The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 133

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREE CLAIRE’S POV

I didn’t feel nervous.

That was the first thing I noticed as I stepped out of the car and into the morning air.

Not calm in the way people pretended to be before something important. This calmness wasn’t forced or even rehearsed.

Just… steady.

The courthouse stood ahead, already surrounded by movement-press clustered near the entrance,

cameras angled, voices rising the moment I came into view.

“Claire-over here!”

“Ms. Moreau! Any comments on today’s hearing?”

“Do you think Langford can win against Virex?”

I didn’t slow down- not for the questions, not for the noise, not for the incessant flashes.

A week ago, they had been watching me for something else.

A reaction, a crack, or even a mistake.

Today-

They were watching to see if I would win.

I walked past them without breaking stride.

Inside the courthouse, everything shifted.

The noise outside dulled at once, replaced by something quieter. Something sharper and familiar.

This was where things made sense.

This was where control and intelligence truly mattered.

I stepped into the courtroom, my gaze sweeping across it once-taking in the layout, the seating, the arrangement of counsel tables-

And then I saw her.

Victoria Merlyn.

She stood exactly where and how I expected her to be-composed, immaculate, intentional to the last

detail.

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There was something almost predatory in the way she held herself, like she already understood the

outcome.

That’s the Victoria I knew and loathed.

Her gaze lifted and found mine.

We didn’t acknowledge each other formally or even greet politely.

But the history was there- that much was clear and unmistakable.

She remembered me.

Not as I stood now, but as I had been the last time we faced each other.

Victoria’s Merlyn remembered me as someone she had already broken.

That was her first mistake.

–

“Ms. Moreau.”

Her voice came smooth and steady as she approached me.

I turned fully to face her.

“Ms. Merlyn.”

A faint smile touched her lips- polite and hollow.

“It’s been a while.”

“Not long enough for me to forget your methods.” I replied quickly, whilst mirroring her smile.

Victoria’s expression didn’t waver. If anything, it sharpened.

“I hope you’re better prepared this time.”

I held her gaze.

“I am.”

Something flickered briefly in her eyes.

Then it was gone.

Court began soon enough, and everything else disappeared.

I didn’t think about her.

I didn’t think about the past.

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Instead, I focused on the work.

“Your Honor,” I began, my voice steady, carrying loudly across the room, “the issue brought before the

court is not just negligence-it is structured misrepresentation.”

I moved through the documents with efficiency, laying out the inconsistencies I had found.

Timelines that didn’t align, reports that appeared clean-until they were cross-referenced, and compliance records that had been adjusted just enough to pass surface review.

“But when examined in sequence,” I continued, “these reports contradict the operational data they are meant to support.”

I placed the documents down.

“Which means they were not simply incorrect.” I paused. “They were constructed.”

I didn’t rush or over-explain. I simply let the evidence- and there was enough of it- speak where it

needed to.

The judge’s attention sharpened. I saw it in the way he leaned slightly forward, in the way his gaze lingered longer on the documents.

Good. Very good.

Then Victoria stood.

“Your Honor,” she began confidently, “before we proceed further into this narrative, I believe it’s important to address the perspective from which it’s being presented.”

Her gaze shifted to me- a calculated tactic.

“Ms. Moreau’s… recent personal history with corporate entities is well documented.” She said, then paused. It was subtle and intentional, but meant to be very effective.

If I let it.

Victoria continued. “Would you say your position here is entirely objective?”

There it was.

Not the case- me. Again.

The room stilled slightly, watching, waiting for what would come next.

I didn’t react immediately.

Instead, I met Victoria’s gaze.

“My personal history,” I said calmly, “is precisely why I understand how these structures are manipulated.”

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A beat.

“Which is why I recognized the discrepancies your client hoped would go unnoticed.”

Silence followed.

There was a shift in the courtroom’s atmosphere.

It wasn’t loud or dramatic, but it was real. Noticeable.

The weight of the room moved.

I didn’t stop there. I went deeper.

Breaking down the reporting structure piece by piece, showing how the inconsistencies weren’t isolated, but were connected, deliberate and designed to mislead.

“Virex Holdings did not fail to meet compliance standards,” I concluded. “They failed to report them

accurately.”

I let that settle.

Then I sat.

I noticed how Victoria adjusted. It wasn’t in anything particularly obvious, but in the timing.

The way she moved more carefully now. More precisely.

She pushed back harder this time. Redirecting, reframing, attempting to destabilize the structure I had

built.

But this wasn’t her field.

And for the first time, I was starting to see her flaws.

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There were moments when she hesitated- small, almost imperceptible. But it was there.

She wasn’t as comfortable here.

And I didn’t miss it.

By the time the session adjourned, nothing had been decided.

No yet.

But that wasn’t the point.

The point was that this time, I hadn’t been dismantled.

This time-

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I held.

The noise returned the moment I stepped outside- cameras, voices, movement.

But it felt very different now.

Less intrusive. Less overwhelming.

It felt closer to triumph.

They weren’t chasing a scandal anymore.