The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 182

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-TWO_ CLAIRE’S POV

I barely slept that night.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw rain against glass ceilings and Lucian Dhark kneeling before me with

the Dhark diamond in his hands.

“It will be forever for me

God.

Even the memory felt cruel now.

By the time morning came, my head was pounding faintly and the sky outside my apartment remained grey and heavy with rain.

Lucian’s coat still rested over the chair near my bedroom door.

I stared at it for a long moment before forcing myself into the kitchen to make my coffee.

I needed the coffee and silence and at least three uninterrupted hours before dealing with another human being.

My phone buzzed against the counter before I could even pour the coffee.

Nathaniel.

Something inside me tightened immediately.

The message was brief. Professional. Very cold.

“Legal action has officially been taken against Dr. Ramon. His medical license has been revoked pending further investigation.

Effective immediately, KVEK will no longer be representing Lucian Dhark in any legal proceedings connected to Eva Sterling’s allegations.

We will also be terminating all internal investigative action moving forward.

– Nathaniel Vale.”

My jaw dropped as I stared at the screen.

I read it once.

Twice.

Then a third time.

No.

No, no, no absolutely not.

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I grabbed my coat immediately.

Because this wasn’t about the case, and we both knew it.

By the time I arrived at KVEK, my pulse was already beating too fast from the morning rush.

The moment I stepped into the lobby, I felt a shift in the atmosphere.

People looked at me strangely before quickly looking away.

Conversations stopped too abruptly.

Assistants suddenly became very interested in their tablets.

The gala had been broadcasted live. They had all seen what transpired between Lucian, Nathaniel and I.

I ignored the knots forming in my belly, and headed straight toward Nathaniel’s office.

His assistant looked mildly alarmed when I walked past without knocking.

“Claire-”

I pushed the door open anyway.

Nathaniel sat behind his desk, calm as ever, reading through a stack of documents.

Of course he was calm.

He looked up slowly when I entered.

Not surprised.

As though he had already known I would come.

“Close the door,” he said quietly.

I did.

Then I turned toward him fully.

“You dropped Lucian’s case?”

Nathaniel set his pen down carefully.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

His expression barely changed.

“I explained that in the message.”

“No,” I said sharply. “You explained what you were doing. Not why.”

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A long silence followed.

Nathaniel leaned back slightly in his chair, studying me with those unreadable dark eyes that had once

made me feel safe.

Now they only made me nervous.

“Dr. Ramon’s testimony was our strongest leverage against Eva,” I continued. “With his license revoked,

her credibility weakens considerably. We finally have momentum.”

“We had momentum,” Nathaniel corrected calmly.

I stared at him.

“You’re seriously walking away now?”

“Yes.”

Anger sparked hot beneath my ribs.

“This isn’t professional and you know it.”

One of his brows lifted slightly.

“You think this is emotional?”

“I think you’re making a mistake.”

Nathaniel was quiet for a moment.

Then he folded his hands neatly across the desk.

“I don’t believe I can represent Lucian Dhark objectively anymore.”

There it was.

Not anger.

Not accusation.

Something worse.

Controlled disappointment.

I swallowed hard.

“Nathaniel-”

“Conflicts of interest exist for a reason, Claire.”

The words landed softly.

Precisely.

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Like a knife slid carefully between ribs.

My chest tightened instantly.

“You know that better than anyone.”

God.

I looked away first.

Because suddenly I understood.

And worst of all?

Nathaniel wasn’t entirely wrong.

I hated that part.

“This has nothing to do with the case,” I said quietly.

Nathaniel’s gaze held mine steadily.

“I think it stopped being about the case a while ago.”

The room fell silent.

I hated how composed he was.

I almost wished he would yell instead.

Something about his restraint made the guilt crawl beneath my skin harder.

“You’re abandoning a client because of assumptions?” I asked finally.

“No.” His voice remained even. “I’m removing myself from a situation where professional boundaries have clearly become compromised.”

The words stung because they were careful.

Measured.

True enough to hurt.

I crossed my arms tightly.

“So that’s it?”

Nathaniel exhaled slowly.

“For now.”

For now.

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Not permanently.

Not completely.

But enough.

Enough to create distance.

Enough to wound.

I stared at him for a long moment before asking quietly,

“Is this about Lucian?”

Nathaniel finally looked at me fully then.

A long silence stretched between us.

Then he said softly,

“I think you already know what this is about.”

And somehow that hurt more than if he had simply admitted it.

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By the time I left Nathaniel’s office, my chest felt unbearably tight.

The atmosphere outside had somehow become even stranger.

People kept looking at me. Whispering.

Conversations stopped when I passed.

I almost dismissed it, but still frowned slightly as I walked toward my office.

Then Daniel Reyes appeared near the elevators, and his expression immediately made my stomach drop.

“Claire.” He called.

I stopped walking immediately.

“What?”

Daniel hesitated before handing me his tablet.

“I think you should see this.”

A chill slid down my spine instantly.

The article was published by one of the largest news networks in the country.

And judging by the engagement numbers which were climbing rapidly across the screen in real time-

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It had already gone viral.

My breath caught slightly as I stared at the headline.

“Lucian Dhark and Ex-Wife Claire Moreau Spark Reconciliation Rumors Amid Ongoing Legal Controversy”

Below it were photographs- so many photographs.

Lucian outside my apartment building late at night.

Lucian opening his car door for me.

The two of us leaving the hospital together.

One picture showed him draping his coat over my shoulders outside the building entrance.

The article itself was polished and professional.

Which made it infinitely worse.

There was no cheap tabloid language, no dramatic accusations.

Just carefully written speculation, public appearances and repeated proximity.

There were multiple paragraphs explaining the history between us, Eva’s allegations, and my involvement with one of KVEK’s founders, Nathaniel Vale, who was currently representing Lucian.

Every single thing connected neatly into one devastating narrative.

Conflict of interest.

Personal involvement.

Emotional entanglement.

I felt sick to my stomach.

My knees almost gave away.

“Oh my God,” I whispered, horrified in a way I hadn’t been in a long time.

Daniel looked uneasy beside me.

“Claire…”

But I barely heard him anymore.

Because suddenly I understood exactly what Eva had done- because I knew, beyond doubt, that this was her doing.

This had never been just about destroying Lucian.

It was about isolation. About pressure and exposure.

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She had dragged our private history into public view and weaponized it perfectly.

And Nathaniel-

God.

Nathaniel was going to see this.

If he hadn’t already.

I stared at the photograph of Lucian standing outside my apartment building in the rain.

His expression unreadable.

His eyes fixed on my window.

Not posed, not staged.

Very much real.

Intimate.

Dangerously real.

And for the first time in a very long time, I had absolutely no idea how to contain the damage.

Claire Ree Author

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