The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 51

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE CLAIRE’S POV

The mansion felt different when I walked in that evening.

To be fair, there were no visible differences. The furniture was still in the same places, and the marble floors still gleamed under the huge chandelier light.

But something had shifted.

And I felt that shift the moment the doors closed behind me.

Two maids standing near the staircase stopped speaking when they saw me. One of them quickly lowered her gaze. The other gave a small nod before moving away.

Everyone in the house knew what had happened in court today.

They knew that Camilla had testified, which meant everyone in this house also knew something else:

That someone from inside these walls had stood in a courtroom and told the truth.

I walked further inside, my heels echoing softly against the marble floor. 1

For the first time since Eva had moved in, I noticed something strange.

The staff weren’t rushing to greet her this evening.

They weren’t hovering nervously around her presence the way they had for months.

Instead, they kept their distance, as if they weren’t unsure which side of this house they were supposed to stand on anymore, or whose side they were supposed to take.

I turned toward the sitting room-and stopped.

Eva was there.

She was standing near the window, with one hand resting protectively over her stomach.

Her eyes found me at once, and before she even spoke, I knew that it wasn’t going to be a pleasant

conversation.

“So it’s true,” she said pointedly.

Her voice was tight. The accusation in her tone was very clear. “You really did it.”

I remained calm and composed as I set my bag down on the side table. “Did what?” I asked.

Eva let out a sharp, unamused laugh. “Don’t do that.” She warned. “Don’t just stand there and pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

She stepped closer, and I could literally see the anger sharpening her features. Her eyes were focused and filled with fury, her face red.

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“You dragged our private life into a courtroom!”

“Our private life?” I repeated quietly. I had never understood why Eva believed she was a part of this family.

“You humiliated Lucian today.” She accused.

I studied her for a moment before answering. “You moved into my home while I was still married to him.”

The words came out calm and simple, but landed harder than I expected.

Eva froze in her tracks. For a moment it seemed like, she didn’t know how to respond. My words had truly taken her aback.

Because for these past couple of months, she had been able to convince herself that the situation inside this mansion was normal.

That she had simply stepped into a life that already belonged to her.

But today the truth had been said out loud in front of a courtroom full of educated people.

And suddenly, it was much harder to ignore. Suddenly, it was impossible to pretend like this was normal.

“This wouldn’t be happening,” she snapped, “if you had just accepted reality.”

Reality. The word echoed in my head.

Reality was watching your husband bring another woman into your home.

Reality was being asked to smile politely while they hosted guests together.

Reality was pretending humiliation was just another part of married life.

If that was reality, I was tired of living it.

“I did accept reality.” I said, holding Eva’s gaze.

Her expression hardened. “Oh really?”

“Yes.”

“At some point I realized that if I stayed silent, this would never end.” I said, gesturing towards the surroundings.

Eva opened her mouth to respond, but shut it almost immediately she heard the sound of footsteps echoing from the hallway.

We both turned just in time to watch Lucian walk in.

He paused slightly when he saw us standing there. His facial expression was strange.

Not surprised, not angry, just… just like he’d had enough.

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The tension in the room must have been extremely obvious.

His gaze moved briefly from Eva to me, then back to Eva again.

No greeting, no immediate reaction, just quiet observation.

Eva recovered first.

“Lucian,” she said quickly, moving toward him. “Did you hear what happened today?”

His expression didn’t change. “I was there.” He stated factually.

Eva’s voice grew sharper. “Camilla betrayed us!” She cried.

Lucian removed his jacket slowly. “I’m aware.” He stated. His tone was calm and uninterested.

“She stood there and repeated everything that woman’s lawyer wanted her to say!” Eva continued

whining.

Lucian slowly hung his jacket over the back of a chair, completely ignoring her.

I could almost feel Eva’s frustration rising.

“She works for this house. She should have been loyal.” Eva said through gritted teeth and barely contained anger.

Lucian’s eyes flickered briefly toward me, then back to Eva.

“Camilla worked for this house,” he said evenly. “Not for you.”

Eva stiffened, surprised by his nonchalance. “That’s not the point.” She said as she took another step closer to him. “This situation has gone far enough. Claire should leave.”

The room went quiet.

Lucian didn’t respond immediately, but when he finally spoke, his voice was calm, like he was just stating the obvious.

“Claire still lives here.”

The thing about Lucian is that his words were never loud or dramatic. Not even exaggerated. But they always landed heavily.

And they were always final.

Eva tilted her head, staring at him in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.”

Lucian didn’t argue. He simply looked at her with disinterest. Boredom.

And in that moment, the truth was obvious:

No matter how uncomfortable and complicated things had become in this house… I was still his wife.

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Eva turned away abruptly, clearly furious.

“I’m going upstairs,” she declared angrily.

Neither of us stopped her.

A few seconds later, I heard her footsteps disappear up the staircase.

And then thick silence that followed.

Lucian didn’t look at me again before leaving the room, but the tension he left behind lingered long after he was gone.

Hours later, the mansion had settled into silence. It was already dark, and most of the lights had been

dimmed.

The long hallway outside the bedrooms were lit only by a row of wall lamps.

Tonight, just like many other nights since this nightmare began, I couldn’t sleep.

This time, I chose to go for a short walk. I was halfway down the corridor when I heard footsteps behind

I slowed down.

There was no need to turn immediately- I already knew who it was.

Lucian stopped in his tracks, a few feet away from me.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

The silence wasn’t hostile- no it was heavier than thag.

“Camilla told the truth.” He finally said.

His voice was quiet, calm, bare of any tactics or restraints.

I turned slowly to face him, surprise evident on my face.

Honestly, the admission caught me off guard. I had expected denial. Or maybe indifference.

Not this.

Lucian’s expression remained calm, though his eyes seemed distant.

“You shouldn’t have stayed,” he added.

I studied him slowly. The words could mean many things.

Perhaps regret. Criticism?

Or something else entirely.

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When I spoke, my voice came out barely above a whisper. “You never asked me to leave’

Silence followed. It felt like eternity before Lucian spoke again.

“I suppose I didn’t.” He exhaled slowly.

Another quiet moment passed.

“There was a time,” he said after a while, “when I didn’t think things would end like this.”

Neither had I.

“We were… good once.” He said.

The admission was simple, but devastating.

“We never planned for this,” he continued.

“No,” I said softly. “I didn’t.”

His gaze lingered on me. “You always reminded me of my mother.”

That made me blink. 1

Elena Dhark.

Lucian rarely ever talked about her.

“She had the same way of looking at people,” he said. “As if she expected them to become better versions of themselves.”

He said, then paused briefly.

“She believed people could change.” He spoke thoughtfully. “I’ve been wondering today what she would think of all this.”

He gestured slightly between us.

‘This’ was the courtroom. The mansion.

Everything.

“She’d probably be disappointed,” he finally said.

He sounded so certain. And in that moment, I wanted to hold him and reassure him that his mother would be proud of the man he had become, just like I had done so often in the earlier years of our marriage.

But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

Things were different now.

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