Rejected Love, Contracted Life

Chapter 4

Word Count: 680 | Released on: 07/07/2025

face had gone from shocked to thunderous in a matter of seconds. H

d a low growl. "Don' t be ridicu

inding someone else was an impossibility. It was humiliating. He was trea

gh. "Oh, Ava, that' s just sad. Making up a husband? You really

n' t move. His eyes were locked on mine,

e," he

I asked,

e? If you' re married, bri

business," I said, the excuse

This is a game, Ava, and I' m not playing. You' re

uising. It was the first time he had ever touched me with anything

ng to pull away. The small crowd around

through gritted teeth, his face close to mine.

all my strength, stumbling a step.

before. "I will always be your guardian, Ava. It' s my

ising with a mix of fear and anger. "You threw me out for her! Yo

ure completely. The careful mask of the tech mogul, the benevolent

from yourself! From these... these inappropriate feelings you have! I gave you everything, Ava! A home, an educati

all these people, was devastating. The strength I had found just moments b

er in his eyes was mixed with something else, something confused and pai

placed a calming hand on his arm. "Ethan, darling,

ion wasn' t triumphant or angry anymore, just... lost. He looked like a man who had just set his own house on fire and couldn't understand why he was cho

Chapter End

Claim Your Bonus at the APP

Open

Rejected Love, Contracted Life

Qing Cha Romance

“My 22nd birthday was supposed to be perfect, the night I finally confessed my love to Ethan Vance, my guardian and the only family I had left. I found him in his study, surrounded by the familiar scent of old books and leather, but his smile vanished as I told him, "I want you, Ethan. Not as a guardian. Not as a father figure. I'm in love with you." His words, sharp and dismissive, cut me deeper than any knife: "Don't be ridiculous, Ava. You're my ward. You're a child. I raised you! To even think of me that way is... inappropriate. It's wrong." He then called in his fiancée, Brittany, a woman who seemed to glide in on a cloud of malice, and announced their engagement, telling me, "Brittany's room has the best morning light. I'm sure Ava won't mind moving to one of the guest suites." My sanctuary, my home where I poured my dreams into jewelry designs, was being given away, just like that. How could the man who promised to protect me, who cheered my every success, betray me so cruelly? Left with nothing but the echoes of his rejection, fueled by humiliation and a desperate need for escape, I pulled out my phone and texted a man I barely knew: "Mr. Hayes, is your offer for a contract marriage still on the table? I'm ready."”