The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 181

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-ONE CLAIRE’S POV

Hospitals had a way of making even the strongest people look fragile.

I stood outside Margot’s hospital room for a moment longer than necessary, feeling my fingers tighten around the strap of my handbag as I looked through the glass panel on the door.

Margot Sinclair, the woman who had once dominated every room she entered with sharp wit, and impossible energy now lay pale against white sheets, with tubes attached to her arms.

Her breathing shallow but steady.

She was alive, thank God.

Inside the room, professor Grant sat beside her bed, exhaustion carved deep into his face. Her son stood near the window, speaking quietly with a doctor while her little girl rested her elbows on her knees, staring at the floor like she was afraid to look at her mother for too long.

I inhaled slowly before pushing the door open.

Margot’s son noticed me first.

The room shifted slightly as everyone greeted me quietly.

Then Margot turned her head-weakly. Slowly.

But she did.

Her lips parted slightly, as though even the slightest movement exhausted her.

“…Claire.”

That was all she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

I moved closer immediately, taking her hand carefully in mine.

Her palm felt cold. Too cold.

“You scared us,” I murmured softly.

Margot’s eyes fluttered weakly. She tried to smile, but the exhaustion behind her eyes dragged the smile away almost immediately.

Professor Grant rubbed his face tiredly. “The doctors said she needs rest more than anything right now.”

I nodded quietly.

No one spoke much after that.

The room was filled with the sound of beeping monitors, quiet relief, and the silence of people who had spent weeks preparing themselves for grief.

1/7

HUNDRED AND FIGHTY ONE CLAIRE SPOV

+25 Bonus

When the door opened again, I didn’t turn immediately.

Because somehow, I knew.

God, I hated that I still knew.

Lucian walked in with the same composed presence he carried everywhere, dark coat draped over his

broad shoulders, rainwater still glistening faintly against the dark fabric.

The room change in the room was far from subtle.

Not because he demanded attention, but because Lucian naturally took control of any space he was in without trying.

His gaze swept across the room once before settling on Margot.

Something in his expression grew soft.

“You’re awake,” he said quietly.

Margot looked at him through tired eyes and gave the smallest nod before her eyes drifted shut again, exhaustion overtaking her instantly.

Lucian didn’t try to speak to her again.

Instead, he moved toward her husband.

“How is she?” he asked quietly.

They began speaking in low voices near the bed while Margot’s son updated him about what the doctors had said about medication, and the next few days of observation.

I barely followed any of it.

And that’s because every time Lucian spoke… every time his deep voice settled into the room… old memories seemed to haunt me, like ghosts I could never quite outrun.

And somehow, even after everything, I noticed how he still looked for me instinctively in crowded rooms.

I had caught him doing more it once.

That was more enough.

The room eventually started feeling too warm for me. Too crowded.

Too heavy.

That’s when I quietly excused myself and stepped out into the hallway.

The hospital corridors were nearly empty this late at night.

The overhead lights were dim, casting everything in soft gold lighting.

2/7

SEMENSED ANDYLIGHTY ONE CLAIRESTOV

+25 Bonus

I walked until I found a quiet balcony near the end of the floor.

Rain fell steadily beyond the glass.

Of course it was raining again today.

I leaned against the railing, folding my arms tightly across myself as I stared down at the city lights

below.

“You still disappear when things get too emotional, huh.” Lucian’s voice came from behind me- low, familiar and dangerous to my peace.

“I learned from the best.” I retorted, without turning around.

Lucian stepped beside me quietly, and for a while, neither of us spoke.

The rain filled the silence instead.

“She looked…” I exhaled slowly. “So fragile.”

Lucian nodded once beside me. “I know.”

That was it.

No dramatic speeches, no false optimism.

I just knew thr he understood.

I glanced sideways at him.

There were faint shadows beneath his eyes tonight. His tie had loosened slightly, his short dark hair still damp from the rain outside.

Tonight, something about him looked devastatingly human.

And it unsettled me more than it should have.

“I’ve never seen her that quiet before,” I said softly.

Lucian nodded. “Neither have I.”

For several moments, we simply stood there shoulder to shoulder without touching, watching rain slide down the glass.

The strangest part of it was how distance could still feel intimate after all these years.

“You should go home,” Lucian said after some time. “It’s late.”

I gave a quiet huff. “You sound exactly the same.”

“And you still avoid sleeping when you’re worried.”

3/7

BUDREY AND FIGHTY ONE CLAIRE POV

+25 Bonus

I cocked my head to the side, looking at him fully then.

“There it is.”

“What?” He asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

“The irritating habit of noticing everything about me.”

For the first time that night, something very close to amusement touched his face.

“You married me because of it.”

Something inside my chest twisted painfully at that comment.

Had.

I had married him because of it!

Lucian Dhark had once noticed every small thing about me like it mattered. That was one of the many

reasons I had loved him.

The silence stretched between us again, heavier this time.

Then quietly, before I could stop myself, I asked, “Do you ever miss who we used to be?”

Lucian went completely still beside me.

The sound of the rain battering softly against the glass ceiling above us filled my ears.

And suddenly, I wasn’t standing in a hospital hallway anymore.

I was twenty-six again, standing beneath warm golden lights while Lucian Dhark looked at me like I was the only thing in the world worth seeing.

The conservatory smelled like rain and flowers. Carnations, to be precise.

That was the first thing I remembered.

Hundreds of white and crimson carnations surrounded the glass room, their petals glowing softly beneath hanging lights while rain poured gently outside the glass windows.

At first, I all I could do was stare.

It was just too beautiful.

“Lucian…”

He stood near the center of the conservatory watching me carefully, hands tucked into the pockets of

his coat.

He was tense.

4/7

KINDREDY ANITONTY ONE FAINE POV

Which, for Lucian, meant terrified.

“You hate surprises,” he said.

“I do.” I answered.

“And yet you stayed.”

A small smile tugged at my mouth.

“I’ll have you know that I’m already considering leaving.”

“Liar.”

God.

I must have smiled like an idiot then.

I walked further inside slowly, taking in the flowers surrounding us.

“Carnations?” I asked softly.

“You said roses were overrated.”

Of course he remembered- Lucian practically remembered everything.

Always.

The realization barely settled before he started making his way towards me.

Slowly, but intentionally, his dark eyes never leaving mine, not even for a second.

My breath caught the moment he reached into his coat pocket.

And then-

Lucian Dhark knelt before me.

Just like that.

No audience, no cameras, no spectacle.

Only him.

Only certainty.

I stared at him in complete shock.

“Lucian-”

“Eight months ago,” he interrupted quietly, “I met a woman standing alone under the rain.”

My throat only grew tighter.

+25 Bonus

5/7

NOORELT AND FIGHTY ONE CLAIRES POV

+25 Bonus

“I thought she’d disappear from my life by morning.” He said, as he pulled a small velvet box from his pocket. “But instead she became the only thing that ever felt certain.”

The box opened.

And I think I forgot how to breathe.

The Dhark diamond shimmered beneath the warm lights with breathtaking brilliance. It was clear and powerful.

I later came to find out that it was the same diamond every woman at the head of the Dhark family had

worn for generations.

His grandmother’s. His mother’s.