The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 268

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to convince myself that two weeks wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

But it was difficult to believe.

Every time I looked at the calendar, I saw the same thing.

Fourteen days.

Fourteen days for Eva’s lawyers to prepare.

Fourteen days for Hart Sullivan to decide whether he was really going to testify— and whom he would testify for.

Fourteen days for Eva to find another way to manipulate him.

I hated how much power that woman still seemed to have over everyone around her.

The thought of her manipulating Hart brought back old, ugly memories from my last days in the Dhark mansion.

By the time I left the office, I had developed a slight headache.

It got worse while I drove to the hospital.

I needed to see Lucian.

Maybe it was immature , but every time I saw him, the chaos in my head seemed to quiet down.

I stopped in my tracks when I walked into his room.

He was sitting upright— actually sitting.

Today, he wasn’t slumped against a mountain of pillows.

His hair was slightly messy, and he was reading something on his tablet.

He looked… well, almost normal.

He glanced up when he heard me enter, and a slow smile spread across his face.

“There you are.”

I smiled back, helplessly. “I’m here.”

“You look exhausted.” He remarked, looking me over.

I placed a hand on my hip. “I am exhausted.”

“Did you get any sleep?”

I gave him a look.

He burst into laughter. “That was a stupid question.” He admitted.

I noticed that his laughter was stronger than it had been a few days ago.

I walked toward him and placed my handbag on the chair.

“You look much better today.”

“I feel better.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you are better.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you quoting my doctors now?”

“No. I’m quoting common sense.”

He smiled.

I sat beside him.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

I simply looked at him.

The bruising had faded considerably.

His face had regained most of its color.

The stitches were still there, and his movements remained careful, but the man in front of me no longer looked like someone who had almost died.

He looked like Lucian again.

And somehow, that still felt miraculous.

“How was your day?” he asked.

“Long.”

“Court?”

“Not today.”

He frowned.

“Then what?”

“The firm.”

He waited.

I sighed.

“Margot went to see Hart yesterday.”

His expression changed immediately.

The warmth disappeared from his eyes.

“What happened?”

I hesitated.

Then I told him.

Everything.

Hart’s attack.

The phone.

The messages.

The court’s decision to grant the defense two weeks.

Lucian listened without interrupting.

When I finished, he was silent.

Too silent.

“What?”

He looked at me.

“I don’t trust him.”

“I know.”

“No, Claire.”

His voice was firmer.

“I really don’t trust him.”

I sighed.

“Margot thinks the phone is an act of good faith.”

“And you?”

I looked down.

“I don’t know.”

That was the truth.

I didn’t know.

Part of me wanted to believe Hart had finally reached his breaking point.

Another part of me remembered what he’d done.

To Lucian.

To Margot.

To everyone.

Lucian shifted carefully against his pillows.

“Think about it.”

“I am.”

“Eva spent months pretending she was pregnant.”

I looked at him.

“She lied about the pregnancy. Then she lied about losing the baby. She convinced the entire world that I was some heartless husband who had abandoned his grieving wife.”

His jaw tightened.

“She destroyed my reputation because she needed to control the narrative.”

I nodded.

“She is capable of planning something like this.”

“You think the phone is fake?”

“I don’t know.”

He paused.

“But I know Eva.”

He looked toward the window.

“She doesn’t improvise when she can manipulate someone else into doing the work for her.”

I remembered Hart’s messages.

His devotion.

His willingness to do whatever Eva asked.

Lucian continued.

“Hart has already tried to kill me twice.”

My chest tightened.

“He shot me.”

His fingers brushed against his side unconsciously.

“He stabbed me.”

His eyes met mine.

“And I have the scars to prove both.”

I didn’t say anything.

“He wasn’t acting alone emotionally,” Lucian continued. “He was acting because Eva gave him a reason to.”

“That doesn’t mean he can’t change.”

“No.”

His voice softened.

“But it means you shouldn’t assume he has.”

I looked down at my hands.

Lucian reached for one of them.

I let him take it.

“And Margot?”

His expression darkened.

“She is sitting in a wheelchair because of that man.”

I swallowed.

“She nearly died.”

“I know.”

“Claire, you nearly died too.”

“I know.”

His thumb moved slowly over the back of my hand.

“I can’t watch you trust someone who has already proven what he’s capable of.”

I looked into his eyes.

He wasn’t being controlling.

He was scared.

And I understood why.

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