The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 334

The last thing I needed was for Lucian to find out where I was.

I glanced at my phone as the cab crawled through traffic, the screen lighting up with his name for what felt like the hundredth time that afternoon.

‘Lucian Dhark’

I stared at it until the call came to a stop. A few seconds later, another call came through.

I sighed and turned the phone facedown on my lap.

I could already imagine how the conversation would go.

Where are you, Claire?

Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?

Where’s the driver? Where’s your bodyguard?

And when I finally told him the truth, he’d probably demand that I send him my location and wait wherever I was until someone came to collect me.

I loved that man, but sometimes his determination to protect me made me want to pull my hair out.

I understood why he was worried. Between the rumors spreading about me, Eva’s ongoing trial, and the fact that I was pregnant, he had more than enough reasons to be on edge.

But I couldn’t spend the rest of my life hiding behind a driver and a bodyguard.

Besides, I wasn’t going anywhere dangerous.

At least, that was what I kept telling myself.

I had left Sinclair & Co. alone because I didn’t want anyone drawing unnecessary attention to me. The last thing I needed was to arrive at Caroline’s workplace in a car with a driver and a bodyguard, looking like I was there to intimidate someone.

I wanted answers, not an audience.

And Caroline was going to give me some.

“Here we are, ma’am,” the cab driver announced.

I looked through the window.

The building in front of us was smaller than Sinclair & Co., a modest office block with a glass entrance and a discreet sign bearing the name of a law firm. A few people moved in and out, their arms filled with files and folders.

Caroline worked here.

I had known that much before leaving the office. Finding the address hadn’t been difficult, and I had spent the entire journey rehearsing what I would say to her.

Now that I was finally here, however, my stomach tightened.

I paid the driver and stepped out of the cab.

For a moment, I stood on the pavement, staring at the entrance.

The last time Caroline and I had spoken, we hadn’t exactly parted on good terms. She had betrayed me in ways I still struggled to understand. First, she had sabotaged a job opportunity I had worked hard to secure, then taken it for herself. Later, when my marriage to Lucian had fallen apart, she had testified against me.

I had once considered her family.

Now, I wasn’t even sure I knew who she was.

My phone vibrated again.

Lucian.

I closed my eyes briefly.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered, although I wasn’t sure whether I was apologizing to him or preparing myself for the argument that would inevitably follow.

I silenced the phone and slipped it into my handbag.

Then I moved to a spot near the entrance where I could watch the people leaving the building without attracting too much attention.

I would wait.

And when Caroline came out, she wouldn’t be able to pretend she hadn’t seen me.

⸻

Nearly forty minutes passed before I spotted her.

Caroline emerged through the glass doors with her handbag hanging from one shoulder and her phone pressed to her ear. She was dressed in a fitted navy-blue suit, her hair neatly styled, and she looked every bit like the successful lawyer she had always wanted to become.

For a second, an old memory flashed through my mind.

Two young women sitting on the floor of a university dormitory, surrounded by textbooks and empty snack packets, laughing about the future.

We had once promised each other that we would become great lawyers. We had talked about our dreams as though nothing in the world could stop us.

We had been so sure that we’d always have each other.

I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat.

That girl was gone.

And whatever friendship we had shared had died long before today.

Caroline ended her call and started toward the parking lot.

I pushed away from the wall.

“Caroline!”

She didn’t stop.

Perhaps she hadn’t heard me.

“Caroline, wait!”

This time, she turned.

The moment our eyes met, I watched recognition spread across her face. Her steps faltered, and for a brief second, she looked genuinely startled.

Then her expression hardened.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

I stopped a few feet away from her.

“We need to talk.”

“No, we don’t.”

She turned and continued walking.

I stared after her, momentarily stunned by her audacity.

Then I followed.

“Caroline, I’m talking to you.”

“And I’m telling you I have nothing to say to you.”

“That’s interesting, considering the rumors circulating about me.”

She kept walking.

I quickened my steps until I caught up with her.

“Are you the one spreading them?”

She shot me an irritated glance. “Spreading what?”

“The rumors about me sleeping with professors to get good grades. The accusations that I slept my way to the top. All of it.”

Caroline let out a humorless laugh.

“Good Lord, Claire. Is that why you’ve come here? To accuse me of gossiping about you?”

“I’m asking you a question.”

“And I don’t owe you an answer.”

She increased her pace.

I reached for her hand, desperate to make her stop long enough to listen.

“Caroline, please—”

She jerked her hand away so sharply that I recoiled.

“Don’t touch me!” she snapped.

A couple walking toward the building glanced in our direction.

I lowered my voice, although the anger simmering inside me was becoming increasingly difficult to contain.

“Fine. I won’t touch you. But you’re going to listen to me.”

“Or what?” She stopped beside a row of parked cars and faced me. “What exactly are you going to do, Claire? Make a scene outside my workplace? Scream until everyone comes out to watch?”

“I don’t want to make a scene.”

“Then leave me alone.”

“I can’t.”

“That’s not my problem.”

She turned away again.

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