The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 69

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE CLAIRE’S POV

The house was full.

Not loud-never loud-but full in the way that mattered. Voices layered over one another in low conversation, soft laughter slipping between polished glass and controlled smiles. Everything about the evening felt curated. Intentional.

Eva stood at the center of it.

She moved through the room with ease, greeting guests, holding attention without asking for it. She wore control the way other women wore jewelry-effortlessly, visibly.

It would have been easy, once, to feel displaced.

Tonight, I didn’t.

I stood at the edge of the room, acknowledged when necessary, ignored when convenient. No one asked why I was there.

No one dared to.

Because I still belonged here.

Legally.

And, in ways no one in that room fully understood… something deeper than that.

Eva’s gaze found me eventually. It didn’t linger. Just a brief pause, a small acknowledgment, followed by a polite smile that never reached her eyes.

I returned it.

Nothing more.

Across the room, Lucian stood with two men from the board. He wasn’t engaged in the conversation- not really. His responses were measured, minimal. Detached.

And then, for a moment-

His eyes met mine.

Something unreadable passed between us.

Then he looked away.

I didn’t wait for anything else.

The room suddenly felt too small. Too artificial.

I slipped out quietly, unnoticed by most.

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TM 165AA NINI STAIRES POV

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The gardens were dark, lit only by low lights along the stone paths. The air was cooler outside, softer.

Real.

I exhaled slowly as I stepped further in, letting the quiet settle around me.

For the first time that evening, I could think.

Or maybe not think.

Just… exist.

Footsteps sounded behind me.

I didn’t turn.

“I thought I’d find you here.”

Lucian.

Of course.

“I needed quiet,” I said.

He stopped beside me, leaving just enough space between us to feel deliberate.

“You handled today well.”

I let out a small breath. “That wasn’t your opinion in court.”

“That wasn’t about opinion.”

I glanced at him then, but he wasn’t looking at me. His gaze was fixed somewhere ahead, distant.

A pause stretched between us.

Then, unexpectedly-

“She would have liked you.”

I stilled slightly. “Your mother?”

He nodded once.

“She had a way of seeing people clearly. Without… stripping them down to what they could offer.”

Something softened in his voice. Not weakness. Not quite.

Memory.

“You remind me of her,” he added.

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I didn’t know what to do with that.

So I said nothing.

He continued, quieter now. “She was warm. Patient. The kind of person people underestimated because she didn’t demand space.”

A faint exhale.

“My father hated that about her.”

I turned to look at him fully this time.

Lucian rarely spoke about his father.

Or his mother.

“Everything with him was calculated,” Lucian went on. “Legacy. Control. Strength. There was always a cost attached to everything.”

His jaw tightened slightly.

“Nothing was just… given.”

The words sat heavy between us.

“Not love,” he added.

Silence followed.

Then, after a moment-

“I became more like him than I ever intended.”

There was no defensiveness in it. No attempt to soften it.

Just truth.

“If she were still alive,” he said, “I don’t think I would have been this man.”

Something in my chest tightened unexpectedly.

Because for the first time-

He wasn’t explaining.

He wasn’t justifying.

He was acknowledging.

I shifted slightly, my hand lifting without thinking.

Just a small movement.

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ARESPON

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Toward him.

And then-

I stopped.

Let it fall back to my side.

Lucian noticed.

Of course he did.

But he didn’t say anything.

Instead, he reached into his pocket.

When he brought his hand back out, something rested in his palm.

A necklace.

Delicate. Simple. Timeless.

Even in the low light, I could see it wasn’t just beautiful-it meant something.

I hesitated.

“That was hers,” he said.

My gaze flickered back to his face.

“She would have wanted you to have it.”

The words landed heavier than anything else he’d said that night.

“I can’t-”

“You can,” he interrupted quietly. “And you should.”

There was no force in it. No pressure.

Just certainty.

Slowly, I reached for it.

My fingers brushed his as I took the necklace, and the contact-brief as it was-felt louder than anything

inside that house.

I looked down at it in my hand.

Then back at him.

“Thank you,” I said, softer than I intended.

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CLAIRE SAV

A pause settled between us again.

Different this time.

Quieter.

“We weren’t supposed to end like this,” he said.

I swallowed.

“No.”

It was the only answer that existed.

He looked at me then. Fully. Like he was trying to memorize something.

“Whatever happens,” he said, his voice lower now, “you should keep that.”

I nodded once.

And for a moment-

It felt like everything else had fallen away.

The case.

The betrayal.

The distance.

All of it.

Just for a moment.

“Claire.”

The voice cut cleanly through the quiet.

We both turned.

Eva stood a few steps away.

Composed.

Watching.

Her gaze moved between us briefly before settling on me.

“I think there’s something you should see.”

Something in her tone made my stomach tighten.

She stepped closer, holding out her phone.

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VY NINE CLAIRES POV

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I hesitated-just for a second-before taking it.

The screen was already open.

A headline.

Bold.

Unavoidable.

“Claire Dhark’s Violent Outburst: Shocking Footage Raises Questions About Her Stability Amid Divorce Battle.”

My chest tightened.