The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 118

CHAPTER IVONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN CLAIRES POV

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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN_ CLAIRE’S POV

This time, I didn’t wake up to excruciating pain.

Instead, waking up felt… clearer.

Not easy, and definitely not painless. But clearer.

The heaviness that had dragged at my thoughts before was gone, replaced by something sharper.

My body still ached-my head throbbed faintly, my arms still stung where the cuts had begun to heal- but it was manageable now.

I felt more grounded. Alive.

I lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, letting myself breathe.

I wasn’t slipping in and out anymore.

I was here- constant.

And my mind, finally, had nowhere to hide. It functioned as it normally would.

And therein lay the problem.

Because the moment the silence stretched long enough, my thoughts drifted-

Not to the accident. Not to the falling structure, or the sound, or the chaos.

But to him.

To Nathaniel.

My fingers curled slightly against the sheets as the memory came back to me with an unsettling kind of clarity-

The closeness, the way the room had felt small, the hesitation that hadn’t quite been hesitation, the way everything had narrowed down to just that moment.

The kiss.

It hadn’t been rushed.

It hadn’t been forced.

It hadn’t felt like a mistake.

I exhaled slowly, letting my gaze shift toward the window, trying to bury the thoughts.

What unsettled me the most wasn’t what had happened… but how it felt.

Because I couldn’t dismiss how I had felt. I couldn’t simply tuck it away as something meaningless or

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impulsive. It hadn’t been born out of panic or confusion.

It had been… real.

And that realization sat heavier than it should have.

I turned my head slightly, staring at my reflection in the glass.

Was it just because of everything that had happened?

Because he had stayed? Because he had been there when everything else felt like it was falling apart?

Was that why I was suddenly starting to feel like this?

Or-

It felt like my mind paused.

Or was I really starting to feel something I hadn’t planned for?

I swallowed, pushing the thought aside.

It was more dangerous than I wanted to admit. Because feelings complicated things. They blurred lines, made one do stupid, reckless things like give up their career to support the other.

And right now, my life was already too complicated for me to make any mistakes that would screw me

over sooner or later.

Still-

A quiet truth pressed at my mind, persistent, but undeniable.

Nathaniel didn’t make me feel uncertain.

The thought stayed in my head longer than it should have. And for a moment, I didn’t push it away.

The door opened softly then, but I didn’t turn immediately, already knowing who it would be.

Margot.

Her presence carried the same controlled energy as always-sharp, composed, focused. But there was something else beneath it now. A certain tension that hadn’t been there before.

She stepped fully into the room, her gaze landing on me, assessing.

“You’re awake,” she said.

“I have been.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly, as if measuring something in my tone, before she nodded once and moved closer.

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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FOHTEEN CLASES POY

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“How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

It wasn’t a lie.

Just not the full truth.

Margot didn’t push it. Instead, she set a file down on the side table, her expression shifting into something eprofessional now.

“The case is ready,” she said.

My attention snapped to her fully.

“What?”

“The Langford corporate case,” she clarified. “We’ve finalized everything. It’s about to be brought to

court.”

For a second, I just stared at her, realization dawning on me.

Then-

“I’ll be there.” I immediately decided.

The words came out before she could say anything else.

Margot blinked once- slowly.

“No,” she said, just as quickly. “You won’t.”

“I’m not being replaced.” I retorted.

Her expression didn’t change, but there was a flicker of something in her eyes now-annoyance, maybe.

Or concern.

“Claire, you’re in a hospital.” She stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“And I’m still the one who built that case.”

Silence followed, tight, unyielding and charged with challenge.

Margot studied me for a long moment, as if weighing whether I was serious or not.

I didn’t look away or try to soften.

“I didn’t work that hard just to watch someone else finish it,” I continued, my voice steady despite the dull ache spreading through my body as I shifted slightly upright.

I ignored the flaring pain.

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Margot exhaled quietly, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “This isn’t about pride, Claire.”

“It’s not pride.”

“Then what is it?”

I held her gaze. “It’s mine.”

The room stilled. Because we both knew exactly what I meant.

That case wasn’t just work. It was weeks and weeks of effort, strategy and sleepless nights. Every decision, every discovered discrepancy-I had built it piece by piece.

And I wasn’t handing it over now. Not when it mattered most.

“You’re not fully recovered.” Margot argued.

“I don’t need to be,” I said. “I just need to stand.”

“And what happens if you collapse in court?” She countered.

“I won’t.” I replied firmly- unyieldingly.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

She went quiet again, her eyes searching my face, probably looking for hesitation or something that

resembled doubt.

She didn’t find it, because here wasn’t any.

And beneath all of it-the argument, the logic, the stubbornness-there was something else driving my decision. Something I didn’t want to say out loud.

I wouldn’t stay here. Not in a place that didn’t feel safe. Not in a bed that made me feel like I had no

control over anything, that made me feel useless.

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