The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 138

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-EIGHT CLAIRE’S POV

The door clicked shut behind Nathaniel.

And just like that, the room now felt different.

For a moment, I couldn’t move.

I just stood there with my phone in my hand, staring at the place where he had stood.

His voice seemed to linger.

“I’m done standing next to it.”

It was almost like the words stayed in the air long after he was gone.

So did the accusation.

“You’re still in love with him.”

I rejected the mere thought of that, immediately.

Absolutely ridiculous!

That wasn’t it.

… it couldn’t be.

And yet… I was still staring at the screen.

Eva’s face filled it- bruised and fragile.

Her hair was a mess. The black eye was very visible, almost intentional. The bruises were in places they couldn’t be ignored.

Carefully arranged beneath flashing lights and sympathetic headlines.

I replayed the clip.

This time, I didn’t just watch it as Claire. I watched it as a lawyer.

The first thing I did was pay close attention to Eva’s wording.

She wasn’t direct. Never direct.

Certainly wasn’t explicit about what had transpired between them.

She never actually said Lucian hit her.

Instead, she let everyone else say it for her.

A pause here, a careful look there, a tremor in her voice exactly when she needed it.

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Then the bruising.

It was too visible. For a woman of her status with so much PR training, she had made no attempt to

cover it up.

Any famous actress would do the exact opposite.

…unless they needed the attention.

My grip tightened around the phone.

If this was any other woman, I would have believed her.

But this was Eva Sterling. I, more than anyone, had experienced what she’s capable of, firsthand.

So, no.

I didn’t believe her.

Not for a second.

I didn’t trust Lucian.

Not anymore. Not after everything.

But I also didn’t believe he could have done this.

I knew what Lucian was.

And I knew what he wasn’t.

A knock sounded once, and that’s when I realized how rigid my shoulders had been set.

Then the door opened before I could loosen up, and Margot stepped in.

Her gaze moved to the screen in my hand, then to my face.

She understood immediately.

I spoke before she could. “Eva framed him!”

Margot said nothing.

“She did,” I pressed, hearing the certainty in my own voice, and hoping Margot would too. “Lucian would

never do this.”

Margot closed the door behind her, measured as always.

“I came to discuss Langford,” she said evenly.

“I know.” I said, even though my attention was still on my phone. “She planned this.”

Margot crossed the room and stopped near my desk.

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RONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY LIGHT CLAIRES POV

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“Claire.” She called, her tone so sharp I had to look up at once.

She was watching me closely now- not as a friend, not even as an employer, but as someone assessing damage.

“This isn’t simple,” she stated. “Whether it’s true or not doesn’t change what it does.”

I felt the muscles in my jaw tighten.

“To his reputation,” I said quietly.

“To everything,” Margot corrected, taking a step closer to me. “Media fallout, public pressure, corporate response.” She listed. “Investors. Boards. Market reaction.”

She didn’t need to say Dhark Holdings.

That was the center of it all.

I looked back down at the clip, playing for the third time on my phone.

“She didn’t accuse him directly.”

Margot nodded once.

“No. She implied it.”

And that was worse.

Implication was much more complicated than accusation.

Harder to sue.

Harder to disprove.

Harder to stop.

I replayed the clip again, for the fourth time.

“She knew exactly what she was doing.” I said as I watched her burst into tears, in the midst of sympathetic reporters and flashing lights.

“Yes,” Margot said.

I started pacing before I realized I was doing it.

“This will hit Dhark Holdings hard. The timing alone-” My mind was already moving ahead. “He’ll need to respond fast. If he waits too long, the narrative sets. If legal steps aren’t taken immediately-”

“Claire.” Margot called, sharper this time.

I came to a halt, stopping to face her.

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Margot’s voice was colder this time. “This is not your war.”

Silence fell hard between us.

I stared at her, but her expression remained firm.

“What should matter to you right now,” she said, placing emphasis on each word, “is Langford versus

Virex.”

I said nothing, because I knew she wasn’t exactly wrong.

Margot kept going.

“You walked into court and held your ground against Victoria Merlyn.” She said, her grey eyes locking

onto mine.

“You are building something. Something real.” A small sigh escaped her lips before she continued. Don’t lose sight of that because Lucian Dhark’s life is burning down. He’s a multi-billionaire. He has access to lawyers and all the resources he needs to handle this.”

The words landed harder than I expected.

Not because they were cruel, but because I knew they were true.

Margot stepped closer, her voice lower now, but no less firm.

“This is the time to focus on your future, Claire, not your past.”

I looked away first.

My gaze dropped back to the phone. To Eva. To the chaos she was trying to use to destroy Lucian.

“Let Lucian deal with the consequences of his actions,” Margot said. “And later-when the timing is right -we bring Eva to justice.”

For a moment, I couldn’t answer. Because she was right.

And I hated that she was right.

Silence enveloped the room again, after Margot left.

I sat down slowly, my phone still in my hand.

I knew I had to take a step back and think about what I wanted.

Professional versus personal.

Future versus past.

I didn’t need to think about which one mattered more.

I already knew.

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And that was the problem.

My thumb moved over the screen of my phone then.

The story was growing larger by the second.

New clips going viral, more outlets covering it.

Social media was worse.

The comments rolled past faster than I could read them all.

“That’s probably why his wife left him.”

“Claire dodged a bullet.”

“He always looked really mean.”

“Imagine fumbling a whole Eva Sterling.”

“Our darling Eva deserves better.”

I stared at the comments longer than I should have.

#cancelDharkHoldings was trending.

Lucian wasn’t just a person of his own- in the public eye. Lucian was an empire.

Whatever happened in his personal life was bound to affect Dhark holdings.

My thumb hovered over Lucian’s name on my contact list.

One tap was all it would take.

I could call and ask what happened. Ask if he was losing control of this the way it looked.

Ask if Eva had gone this far because of something he’d done- and what.

My finger tightened.

Then stopped.

Slowly, I locked the screen and set my phone down.

This wasn’t my fight.

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