From Widow to His World: Claimed by the CEO

Five years ago, I, Claire Parker, ran away for love with Daniel Carter, the broke boy everyone looked down on. But on the very day we were supposed to leave together, he abandoned me.

Overnight, I became the laughingstock of the entire city and was forced into a marriage alliance with a terminally ill man, Ryan Cooper.

Five years later, my husband died, the marriage alliance fell apart, and the Cooper family threw me out without a shred of mercy.

Meanwhile, Daniel, the man everyone once sneered at, returned home in glory and became the hottest rising name in the business world.

And somehow, he ended up becoming my boss.

I wanted nothing to do with him, yet he kept closing in on me, cornering me with sarcasm sharp enough to draw blood.

Then one day, Daniel caught me on a date with another man.

His eyes reddened instantly as he pinned me against the wall.

"Claire... are you abandoning me again?"

......

Daniel had me pinned against the window, one hand gripping my waist as his teeth brushed against my earlobe.

Whenever we made love, he always liked forcing me to tilt my head up and look at him.

"Weren't you the one who said you'd leave with me?" he murmured against my ear. "Then who are these tears for now?"

His kisses left my legs weak. My fingers instinctively clutched at his shirt as even my breathing fell apart.

And then, right at that moment, my phone rang.

My eyes flew open, my chest rising sharply.

The moment the call connected, a calm, professional voice came through.

"Is this Ms. Claire Parker speaking? This is City General Hospital. We're very sorry to inform you that your husband, Ryan Cooper, passed away despite emergency treatment. Please come to the hospital as soon as possible to handle the necessary arrangements."

My hand froze, and I nearly dropped my phone.

Something lodged itself in my throat. After several long seconds, I finally managed to whisper, "What?"

It took me several more seconds to remember that I even had a "husband."

Half an hour later, I stood outside Cooper Mansion.

The mansion was shrouded in mourning. Guests dressed in black moved quietly through the halls, and funeral flowers filled the entrance foyer.

Ryan was really dead?

The second I stepped inside, every person chatting in the living room turned to look at me.

A cup came flying at my face the very next second.

My mother-in-law. Patricia Cooper's shrill voice pierced through the room. "You cursed little witch! You brought death into this family!"

The cup shattered at my feet, porcelain fragments scattering everywhere.

She stormed toward me, jabbing a finger so close it nearly hit my face. "You've been married into this family for five years and couldn't even give Ryan a child! Now that he's gone, what are you even doing back here?"

The others immediately joined in, their voices growing louder and harsher one after another.

I stared at Ryan's black-and-white memorial portrait and felt nothing but irony.

While Ryan had still been alive, the Cooper family had at least bothered to maintain the illusion of decency. Now that he was dead, even that thin layer had collapsed completely.

Just then, Patricia lifted a hand, and her assistant placed a document in front of me.

"Sign it." Her tone was casual, almost indifferent. "You'll be giving up all inheritance rights."

I glanced over the papers but didn't move.

"Of course, you can refuse." She sounded fully prepared for this. "Ryan's medical bills from the past few months, his hospital expenses, and several unresolved financial issues under his name will all become your responsibility."

So that was their game.

They thought they were forcing me into a choice. But to me, there had never been a choice at all.

I had never intended to take anything from the Cooper family in the first place. There had never been love between Ryan and me, and now that this marriage had finally come to an end, all I felt was relief.

I picked up the pen and signed my name on the last page without bothering to look at the agreement again.

"You don't need to threaten me." I slid the papers back across the table, my voice perfectly calm. "I never wanted any of it anyway."

Patricia's expression faltered for a brief second.

"From this moment on, the Cooper family and I owe each other nothing."

After saying that, I didn't spare anyone another glance before turning and walking straight out.

Over the next few days, the Cooper family quickly finished handling Ryan's funeral. I only showed up when absolutely necessary. The rest of the time, I stayed busy packing up my belongings.

By the time I returned to the office, everything seemed exactly the same as before.

"You're back?" My colleague, Lily Wilson, looked visibly relieved when she saw me. "Perfect timing. There's a file that needs to go to the CEO's office, but I'm stuck here. Could you take it for me?"

Carrying the documents, I walked to the CEO's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in." A low male voice came from inside.

I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The next second, my entire body froze.

The man sitting behind the desk looked cold and distant. His features were sharper than I remembered, harder somehow, and far more unfamiliar.

Even so, I recognized him instantly.

Daniel.

The man who had promised to run away with me five years ago... and never showed up.

My fingers stayed clenched around the doorknob, so tight that my knuckles turned ashen. For a moment, I forgot to let go.

Behind the desk, Daniel slowly lifted his head.

The instant our eyes met, he visibly paused.

I looked away almost instinctively and walked over to place the documents on his desk.

"These are the documents that need your signature, Mr. Carter."

He didn't reach for them. Instead, his gaze dropped to my hand and stayed there.

Following his line of sight, I finally realized I was still wearing my wedding ring.

The past few days had been such a mess that I'd completely forgotten to take it off.

After a long silence, he finally spoke. "Leave it there."

