The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 206

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND SIX_CLAIRE’S POV

The interrogation room was colder than I expected.

Or perhaps that was just me.

I closed the door quietly behind me and took a seat across from Dr. Ramon.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

The man sitting opposite me barely resembled the polished physician who had once confidently handed me a diagnosis that changed my life.

His hair was longer, his clothes wrinkled. Even his face looked gaunt.

He had a dark bruise around his right eye. A black eye.

Outside the glass wall, I could see Lucian standing beside one of the detectives, watching like hawks.

I ignored both of them.

This conversation wasn’t for them.

It was for me.

Ramon’s eyes followed my hands as I placed a recorder on the table.

Then I pressed the button and the red light blinked.

Recording. Good.

“State your full name for the record.”

The doctor let out a humorless laugh. “Still a lawyer.”

I didn’t smile.

“Your name, Doctor.” I repeated, firmer this time.

He exhaled.

“Dr. Castillo Ramon.”

“Thank you.”

Silence settled between us.

I folded my hands. “Let’s start with something simple.”

His gaze lifted.

“What happened to you?”

For the first time since i’d entered, genuine fear crossed his face.

Not guilt, just fear.

Ramon glanced toward the glass, then toward the door, then back at me.

“Did anyone follow me here?”

The question caught me off guard, but I answered regardless “No.”

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His shoulders loosened slightly. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“The police brought you in.

His eyes closed briefly, as if he was taking a second to gather himself.

When he opened his eyes again, they looked older.

“I was abducted.”

I sat forward. “What?”

He didn’t respond, so I asked a different question. “By whom?”

“Hart Sullivan.”

The name landed heavily between us.

My stomach tightened painfully. If Hart could abduct Dr. Ramon… God. Lucian was right to take his threats seriously.

“Hart took you?” I asked again, for clarification.

Ramon nodded. “I’d been moving between hotels, trying to stay ahead of everyone.” His voice was hoarse.

His expression twisted. “Then Hart fucking Sullivan found me.”

I didn’t interrupt.

That was something Margot had taught me many months ago.

Most people rushed to fill silence.

The best lawyers let silence do the work for them.

Ramon continued. “He grabbed me outside a motel. He took my phone, my passport, my cash. Kept me in an abandoned

building.

“For how long?” I asked, ignoring the chill crawling up my spine.

His hand shook slightly. “Six days.”

I glanced briefly at the bruise beneath his eye.

“What happened?”

Ramon touched the bruise. “Hart happened.”

The answer was enough

I made a note. “When did you escape?”

“He got distracted, so I bolted.”

The irony wasn’t lost on either of us.

He’d escaped one criminal only to be caught by the police.

“When they found you at the terminal,” I said carefully, “you were trying to leave the country

“Yes”

No denial, nu excuse.

I appreciated that. At least he wasn’t wasting my time.

“Why?”

Ramon laughed bitterly. “Because Eva Sterling ruined my life.”

I studied him. “That’s interesting.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

“Because she only ruined your life recently.’

I leaned back slightly.

“You’ve been helping her for years.”

Silence.

Then:

“Money.”

The answer was immediate.

Simple.

Honest.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

His shoulders slumped.

“You’re looking for some tragic story.”

“There isn’t one.”

“I wasn’t blackmailed.”

“I wasn’t threatened.”

“I wasn’t coerced.”

His voice hardened.

“I did it because she paid me.”

The blunt honesty almost surprised me.

Almost.

I nodded once.

“Fair enough.”

Then I turned a page in my notebook.

“Why is Hart working for Eva?”

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That question changed everything.

Ramon looked genuinely uncomfortable.

For several seconds, he said nothing.

Then he rubbed a hand over his face.

“You know they’re not just associates, right?”

I froze.

“What do you mean?”

His laugh was hollow.

“They were high school sweethearts.”

That wasn’t what I’d expected.

At all.

Ramon continued.

“Hart joined the military.”

“Eva got discovered.”

“Started acting.”

“Started making money.”

“Started becoming famous.”

I listened carefully.

“Eventually they found their way back to each other.”

His gaze lowered.

“Then Eva got pregnant.”

Silence.

I felt my pulse quicken.

Ramon looked up.

“Hart wanted the baby.”

A pause.

“He wanted marriage.”

“He wanted a family.”

“And Eva?”

The answer came quietly.

“She wanted her career”

The room felt very still

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ARIS ROL

“She aborted the pregnancy.”

I stared.

Ramon nodded.

“Against Hart’s wishes.”

The pieces began fitting together.

One after another.

Slowly.

Carefully.

“And that’s how her uterus was damaged?”

“Yes.”

I thought of the falsified diagnosis.

The fake infertility report.

The fake pregnancy.

All of it connected to this single decision.

Ramon continued speaking.

“Hart never recovered.”

“He became unstable.”

“He started getting into trouble.”

“He was eventually discharged.”

Another pause.

“He even served jail time.”

My stomach sank.

“And then?”

“He found Eva again.”

The way Ramon said it made me uneasy.

Not romantic.

Not nostalgic.

Dangerous.

“She becaine his purpose.”

The room went silent.

“He lives for her.”

“He does whatever she wants.”

(‘

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“He worships her.”

His voice lowered.

“Claire, that man would burn down a city if Eva asked him to.”

I believed him.

Every word.

Because I’d seen what Hart was capable of.

The threats.

Margot’s accident.

Nathaniel.

The hospital.

Me.

The photograph.

The note.

All of it.

Ramon looked exhausted.

“He has done her dirty work for nearly a decade.”

I slowly closed my notebook.