The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 232

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO, LUCIANS POV

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CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO LUCIAN’S POV

For the first few seconds after I opened my eyes, I wasn’t entirely certain I was awake.

The room was quiet.

Not the oppressive silence of unconsciousness, but a peaceful one.

Soft, warm, real.

My gaze drifted toward the chair beside my bed.

Claire was asleep, her head rested against the back of the chair at an awkward angle that would no doubt leave her neck aching later.

A strand of dark hair had escaped the loose knot at the back of her head and fallen across her cheek.

Our hands were still intertwined. Even in sleep, she hadn’t let go.

A smile tugged at my lips.

Not because I was happy, but because I was grateful.

For the first time in years, Claire wasn’t looking at me with hurt in her eyes.

She wasn’t looking at me with disappointment, resentment or even guarded professionalism.

She simply looked… peaceful with me.

I let myself memorize her.

The faint shadows beneath her eyes, the small crease between her brows that refused to disappear, even while she slept, the exhaustion written across every delicate feature.

She still looked tired.

No, she looked drained.

Because while I’d been unconscious, Claire had been carrying everything.

The lawsuit, that bastard Hart Sullivan, Eva and even the board.

Everything.

I brushed my thumb lightly over the back of her hand.

“You saved me.”

The thought settled quietly inside me.

I had protected her from a bullet.

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KRAPTER TWAT HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO LUCIANS POV

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But she’d protected everything else.

A soft knock broke the silence.

The door opened and Camilla stepped inside, carrying a small bouquet of fresh lilies.

She paused the moment she saw Claire sleeping beside me.

“So,” she whispered, smiling gently, “she’s still here.”

I smiled weakly. “I don’t think she’s left much.”

Camilla quietly placed the flowers on the windowsill before walking closer.

She looked at me for several long seconds.

Really looked at me.

Then, to my surprise, her eyes filled with tears.

“My boy…”

My chest tightened.

“I’m sorry.”

She shook her head immediately.

“No.”

She reached out and gently squeezed my shoulder-the one that wasn’t wrapped in layers of bandages.

“We almost lost you.”

She swallowed. “The last time I felt this frightened…” Her voice wavered.

“…was when you you’d nearly drowned.” She said. “Your mother almost had a heart attack.”

A memory surfaced;

Cold water, panic, my mother’s frantic voice.

I’d been a reckless nine year old. I’d slipped beneath the current during a family holiday.

My father had dragged me out, but it was my mother who cried for hours afterward.

“I remember,” I said quietly.

Camilla smiled sadly. “Your mother held you all night.”

Silence settled over us again.

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CHATTER TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO LUCIANS POV

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Then Camilla glanced toward Claire. “I’ve never seen anyone love you the way Claire does.”

My eyes followed hers.

Claire hadn’t moved.

She was still holding my hand as though letting go wasn’t an option.

Something inside my chest ached. Not from the stab wound.

Something much deeper.

Camilla broke the silence again.

“What happens now?”

I stared at the ceiling.

“I don’t know.”

The truth came easier than I expected.

“I don’t deserve her.”

Camilla laughed softly.

“No.”

I blinked.

She smiled.

“You don’t.”

Despite everything…

I laughed.

It hurt.

Enough to make me wince.

Camilla chuckled.

“Still stubborn.”

“Always.”

Her expression softened.

“Your mother used to tell me something whenever you got yourself into trouble.”

I looked at her.

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CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO, LUCIAN’S POV

“She’d say deserving isn’t what love is.”

A pause.

“It’s what you choose to do after you’re given another chance.”

The words settled somewhere deep inside me.

Another chance.

Perhaps that was all life really was.

A series of chances we prayed we wouldn’t waste

Movement beside me pulled my attention away.

Claire stirred.

She frowned sleepily before opening her eyes.

For one wonderfully confused second, she simply stared at me.

Then realization dawned.

She sat upright so quickly that she almost knocked the chair over.

“Oh God…”

She rubbed at her eyes.

“I fell asleep.”

Camilla folded her arms.

“You’ve become part of the furniture in this room.”

Claire’s cheeks flushed pink.

“I was only resting my eyes.”

“For three hours.”

Claire looked horrified.

“I slept for three hours?”

“You did.”

“I am so sorry.”

I couldn’t help smiling.

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CHATTER TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO, LUCIAN’S POW

Watching her flustered over something so ordinary felt strangely precious.

It had been years since I’d seen Claire blush.

I’d forgotten how beautiful she looked when she did.

A knock interrupted us.

The doctor entered alongside two nurses.

“Good morning, Mr. Dhark.”

“It is now.”

The doctor smiled.

“I hear you’ve been charming the staff already.”

“I’ve been unconscious for most of my stay.”

“Exactly.”

The examination was thorough.

Lights in my eyes.

Questions.

Memory checks.

Pain assessments.

I answered every one correctly.

Finally, the doctor nodded in satisfaction.

“I think we’ve crossed the worst part.”

Claire released a breath she’d clearly been holding.

The doctor looked at me seriously.

“You’re improving faster than expected.”

Hope.

Real hope.

“But.”

There it was.

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CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO, LUCIANS POV

“No work.”

“No stress.”

“No unnecessary movement.”

“And absolutely no leaving this hospital.”

He fixed me with a pointed stare.

“I mean it this time.”

Claire folded her arms.

“I’ll personally tie him to the bed.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“I believe you.”

The room erupted in soft laughter.

Even the nurses smiled.

For the first time in what felt like forever…

The laughter didn’t feel forced.

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Not long after the medical team left, Tessa arrived carrying a stack of folders nearly as tall as

she was.

She took one look at them.

Then looked at me.

“No.”

“I haven’t even asked.”

“You were about to.”

She deposited the folders onto a nearby table-well out of my reach.

“You are not working.”

I sighed dramatically.

“I own the company.”

“You also nearly died.”

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CHANTER TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO, LUCIANS POV

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She won.

Again.

Instead of handing me documents, she gave me updates.

“The emergency board meeting has officially been suspended.”

I looked toward Claire.

She tried to appear innocent.

Failed.

“The investors reacted well once the news broke that you’d regained consciousness,” Tessa continued.

“Dhark Holdings’ stock has started stabilizing rapidly.”

Relief settled over me.

I hadn’t realized how heavily the uncertainty had weighed on me until it lifted.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Claire smiling.

Not because of the numbers.

Because she knew what they meant to me.

She cared.

Not about the company itself.

About what it represented.

Everything I’d spent years building.

Everything my parents had entrusted to me.

She cared because I cared.

That realization somehow made me happier than hearing the stock had recovered.

–

Eventually…

Everyone left.

Camilla.

Tessa.

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