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The Fat Girl the Don Discarded Was the Sole Heiress
Novelix
new
Completed
For five years, plus-size Claire devoted herself to Don Adrian Moretti, helping stabilize his family’s legitimate empire while believing his quiet care was love. Then she discovers he has been giving his trusted deputy, Lily, the attention he denied her—and even let Lily alter Claire’s late mother’s heirloom gown. On their engagement day, Claire overhears the truth: Adrian only wants her because she is the sole Callahan heiress. She cancels the wedding, claims her family name, and builds FreeFit with Callahan backing and her own relentless will. Too late, the Don learns the woman he discarded was irreplaceable forever.
Chapters (3)
第1章
On our fifth anniversary, my fiancé, Don Adrian Moretti, handed me his phone and said, "Buy whatever catches your eye today. It's on me."
I pulled up a coat I'd been eyeing for a while and tapped into the virtual try-on page, ready to enter my measurements. But the screen loaded a model profile that had already been saved.
Five foot seven. A hundred and five pounds. Narrow waist, long legs.
Not me. Not five foot four, a hundred and eighty pounds, plus-size me.
I opened the try-on history.
Floral sundresses for summer. Cashmere coats for winter. Every outfit styled down to the last detail. Bright and playful, elegant vintage, black-tie evening. Each one tagged with a different label.
Just half an hour ago, Adrian had used this same model to try on an expensive red gown.
The shipping address was Lily Hart's apartment in Northbridge. His most trusted deputy.
I suddenly remembered asking him a few days earlier, "What size should I get in that coat?"
He hadn't even looked up. "Go a size up. Looser is more comfortable. Hides things better, too."
At the time, I thought he was being considerate.
It turned out he wasn't too lazy to bother with shopping.
He just couldn't be bothered to spend the effort on me.
Adrian came out of the kitchen carrying a glass of warm water, stood behind me, and kneaded the tension from my neck and shoulders.
"Find something you like?"
I pressed the screen dark and handed the phone back.
"All done."
Adrian took it without so much as glancing at what I'd ordered, then left for the Moretti family office.
The next day, the suitcase arrived.
A black hard-shell case stood in the entryway, nearly as high as my waist. I dragged it into the master bedroom and opened the closet.
Adrian's bespoke suit hung dead center.
Next to it was a beige fitted trench coat, narrow through the shoulders, cinched clean at the waist. Obviously not my size.
Inside the collar, a line of hand-stitched monogram: L.H.
Lily Hart.
My clothes had been shoved to the very back. A few blouses and skirts I wore regularly were creased from being crushed together. The oversized jackets I'd bought to cover my midsection sat crumpled in the corner.
But that trench coat hung flush against Adrian's suit, its hem falling in a smooth, perfect line.
It looked more like the lady of the house's wardrobe than mine ever did.
Clipped to the bottom of the hanger was a dry-cleaning receipt. Adrian's name was listed as the client. The note read: Delicate fabric, gentle hand wash only.
As for my coats, all he'd ever said was, "Just throw it in the machine. You dress casual anyway."
The phone screen lit up with a video call.
Adrian sat in his office, tie loosened.
"Why aren't you wearing your glasses? Another headache?"
His expression was concerned, his tone practiced.
"The pills are in the second drawer of the nightstand. Take them and get some sleep. I'll come pick you up tonight."
Before his last word faded, a transfer notification for fifty thousand popped up at the top of the screen.
"Moretti Group has a celebration dinner tonight. Pick out some nice jewelry. Something classy, something that does your fiancé proud."
He said it gently, then added what sounded like an afterthought: "But don't go too flashy with the outfit. Keep it simple."
I stood there holding that dry-cleaning receipt. I didn't answer.
Adrian smiled.
"Tonight there'll be some new faces from other families, and Lily's going to be nervous."
"You just standing there, the presence you carry is already a lot. If you dress too formal on top of that, she won't dare open her mouth."
"Be good. Give her a little room to shine."
From off-camera came Lily's soft voice.
"Boss, the gown arrived, but the waist is a little big."
Adrian turned his head, patient.
"Don't take the tags off yet. I'm having the brand send over the next size down. Try them both."
Then he turned back to me.
"Be good. I'll pick you up tonight."
I didn't feel like talking. I just nodded.
Adrian's expression relaxed.
"That's what I love about you. You're sensible. You never put me in a difficult position."
After the call ended, I sent the fifty thousand back.
