The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 78

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT CLAIRE’S POV

I woke up to total silence.

Not the kind of silence that came with tension or restraint. Not the quiet that meant something was

waiting to happen.

Just… silence.

For a moment, I didn’t move.

The ceiling above me was unfamiliar. The room, too- neutral tones and clean lines. Nothing personal.

Nothing that carried history or legacies.

It was a hotel room.

It took a second for everything to settle into place.

The court, the ruling, packing a few things from the Dhark mansion and saying goodbye to Camilla.

The end.

I exhaled slowly and pushed my body up against the pillows.

There was no schedule waiting for me.

No hearing to prepare for.

No expectations suffocating me the second I opened my eyes.

For the first time in a long time, there was nothing I was required to do today.

The thought didn’t feel freeing- at least not immediately.

It felt… unfamiliar.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood, moving toward the window.

The city below was already awake, moving forward like nothing had changed.

Maybe for it, nothing had changed.

But for me- everything had.

By the time I made it downstairs, I had already decided one thing:

I wasn’t going to stay in that room longer than necessary, like I had in my marriage to Lucian.

The front desk clerk smiled politely as I approached.

“Good morning, Mrs. Dhark.” She greeted automatically. Unthinkingly.

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་།།། ་་། CLAIRES POV

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I paused for just a second, then met her gaze.

“Claire is fine.”

I wasn’t rude, but the words came out easily.

No hesitation, no weight.

Her smile flickered slightly before she corrected herself. “Of course. Ms.-Claire.” 1

I nodded once, but something about it settled deeper than I expected.

When I went back upstairs, I picked up my phone.

The screen lit up immediately with notifications.

I noticed immediately how different the tone was now.

Quieter and less aggressive.

I scrolled.

Headlines had begun to change.

Not entirely, but enough.

“Billionaire CEO Lucian Dhark wins legal battle against wife.”

“The law is the law: Claire Dhark to receive just one million after the collapse of five years marriage to

Dhark”

I opened a comment thread next, against my best judgement.

“One million after five years of being married to a multi-billionaire???”

“Didn’t he also cheat on her? This feels unfair…”

“Are we supposed to feel bad for her? It’s not like she was part of the company anyways.”

I locked my screen after reading enough.

They weren’t defending me.

But weren’t condemning me either.

They just seemed… uncertain.

And somehow, that felt more honest than anything that had come before.

I set the phone down.

The world hadn’t decided what I was anymore.

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And for now, that was enough.

Sinclair & Co felt the same as it always did when I arrived.

Glass walls, open desks. The quiet hum of work and productivity.

But the moment I stepped inside, I felt a shift in the atmosphere.

People looked at me.

Not openly, not rudely.

But they looked.

And when I met their gaze, they looked away just a second too late.

But no one said anything- no one needed to.

I moved to my desk and sat down, setting my bag beside me.

I was in the same space I had worked in, every other day. But today, I felt like a different person. 1

And today, I wasn’t trying to prove anything.

Nathaniel arrived mid-afternoon. He walked in as if he had always belonged in that space.

As if nothing outside had shifted at all.

His gaze found me immediately. 1

Took in everything.

Not critically.

Just… observing.

“So,” he said, stepping further in, “what does life look like now?”

I leaned back slightly in my

chair.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

A faint shift in his expression.

“That’s new.”

I let out a quiet breath, the edge of something almost like humor touching my voice.

“Terrifying, actually.”

He didn’t smile.

But something in his gaze softened.

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NTV 1x CLAIRE SPOV

“You’re not tied to anything anymore.”

“I know.”

The words felt strange.

True.

But still settling.

A brief pause.

Then-

“That means you get to choose everything.”

I held his gaze.

That landed.

Not heavily.

Not overwhelmingly.

Just… clearly.

Freedom.

Possibility.

Responsibility.

All of it at once.

I looked away first, back to the file on my desk, grounding myself in something familiar.

Nathaniel didn’t push.

Didn’t fill the silence.

He just stayed.

Present.

“You look tired,” he said after a moment.

“I’m fine.”

He didn’t argue.

Didn’t press.

But he didn’t fully accept it either.

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“Fine isn’t the same thing as okay.”

I didn’t respond to that.

Didn’t need to.

Because he wasn’t asking for an answer.

After he left, the office felt quieter again.

Not empty.

Just… still.

I glanced down at the document in front of me, but my focus shifted somewhere else.

Unbidden.

Lucian’s voice.

Low.

Controlled.

That doesn’t make it right.

I closed my eyes briefly.

Not to hold onto it.

Just to acknowledge it.

That part of my life had existed.

It had mattered.

But it was over.

When I opened my eyes again, the weight of it felt different.

Lighter.

Not gone.

Just… placed where it belonged.

In the past.

“Claire?”

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I looked up.

Margot stood a few feet away, a file in her hand. 1

“There’s a new client request. It’s complicated. High visibility.” She studied me for a second. “I can pass it to someone else.”

I didn’t hesitate.

“I’ll take it.”

Something in her expression shifted.

Approval.

Recognition.

“Good,” she said, handing me the file.

I took it, glancing down briefly before setting it on my desk.

No second guessing.

No overthinking.

Just… decision.

By evening, the office had thinned out.

The energy had shifted again.

Quieter.

Less watchful.

I packed up slowly, slipping the file into my bag.

As I stepped out into the corridor, Nathaniel was there.

Waiting.

Not impatient.

Not intrusive.

Just… there.

I paused.

“You’re still here.”

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ANY PLAISES POW

“Obviously.”

A faint hint of something in his tone.

Not quite humor.

Not quite anything else.

We stood there for a second.

Then-

“Let me take you out.”

I looked at him.

Not surprised.

Not uncomfortable.

Just… considering.

He held my gaze steadily.

“No expectations,” he added. “Just dinner.”

I paused for a moment, letting the thought of dinner with Nathaniel settle in my mind.

I thought about it.

About everything.

About what came before.

About what came next.

And for the first time- the decision didn’t feel heavy.

It didn’t feel like risk.

It just felt like… a choice.

“Okay.”

Nathaniel nodded once.

Simple.

But something in his expression shifted.

Not triumph.

Not relief.

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Just… acknowledgment.

We walked toward the exit together.

Not touching. Not rushing.

Just moving forward.

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