He leaned back in his chair, yet his eyes never once left me.

I gave a quiet acknowledgment and placed the file in front of him.

He opened it, flipped through two pages casually, then let out a cold laugh before tossing the file back toward me.

"The data's a mess, the logic's all over the place, and you still thought this was good enough to bring to me for approval?"

I had checked that file carefully myself. There was no way it contained mistakes.

It was obvious he was making things difficult on purpose.

"Mr. Carter, we've already double-checked everything in this file..."

Before I could finish, Daniel cut me off and looked up at me coldly.

"Ms. Parker, is this really your attitude toward work?"

The pressure coming off him was suffocating. I took a slow breath and forced down the irritation rising in my chest.

"I'll revise it again."

With that, I picked up the documents and turned to leave.

I had barely reached the door when Daniel's mocking voice came from behind me. "Wasn't the Cooper family filthy rich? What, they still need you out here working for a paycheck?"

My breath caught sharply, bitterness and pain crashing into my chest at once.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Five years ago, he was the one who broke our promise and disappeared with another woman, leaving me waiting at the station like a complete joke all night long. And in the end, I was forced to marry the dying heir of the Cooper family.

For five entire years, I'd been trapped in a marriage without love, without warmth, without even the illusion of happiness.

All the humiliation, disappointment, and resentment had been swallowed by me alone.

And now he stood in front of me acting like the abandoned victim, mocking me for being materialistic?

In that instant, every ounce of grievance I'd buried over the past five years surged violently to the surface.

Why?

I was the one who'd been abandoned. I was the one who deserved to hate him.

A sharp sting shot through my palm. Only then did I realize my nails had dug deep enough to break the skin.

"Someone who disappeared when it mattered most and never even gave me an explanation doesn't really have the right to mock me, does he?"

At last, I said the words that had been buried in my chest for five years.

The office fell deathly silent.

Daniel sat behind the large desk, one hand still resting on the file. His expression remained distant and unreadable.

I almost laughed coldly at the sight of him.

What gave him the right to act like this?

The next second, I slapped the file down onto the desk with a heavy thud.

"The data isn't wrong." I looked straight at him, my voice turning colder with every word. "If you're only trying to make things difficult for me, Mr. Carter, then you can have someone else deliver the file next time."

The moment those words left my mouth, something in his eyes finally shifted.

But I no longer had the energy to argue with him. I picked up the file and turned to leave.

When I returned to my desk, nearly everyone in the office looked up at the same time.

My expression looked awful, and the rejected file was still in my hands. Anyone could tell something had gone wrong.

Lily had just walked out of the printing area when she spotted me and froze for a second.

"What happened to you? You look terrible. Did Mr. Carter give you a hard time?"

She hurried over, guilt written all over her face.

"This is my fault. I forgot to warn you." She glanced toward the CEO's office and lowered her voice even further. "Mr. Carter was transferred in out of nowhere. Today's his first official day, and he's already been tearing the whole department apart all morning."

I forced a faint smile.

Lily thought I was still upset about what had happened and tried to comfort me quietly. "You know how it is when a new boss takes over. They're always extra intense at first. Don't take it personally. Mr. Carter isn't singling you out." She paused before adding softly, "Besides... he really does have the ability to back it up."

I looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

"Wait, you seriously don't know?" Lily leaned closer and whispered, "Mr. Carter's insanely capable, and his standards are ridiculously high. Pretty much every project he's taken over has been a success. I heard headquarters sent him here specifically to clean up the mess in this branch."

"But," she continued, changing her tone, "even though nobody questions his ability, he's seriously intimidating. He's only been here two days, and the whole company is already scared of him."

After a pause, she added with a sigh, "Honestly, Mr. Carter's rich, handsome, and ridiculously attractive. Even if he's scary, there are still tons of girls interested in him. What a shame, though. Men like that are never single."

My grip on the file tightened slightly.

That photo from five years ago suddenly flashed through my mind.

Under dim lighting, Daniel had been lying in the same bed with another woman.

Bitterness spread quietly through my chest. Had he really ended up with that woman?

Just then, a man's voice sounded beside me.

"Claire, are you okay?"

I turned around to see Andrew Anderson from the marketing department standing beside me, holding a freshly poured cup of warm water. Concern was written plainly across his face.

"You don't look well. Are you sick?" He handed me the water. "If you're not feeling well, you should take the afternoon off. I can finish that report for you."

My thoughts were a mess, and I could only answer politely. "Thanks, but..."

"Looks like I haven't assigned enough work if you still have time to help other people."

At some point, the CEO's office door had opened. Daniel was standing there, staring directly at me.

Andrew looked awkward immediately. "Mr. Carter."

Daniel ignored him completely. His eyes stayed fixed on me, his tone unreadable. "This is a workplace, Ms. Parker, not somewhere for flirting. You need to watch your behavior."

The mocking edge in his voice instantly lit a fire in my chest.

"Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Carter," I said, staring straight at him and emphasizing every word. "But who I talk to and who I spend time with are my business."

