The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 246

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIX_LUCIAN’S POV

Walking into the courthouse felt surreal.

Less than two weeks ago, I had been lying on the cold concrete floor of an abandoned construction site, taking what I thought would be my last breath.

Hart Sullivan’s knife had been buried in my body.

I remembered feeling the blood soaking through my clothes.

I had watched the sky disappear, and genuinely believed I would never open my eyes again.

Yet somehow… I was here.

Alive.

But every step seemed to serve as a reminder that survival came with a price.

The muscles along my left side protested with every movement. My shoulder remained strapped securely in its sling, and despite the pain medication, the bullet wound still burned beneath the bandages.

The doctors had been very clear with their instructions.

Rest. No unnecessary movement, no stress and no work.

Camilla had nearly cried when I told her I intended to come.

Even Claire…

I smiled faintly at the memory.

She hadn’t argued.

She’d simply looked at me with those impossibly expressive eyes and said,

“If you overdo it, I’ll drag you back myself.”

Of course I believed her.

Still, I needed to be here.

Not because I doubted Claire- quite the opposite.

I needed to be here because I needed to see what she’d become.

I stood outside the courtroom, listening as conversations drifted through the room-lawyers, reporters and jurors.

The familiar scent of polished wood and old paper surrounded me.

Then my gaze found her.

Claire.

She stood before the jury with effortless confidence, one hand rested lightly on the lectern while the other held a document she barely needed to glance at.

She wasn’t just reading, she was commanding.

Every question she asked Theo was measured and precise.

She never raised her voice, never rushed.

Claire enjoyed allowing silence to do what intimidation never could.

She merely waited.

A small smile tugged at my lips.

God, she was extraordinary.

I remembered the first time I brought her to Dhark Holdings. The young woman who had walked in then was very different from the one standing in this court.

She’d been so nervous she’d accidentally broken a vase.

She’d looked to me before trusting herself.

I’d watched that woman slowly disappear over the years.

Not because she’d become weaker, but because I’d convinced her she wasn’t enough.

The realization settled heavily in my chest-

Claire had never needed me to become remarkable.

She only needed someone to stop convincing her she wasn’t.

“….Mr. Collins,” Claire said calmly.

“Yes.”

“You testified that within the past year, you diverted company funds into offshore accounts.’

“Yes.”

“And those transfers totaled approximately one hundred and seventy million dollars.”

“They did.”

Claire nodded once.

“And from those funds, seventy million dollars originated from money Mr. Dhark instructed the finance department to transfer to me following our divorce proceedings.”

Theo didn’t hesitate.

“Yes.”

The word landed like another knife.

I closed my eyes briefly.

Seventy million.

I remembered that day vividly.

Claire had just lost the battle over the prenuptial agreement.

She’d walked out of my office carrying herself with dignity despite how devastated she’d been.

She’d refused to cry in front of me.

I’d watched her leave through the glass doors.

Then I’d called the finance department.

The money had never been about guilt.

It had never been charity.

Private smile.

One meant only for me.

I smiled back before I could stop myself.

It lasted perhaps two seconds.

Maybe less.

Yet somehow…

Those two seconds felt more intimate than entire conversations we’d shared years ago.

The warmth disappeared the moment I felt someone else watching me,

I didn’t need to turn immediately; I already knew.

Eva.

When I finally looked, she hadn’t taken her eyes off me.

But she looked… different.

Objectively, she was still beautiful.

Designer suit, perfectly styled hair and immaculate makeup.

Anyone seeing her from a distance would assume nothing had changed.

But distance almost always lied.

Looking more closely, one would notice something hollow behind her eyes, like a woman trying to wear confidence she’d already lost.

A year ago, I would’ve rushed to understand that expression.

Wondered whether she was hurting, and whether there was something I could do.

Now…

I searched myself for those feelings- concern, affection, guilt, anything.

Yet I found nothing.

No lingering affection, no bitterness, not even anger..

Nothing.

The absence startled me more than any emotion could have.

It wasn’t that I’d forced myself to stop caring about Eva.

Somewhere along the way… with all her lies and selfish behaviors…

I’d simply run out of feelings to give her.

I looked away then.

Not because I couldn’t bear to look at her, but because she no longer held my attention.

My eyes drifted back to Claire instead, and somehow, that felt like the truest thing I’d done in years.