The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 183

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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-THREE NATHANIEL’S POV

The article spread through KVEK faster than wildfire.

By the time the third partner called my office asking for “clarification,” I already knew the damage was irreversible.

I stood near the windows overlooking the city, while my phone buzzed relentlessly across the desk behind me.

Messages, internal emails and news alerts alike.

Every single one attached to the same photographs.

Lucian outside Claire’s apartment.

Lucian giving her his coat.

Lucian opening doors for her.

Lucian looking at her like the rest of the world no longer existed.

I closed my eyes briefly.

Not because the article shocked me- that was the problem. None of it shocked me anymore.

But this was the first time my private life was affecting my professional life… and in such scale.

A soft knock sounded against my office door before Mark Kennedy stepped inside carefully.

For once, even he looked uncomfortable.

“That bad?” I asked quietly.

Mark let out a heavy breath.

“The managing committee is discussing it already.”

Of course they were.

KVEK had spent decades building its reputation around professionalism, neutrality and discipline.

And now one of its founding partners was tied publicly to a conflict-of-interest scandal involving his girlfriend, her ex-husband, and one of the most public legal controversies in the country.

Beautiful.

Mark walked further inside.

“You made the right decision dropping Dhark’s representation.”

I gave a humorless laugh. “That’s not what they’re worried about.”

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“No,” he admitted. “It isn’t.”

Silence stretched between us.

Then finally, Mark said what he had been meaning to say the whole time. “You need distance from this publicly, Nathaniel.”

This.

Not “Claire.”

Not “the relationship.”

“This.”

Like the entire thing had become contamination.

Something ugly.

Something humiliating.

Something damaging.

I nodded once. I knew he wasn’t wrong.

And somehow, that made everything worse.

Mark hesitated before adding carefully, “You know people are going to question whether your judgment was compromised.”

Compromised was an interesting word.

As if love itself were a professional defect.

Mark left shortly afterward, quietly closing the door behind him.

The silence that followed felt unbearable.

I sank slowly into my chair and rubbed a tired hand across my face.

Then my eyes drifted toward the tablet still resting on my

desk.

The article remained open.

One particular photograph held my attention longer than the others.

Claire was standing beside Lucian outside the hospital.

She looked exhausted.

And Lucian? Lucian looked destroyed.

Yes somehow, they still looked like they belonged to each other.

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SERMORED AND DUGHTY THREE NATHANIES POV

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The cruelest part wasn’t the gossip. Neither was it the headlines or even the humiliation that came with it all.

It was the fact that none of it felt fake.

I leaned back slowly and stared at the ceiling.

God.

I had spent months trying to save a relationship that was no longer mine.

The realization was brutal.

Not because Claire had betrayed me intentionally- I knew better than anyone that she hadn’t.

And that also made it harder.

Because I knew she loved me.

I knew it.

In the small ways- the gentle ways.

Claire had never loved loudly.

She loved carefully- tenderly, even.

Like someone terrified love could disappear if she held it too tightly.

I remembered her staying up late at the KVEK to help me when I was stuck at work.

Remembered her silent frustration after her team had lost an argument against mine in class.

Remembered the first time she’d smiled at me at that coffeehouse during her legal battle with Lucian.

That smile had ruined me slowly.

Completely.

A sharp knock interrupted the silence.

The office door opened before I could answer.

Claire walked in, anxiety flashing across her face the second she stepped inside.

Her eyes found mine immediately.

She had probably rushed here.

Again.

Rainwater still clung to the hem of her coat.

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ANDRED AND FIGHTY THIEL NATHANIELS POW

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“Nathaniel-”

I sat quietly, way too tired suddenly for another argument.

She closed the door behind her carefully.

“I saw the article.”

“I assumed you would.”

Her face tightened slightly at my tone, but she continued speaking. “It’s not what it looks like.”

The words almost made me smile.

Because unfortunately, it looked exactly like what it was.

Claire stepped closer slowly.

“I didn’t know those pictures existed.”

“I know.”

“And nothing happened between Lucian and I.”

There it was again.

Lucian and me.

Everything always eventually circled back to him.

I studied her quietly for a long moment before asking,

“Do you know what part hurts the most?”

Claire froze slightly.

I stood slowly from behind the desk.

“The article itself doesn’t matter.” I said, keeping my voice calm. “The public speculation doesn’t matter either.”

I stepped closer.

“What matters is that I can no longer tell myself it’s all in my head.”

Pain flickered across her face instantly.

“Nathaniel-”

“You may not want Lucian back,” I continued softly. “But you still belong to him in ways neither of us can keep pretending not to see.”

Claire looked at me with wide, terrified eyes.

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She looked completely shattered.

And God help me… seeing her hurt still hurt me too.

“I love you,” she whispered desperately.

“I know.”

That was the tragedy; the fact that I believed her.

Even now, I still believed her every word.

“I chose you.”

“I know that too.”

Tears filler her eyes filled instantly.

“Then why are you doing this?”

I looked at her for a long moment before answering honestly.

“Because every time something breaks you…” I paused, feeling as though the words would choke me.”… you still look for him emotionally before anyone else.”

The silence that followed was devastating.

Claire covered her mouth suddenly as tears spilled down her face.

And the worst part?