Daniel's eyes darkened little by little.

I didn't look away from him. Instead, I continued calmly, "And my personal life has nothing to do with you anymore. You're my boss, not my guardian. Don't you think you're overstepping a little, Mr. Carter?"

The entire office area fell silent. Even the people passing by unconsciously slowed their footsteps.

Daniel's jaw tightened visibly.

For a moment, I honestly thought he was going to lose his temper right there.

But in the end, he said nothing and simply turned away.

Lily didn't dare breathe properly until he was far enough away.

"Oh my God..."

Andrew looked embarrassed too as he lowered his voice. "Did I cause trouble for you?"

"No."

I lowered my eyes to the cup in my hands and shook my head gently. But deep down, an uneasy feeling had already started creeping in.

Over the next few days, I barely left work on time.

Daniel had managed to dump every task that was not particularly important but troublesome enough squarely onto my shoulders.

Even materials that were not my responsibility kept landing in my inbox, one email after another.

Just then, my phone vibrated.

I thought it was another work message, but when I looked down, my fingers stilled.

My mother's name, Margaret Parker, was on the screen.

I stared at the incoming call for a few seconds before finally answering it.

"Hello."

There was a moment of silence on the other end before Margaret's voice came through. "Have you been... all right these past few days?"

"What do you need?" I asked.

She seemed to sigh, her voice softening. "Come have dinner with us this weekend. I've already made a reservation. It'll just be the family. We can sit down and talk properly."

I said nothing.

If she had truly cared about me, she would not have helped my father, Richard Parker, push me into the Cooper family back then.

Into that bottomless pit.

"It has hurt me all this time, seeing things turn out like this between you and the family." She paused, then added, "Your father has been thinking about you these past few days too."

After a few seconds of silence, I relented. "Send me the time and address."

She was clearly relieved.

A few seconds after the call ended, the address came through.

I glanced at it, turned my phone face down on the desk, and returned to the data on my computer.

......

The clock on the wall had already struck twelve.

I rubbed the stiffness from the back of my neck and closed my laptop, my throat dry and hoarse.

Looking around the empty office, I could not help muttering under my breath, "Petty capitalist."

"Done cursing me?"

A low voice suddenly came from somewhere nearby.

My whole body tensed, and the documents in my hands nearly slipped straight to the floor.

I snapped my head up.

The light at the end of the hallway was still on. Daniel stood there with his suit jacket draped over one arm, the top button of his shirt undone, watching me with a cool expression.

Guilt flickered through me, but I kept my face calm. "You misheard me, Mr. Carter."

He walked over slowly and stopped beside my desk.

"Did I?" he asked evenly. "Because I heard you very clearly."

I stuffed the documents into my bag. "Then you must be overworked."

Daniel's lips seemed to twitch slightly.

"You still have the energy to curse people. Looks like your workload isn't full enough."

I almost laughed from sheer irritation and looked up at him. "Are you still here this late just to hear me curse you, Mr. Carter?"

He did not answer. He only glanced at me and said, "Let's go."

I froze. "What?"

"You're getting off work." He added, "It's already this late. Were you planning to spend the night here?"

I frowned. "No need. I can get home by myself."

"Don't read too much into it." Daniel turned and walked toward the elevator. "I just don't want to hear anyone cursing me behind my back again tomorrow."

I stood there for two seconds before picking up my bag and following him.

The elevator doors slid shut, and our reflections appeared side by side in the mirrored walls.

After five years, this was the first time we had stood so close.

But our hearts had already drifted far apart.

Resentment and confusion once again crowded my mind.

Seeing him again seemed to make me hate him even more.

But feelings like that were difficult to put into words, so I chose silence instead.

Daniel kept looking at me, but in the end, he said nothing either.

"Get in." His tone was not harsh, but it left no room for argument.

I paused. "Really, there's no need. I can take a cab."

"Didn't you just call me a capitalist?" Daniel sounded impatient. "Now I'm saving you some money, and suddenly you're refusing?"

I was left speechless.

He gripped the steering wheel and stared at me without moving.

I knew his temper. After standing there for a few seconds, I opened the passenger door and got in.

As the car started, a receipt slipped out from beneath the center console.

It was from a luxury jewelry brand.

I had not meant to look at it.

But the words "custom women's jewelry set" were glaringly obvious, followed by an absurdly high price.

My fingertips stiffened. Almost instantly, I thought of the woman in that photograph.

It felt as if someone had seized my heart in a brutal grip.

So after all these years, he had not changed at all.

He could treat me with nothing but coldness, yet turn around and spend a fortune on another woman.

I looked away, unwilling to spare that receipt another glance.

Daniel did not notice anything unusual about me.

His hands stayed on the steering wheel as he asked flatly, "Address."

I opened my mouth, about to give him the familiar address.

Then I suddenly remembered that the place I lived in now was the apartment Daniel and I had rented before we broke up. My whole body stiffened.

I instinctively glanced at Daniel. Seeing that he had not noticed my reaction, I lowered my eyes and gave him a random address, feeling guilty for no reason.

"Just drop me off there."