All Chapters of Rejected by a Billionaire, Desired by another.: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Ava Blackwood had never wanted the world. She had only wanted her husband. For three years, she lived inside the Blackwood mansion a palace of glass, marble, and cold echoes without ever truly belonging to it. She wore the title Mrs. Blackwood like a borrowed silk, delicate and easily taken away. She endured the silence, the distance, the nights alone, believing that patience could turn obligation into love. She was wrong. On this faithful day, the rain had been falling since dawn, relentlessly sliding down the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Blackwood Group’s top-floor office. The city below looked distant, blurred into gray shadows, as though the world itself had stepped back to watch her fall. Ava stood in front of the massive black desk. Her fingers were clenched tightly around the strap of her handbag. The leather dug into her palm, grounding her. If she let go, she feared she might collapse, she sat down like she was attending an interview. Across from her sat Etha

The night pressed against Ava like a living thing.Rain streaked down the hospital window, each drop racing the next as if trying to escape the sky. Ava watched them absently from her bed, her fingers curled tightly into the thin blanket. The room smelled of antiseptic and quiet despair, a place where truths were revealed and lives shifted without warning. She felt hollow. And full. Both at once. Her hand rested protectively over her stomach, fingers splayed as if shielding something fragile from the world. The doctor’s words replayed in her mind, over and over, each repetition sinking deeper like a blade twisting in her chest. Six weeks pregnant. Six weeks of life growing silently inside her while her marriage crumbled, while Ethan’s eyes softened for another woman, while she slept alone beside a man who no longer saw her. The irony was almost cruel enough to laugh at. Almost. Ava closed her eyes. If she focused hard enough, she could still hear Ethan’s voice from

Dual POVAvaThe pen felt heavier than it should have.Ava stared down at the contract spread across the marble table, its black ink letters blurring as her heartbeat thumped violently against her ribs. The apartment Lucien had arranged for her was pristine, but sterile clean lines, soft ambient lighting, expensive furniture. Nothing here felt like home. Nothing here smelled like comfort or life.And yet, somehow, it felt safer than anywhere she had been since the day she walked away from Ethan.Lucien stood across from her, as always impeccably composed, his dark suit pressed to perfection, expression unreadable. There was no impatience in his eyes, no subtle pressure to sign, no rush to pull her into a decision she wasn’t ready for. That calmness, that patience, somehow made the choice even harder.“This is a contract marriage,” he said evenly, almost like he was outlining a simple business deal. “Two years. Public appearances as required. No intimacy unless mutually agreed.”Ava’s

Triple POV AvaPain didn’t announce itself loudly.It crept in.A dull pressure low in her abdomen, subtle enough at first that Ava thought she was imagining it. She lay still in the dim bedroom, Florence’s early morning light barely touching the curtains, listening to the soft hum of the city outside.Something was wrong.Her breath slowed as awareness sharpened. The ache deepened, spreading like a crack beneath glass.Ava shifted carefully.The room tilted.A sudden warmth spread beneath her, unmistakable and terrifying.“No…” she whispered.Her heart slammed violently as she pushed the covers aside.Blood.Bright against white sheets.A sound tore out of her chest half sob, half prayer as panic exploded through her veins. Her hands flew to her stomach, trembling, pressing down as if sheer will could hold life in place.“Please,” she whispered desperately, tears blinding her. “Please stay.”Fear swallowed every rational thought.She staggered out of bed, legs weak, breath shallow.

Triple POV AvaThe envelope felt heavier than paper should.Ava sat at the long dining table, staring at the elegant black seal pressed into the cream-colored stationery. She already knew what it contained. Her body recognized the threat before her mind could finish catching up.Court.Ethan.The baby.Her fingers trembled as she broke the seal.The words blurred as she read legal language cold and precise, stripping her life down to clauses and rights and genetic claims. Pre-birth custody. Mandatory paternity acknowledgment. Medical disclosures.She pressed a hand to her stomach instinctively, nausea rising.“He wants access,” she whispered. “Before the baby is even born.”Lucien stood behind her, one hand braced on the chair, his presence solid and grounding.“This is not about access,” he said evenly. “It’s about control.”Her throat tightened.“What if the court sides with him?” she asked, fear threading every word. “What if they force me to”“They won’t,” Lucien interrupted gent