The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 274

I woke sometime during the night.

I wasn’t sure what had pulled me out of sleep at first. The room was dark, except for the faint light coming from the city outside the windows.

For a few seconds, I simply stared at the ceiling.

Then I became aware of something beside me.

Warmth.

Lucian.

He was asleep on his back, one arm resting across the space between us.

His breathing was slow and steady… peaceful.

I turned my head toward him.

There was something almost surreal about seeing him like this.

After everything that had happened, I still occasionally woke up expecting to find him in a hospital bed, surrounded by machines.

Instead, he was lying beside me, normal. And somehow, we had found our way back to this.

I smiled faintly as I reached over and gently brushed a strand of hair away from his forehead.

He didn’t stir.

“You’re impossible,” I whispered.

He didn’t react— he obviously didn’t hear me.

I smiled again and shut my eyes— there was no point in staying awake right now.

Not until my phone vibrated.

I froze.

The sound seemed impossibly loud in the quiet room. I glanced at Lucian once. He was still fast asleep.

Carefully, I reached toward the nightstand and picked up my phone.

The screen illuminated my face.

There was a new message from an unknown number.

I frowned, then proceeded to open it.

My stomach dropped. It was Eva Sterling.

For several seconds, I simply stared at her name. Then I read the message.

“I’m downstairs.”

My heart began beating faster, even before I read the next line.

“I know you’re here. The paparazzi weren’t exactly subtle.”

I swallowed.

Then another message appeared immediately.

“I need to speak with you.”

For several seconds, I could do was stare at the screen.

My first instinct was to wake Lucian. My second was to call security.

My third—

My third instinct was to ask myself why Eva was here at all.

She couldn’t possibly have come here by accident.

The photographs had been taken only hours ago.

She knew where we were.

She had followed us.

Or she’d been watching.

Neither possibility made me feel particularly comfortable.

Another message appeared.

“Please, Claire.”

I stared at those two words.

Please?

Eva Sterling had never been particularly fond of that word. She had always been the person asking other people to do things for her.

Fix things, lie, take the blame for her.

And now she was asking me for something.

I glanced at Lucian again.

He was still asleep.

His face looked completely peaceful.

I remembered what he’d said earlier.

He had told me that Eva no longer mattered to him.

That he wanted a future with me.

That he was finally free of the past.

And now that past was standing downstairs.

Waiting.

I sat up slowly.

I didn’t know whether I was angry or nervous.

Maybe both.

I opened the message again.

There was one final line.

I won’t come upstairs. I won’t cause a scene. I just want five minutes with you.

I almost laughed.

My stomach tightened.

I looked toward the door.

Then at Lucian.

Before it was too late.

Those words could mean anything.

And with Eva, I had learned that anything usually meant trouble.

I slipped out of bed very carefully, but Lucian stirred anyways.

“Claire?” He called, voice thick with sleep.

I turned immediately. “I’m here.”

His eyes opened slightly. “What’s wrong?”

I hesitated.

For one second, I considered telling him about the text.

But then I remembered how fiercely he’d warned me not to trust Hart. How protective he’d been whenever Eva’s name came up.

If I told him she was downstairs, he’d never let me go alone.

And perhaps that was exactly what I needed. But I didn’t want him getting out of bed and trying to stope me— not with those wounds.

“Nothing,” I said softly.

He frowned. “You sure?”

“Yes.”

He studied me for a second longer, then his eyes began closing again. “Come back to bed.”

I smiled. “I will.”

He reached for me blindly.

I took his hand and squeezed it, then whispered:

“I promise.”

He finally relaxed.

Looking down at our joined hands, the promise suddenly felt heavier than it should have.

Because I didn’t know what Eva wanted.

And I didn’t know whether I was about to make a terrible mistake.

I gently released Lucian’s hand, then picked up my phone and stared at Eva’s last message one more time.

“I need to tell you something.”

I didn’t know what she could possibly have left to say.

But I was going to find out.

I slipped on my robe, then slipped out of the room.