In my inbox, the transfer letter from South Coast Headquarters still sat at the top.
Two years ago, they'd first extended the invitation. Adrian told me he'd just gotten a stable grip on the Moretti family's affairs, and the legitimate side of the business couldn't function without me handling it.
Last year, when they reached out a second time, he held me and promised, "After the wedding, I'll transfer there with you."
This time, I clicked "Accept" without a moment's hesitation.
The reply came quickly:
"Claire, welcome to South Coast Headquarters. Please report in five days."
Five days from now would be the day of my engagement party with Don Adrian Moretti.
I turned off the screen, reached into the closet, and took down my wrinkled plus-size clothes one by one, packing them into the suitcase.
第2章
At the celebration dinner, I wore a plain white knit dress.
The safest thing in my closet.
It didn't show my waist, didn't bare my arms, and wouldn't make Adrian frown on the way out the door and say, "Doesn't that one make you look a little heavy?"
Adrian glanced at me and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.
"Clean and simple like this. You look lovely."
His hand lingered on the back of my neck, warm and steady.
"After the engagement, whatever you want to buy, I'll go shopping with you. We'll take our time."
Before the words had fully landed, a low murmur rippled through the banquet hall doors.
Lily walked in.
A bold red gown. A wide sweep of pale skin exposed along her back. The waistline pulled impossibly tight.
Exactly the effect from the virtual fitting room.
Family members and company executives erupted in admiration.
"Lily looks absolutely stunning tonight!"
"Don Adrian has incredible taste. Did Boss pick this dress for you?"
Lily flushed, her gaze darting nervously to me.
"Claire, please don't take it the wrong way. Boss just helped me with some suggestions. I'm really hopeless at putting outfits together."
Adrian pulled out the main seat beside him and gestured for me to sit. His expression was perfectly composed.
"She's young. It's my job to look after her a bit."
He took my hand and laced his fingers through mine beneath the table.
Several senior members of the Moretti family passed by, inclining their heads to Adrian, then offering me a nod as well.
"Ms. Claire."
Their tone was courteous, almost cautious.
I assumed it was simply out of respect for Adrian.
The waiter brought out fish soup.
Adrian picked every bone clean for me, then let the broth cool to a comfortable warmth before pushing it in front of me.
"Have a few sips first. It'll settle your stomach. Yours has been weak lately. Stay away from anything cold."
Lily lifted her glass of red wine, about to toast one of the investors.
Adrian didn't even look up. His hand shot out and pressed down on the rim of her glass.
"You haven't finished your antibiotics. What are you doing drinking?"
He called the waiter over and had it swapped for juice, adding, "Room temperature. No ice. She has a sensitive stomach."
Lily murmured playfully, "I forgot all about it myself. How does Boss even remember when I take my medication?"
"I'm the one who signed your sick leave. It stuck, that's all."
His answer was strictly professional, but beneath the table, the grip on my hand had loosened by a fraction.
He could never quite keep track of how often my stomach flared up, yet he remembered his deputy's prescription schedule down to the day.
Someone nearby laughed and smoothed things over. "Don Adrian really does treat Claire like gold. Model fiancé."
Adrian's lips curved slightly. His thumb traced a slow circle over my knuckle.
"She's my fiancée. Of course I take care of her."
He said it like the most natural thing in the world.
I laughed to myself. Cold, silent laughter.
Halfway through the banquet, the air conditioning was running a little too hard.
Lily shrank her shoulders against the chill.
Adrian was mid-conversation about a financing deal, but his peripheral vision caught her movement first. He shrugged off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
"Don't catch cold."
Lily pulled the lapels close, her eyes curving into a smile.
"Thank you, Boss. You're as thoughtful as a big brother. Claire is so lucky."
Only then did Adrian notice my hands were freezing.
He frowned, grabbed the coat draped over the chair behind him, and spread it across my lap. Then he tucked my hands into his pocket.
"Lily just had her appendix out. She gets cold easily."
"You're tougher. Let her have it for now. I'll make you ginger tea when we get home."
He called the waiter over and asked for a clean shawl, tucking it carefully around my waist.
"Warmer now?"
I didn't answer.
The suit jacket he'd put on Lily's shoulders was the one I'd dragged him through four different shops to find.
I pulled my hand free, slowly.
Adrian looked down at me, smiling, and flicked the tip of my nose.
"Are you actually jealous? Like a little kid?"
