turned and walked as fast as I could, ignoring the sound of someone calling my name through the rain. Because some stories deserved to stay unfinished. Even if fate had other plans. "Elena!" His voice chased me through the rain. I didn't stop. The sound of polished shoes striking the pavement grew louder until a hand gently caught my wrist. I froze. Slowly, I turned. Ethan Blackwood stood inches away, his chest rising with uneven breaths. Tiny droplets of rain clung to his dark hair, but it was his eyes that unsettled me most. They searched my face as if he were trying to solve a mystery. "I can't believe it's really you," he said quietly. I slipped my wrist from his grasp. "You found the wrong person." His brows knitted together. "No. I'd recognize you anywhere." A bitter laugh escaped my lips. "That's interesting. You didn't seem to recognize my worth two years ago." The words landed between us like shattered glass. His jaw tightened. "I deserve that." "You deserve much worse." Silence settled over us, broken only by the steady rhythm of the rain. "I've been looking for you," he admitted. I stared at him in disbelief. "For what? To reject me twice?" His expression faltered. "I made a mistake." "A mistake?" My voice rose despite myself. "You didn't misplace your keys, Ethan. You broke my heart and walked away." People passing by slowed to glance at us before continuing down the street. For the first time since seeing him, I noticed the woman from earlier standing across the road. She watched us with narrowed eyes before climbing into a sleek black car that disappeared into traffic. "So," I said coldly, "your girlfriend is waiting." Ethan looked over his shoulder. "She's not my girlfriend." "I don't care who she is." That was the truth—or at least the version I wanted to believe. He stepped closer. "You disappeared." "I survived." "I searched for months." "Too late." Every apology he offered felt years too late. I had spent countless nights crying over a man who had never looked back. Not once. Until now. My phone rang, breaking the tension. Maya. I answered immediately. "Please tell me you're almost home," she said. "Your editor just emailed. They loved the sample chapters and want to meet the mysterious author in person tomorrow." A smile tugged at my lips despite everything. "I'll be there." "You'd better. This meeting could change everything." "It will." I ended the call. Ethan's eyes lingered on me. "Author?" I tucked my phone into my coat pocket. "Goodbye, Ethan." Before he could ask another question, I crossed the street and hailed a taxi. As the car pulled away, I caught one last glimpse of him standing alone in the rain. He looked like a man haunted by ghosts. He had no idea that the woman he once rejected had become the bestselling novelist the entire country was obsessed with. And tomorrow... The truth would begin to unravel. The taxi pulled into the driveway of my apartment building just as the rain came down harder. I paid the driver, stepped out, and hurried inside, grateful to leave both the storm and Ethan behind. Or so I thought. The moment I closed my apartment door, I leaned against it and released a shaky breath. "Get yourself together, Elena," I whispered. Seeing him shouldn't have affected me. Not anymore. Yet my heart still ached with memories I'd spent two years trying to bury. My phone buzzed again. This time, it was an email from my publisher. Subject: Tomorrow's Meeting Confirmed. I opened it. "Congratulations once again on the success of your latest novel. The film producers and several international publishers will also attend tomorrow's event. We'd like you to finally reveal yourself as the woman behind the bestselling pen name, E. Vale." I stared at the screen. Tomorrow. The secret I'd guarded for years would no longer be mine alone. Millions of readers knew my stories. No one knew my face. I had hidden behind the name E. Vale because Elena Hart had been the girl Ethan rejected. But E. Vale? She was untouchable. A knock sounded at the door. Maya burst in moments later with two cartons of ice cream and an oversized grin. "I brought emergency supplies." I laughed for the first time that day. "You always know." She placed the desserts on the kitchen counter before studying my face. "You saw him, didn't you?" I didn't answer. I didn't have to. Her smile faded. "Ethan?" I nodded. She sighed heavily. "I was hoping you'd never have to see that man again." "So was I." "What did he want?" "He said he'd been looking for me." Maya rolled her eyes. "Typical." "He apologized." "And?" "I walked away." She reached over and squeezed my hand. "I'm proud of you." I smiled faintly. "I don't know if I was walking away from him... or from the girl I used to be." That night, sleep refused to come. Instead, I stood by my bedroom window, watching the city lights shimmer beneath the fading rain. Tomorrow would change everything. Not because the world would finally know who I was. But because Ethan Blackwood would discover that the woman he once said would never amount to anything had become the author whose books sat on every bestseller list. He had rejected Elena. But he had spent the last year praising E. Vale in interviews, calling her stories "masterpieces." The irony almost made me laugh. Almost. Across the city, Ethan stood in his office, unable to stop thinking about the woman he'd seen in the rain. His assistant stepped inside with a file. "Sir, tomorrow's guest list for the literary gala." Ethan barely looked up. "Anything important?" "The identity of the famous author E. Vale will finally be revealed." That caught his attention. He had admired E. Vale's novels for years. Something about the emotions in those pages had always felt... familiar. He picked up the invitation and smiled. "I wouldn't miss it." Neither of them knew it yet. But tomorrow wasn't just a book launch. It was the beginning of a story neither of them could control.