The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 319

She looked down at the envelope again.

I knew she was interested. People could pretend to be principled all they wanted, but it didn’t change the fact that money made certain decisions easier.

I leaned forward. “Tell me about Claire’s university years.”

Caroline didn’t hesitate for long before she began talking.

She told me how they had both been broke. How Claire had worked hard to earn her qualifications, and how determined she had been to succeed.

Boring.

All that useless information only made me more irritated by Claire. But I listened patiently regardless.

Then I asked the most useful question—men.

“Did Claire date anyone at university?”

Caroline shrugged. “One or two.”

“Only one or two?”

“She wasn’t exactly a nun,” Caroline sneered.

I smiled. “I’m relieved to hear it.”

Caroline laughed.

“She had a boyfriend in high school.” She paused to take a sip of her drink. “They were together for a long time, from what she told me. After that relationship ended, she dated a couple of other guys.”

“Do you remember their names?”

“Not really. It was years ago.”

I hid my disappointment.

Then another idea occurred to me. “What about her professors?”

Caroline blinked once. “What about them?”

I leaned back in my seat. “Did she ever date any of them?”

The sharp-mouthed blonde looked like she was about to choke on her drink.

“No, of course not.” She answered immediately.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure,” she explained. “Claire was a complete goody-two-shoes when it came to school. She would never have risked her grades or reputation by getting involved with a professor.”

I stirred my coffee. “How disappointing.”

Caroline raised a poorly laminated brow. “Why?”

I lifted my eyes. “Because that’s what we’re going to say she did.”

Silence fell between us.

Caroline stared at me, wide-eyed.

“What?”

“Claire slept with professors for grades.” I stated.

I had toyed with the idea for sometime, but I wasn’t sure if it would sound believable or not. But somehow, meeting Caroline today had convinced me.

“Are you even listening to me? I just told you she didn’t do anything like that.”

“Oh, I heard you.” I retorted.

“Then why would you say it?”

“Because it doesn’t matter whether she did it.”

Caroline looked at me as though she had never seen me before.

I leaned closer. “What matters is whether people believe she could have done it.”

Her face tightened. “You want me to lie about her.”

“I want you to help me tell a story.”

“That’s the same thing.”

“Only if you’re unimaginative.”

The look on the woman’s face told me she wasn’t exactly willing to tell such a lie.

So I switched gears.

“You testified against her in court, at the behest of Lucian Dhark. Whatever his team offered you then—“

She cut me short. “I told the truth about how we were broke and struggling and how we talked about marrying rich men,” she said. “You want me to lie about something so…”

“Listen—“

Caroline pushed her cup away. “I won’t accuse Claire of sleeping with professors when I know she didn’t.”

My smile died on my face.

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