"It's her first time at an event like this as my deputy. I have to look after her a bit. Be good. Don't make a scene."
When the banquet ended, Adrian crouched in the underground parking garage and wrapped his hand around my ankle, easing off the heels that had rubbed my feet raw.
He pressed his fingertip against the reddened skin on my heel, his voice low and coaxing. "Wear flats to the engagement party. If you get tired, I'll carry you the whole way."
But when he stood up, he reached for the passenger door and let Lily slide in.
Then he turned back to me and ruffled my hair.
"Lily lives far away. It's not safe for her to go home alone. I'll drop her off."
"Claire, the back seat is roomier. Lean back and get some sleep."
I got in the back without a word.
The air freshener clipped to the passenger vent was the rose scent Lily liked.
第3章
Two days before the engagement party, Moretti Group organized a stargazing trip to the mountaintop.
The route was one I'd planned myself, staying up late last month to put together a two-person anniversary itinerary.
At the time, Adrian hadn't even glanced at it before closing the tablet.
"Stargazing takes too long. I've got investors to meet soon. Be good. I'll make it up to you when things slow down."
Now Lily mentioned she wanted to see shooting stars, and he'd cleared two full days.
Before departure, admin circulated an outdoor gear registration form.
Lily's column was filled out in meticulous detail.
Height, shoe size, allergy medications. Even "afraid of the dark" was noted separately.
My gear notes had two words.
Plus size.
Admin asked if I wanted to be remeasured.
Adrian answered offhandedly from nearby. "No need. She's not picky about clothes. Loose is more comfortable."
The family driver handling security glanced at me and asked quietly, "Don, should we arrange escort detail at Callahan level?"
Adrian's expression cooled for a split second.
"No. Today's just team building. Don't make it bigger than it needs to be."
I didn't understand what that meant. I assumed it was some internal security code.
Late that night, the wind picked up on the summit and the temperature plummeted.
I was wearing nothing but a thin knit top, shivering uncontrollably.
Adrian opened the trunk and pulled out a windbreaker.
The tag clearly read: size small.
Lily was trembling in the cold.
Adrian unfolded the jacket, helped her into it, and zipped it all the way to her chin.
"It's windy up here. What are you trying to prove?"
Lily looked up at him, her lashes quivering.
"Boss, I thought this jacket was for Claire..."
"She has me."
Adrian walked back, wrapped his arms around me from behind. He opened his coat wide and folded me inside it, resting his chin on the top of my head.
"With someone my size holding you, isn't that warmer than any jacket?"
The people around us whistled and cheered.
His embrace was scorching. My heart went cold, inch by inch.
Half an hour later, heading back down the mountain, Lily's heels had torn the skin on her feet.
She gripped the railing, her eyes rimmed red with pain.
Adrian stopped.
"Don't move."
He took my bag, unzipped the inner pocket, and pulled out a box of hydrocolloid blister patches.
Those were custom-shaped patches I'd had a friend bring back from overseas, made specifically for my ankle bone structure.
Adrian had once studied the packaging for a long time.
"I've got this brand memorized. Tell me whenever you run out."
Now he was crouching in front of Lily, peeling off the last one.
He smoothed the adhesive edge with his fingertip, patient and careful.
"Try standing up. Don't rush it."
Lily steadied herself on his shoulder and thanked him softly.
My first year on the job, I wore heels to meet clients and came home with blood all over my heels.
Adrian had crouched on the sidewalk just like that, sticking bandages on my feet.
That day, he carried my shoes in one hand and me on his back for three kilometers.
When Adrian stood up, I had already looked away.
He reached for my arm.
"The steps ahead are steep. Hold on to me."
I stepped aside.
"I'm fine. I can walk myself."
His brow creased.
Lily winced again.
Adrian instinctively steadied her.
I kept walking down the steps.
A dozen meters later, Adrian caught up and draped his scarf over my shoulders.
"Throwing a tantrum again? It was one blister patch. Is it really worth all this?"
"Anything money can buy, and you have to make it a thing?"
Up ahead, someone called out to warn Lily about the wet ground.
Adrian's eyes tracked over immediately.
I passed him and didn't stop until I reached the bottom.
At the parking lot, he told the driver to take Lily to the hospital first to get her foot treated, then handed me his car keys.
"Drive yourself home. I'll come back after she's checked out."
He gave me the car. He gave her his company.
He didn't look back. Not once.
