The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 70

CHAPTER SEVENTY CLAIRE’S POV

Eva’s hand remained extended for a moment after I finished watching the video.

I handed the phone back to her slowly, as though the movement itself required precision.

I didn’t look at her immediately. Didn’t give her the reaction she had been waiting for.

Because I understood.

Not just what I had seen, but what it meant.

“This was edited,” I stated calmly.

Eva’s lips curved into a full smirk.

“Of course it was.” She said. “What do you think I am- stupid?”

The softness in her tone was deliberate- almost pleasant.

As if we were discussing something as casual as the weather.

But we weren’t.

She knew exactly what this was. She knew what it meant for the case, and what it meant for my image.

And she wanted me to know that she knew.

I didn’t respond.

I wouldn’t give Eva Sterling the satisfaction of knowing how much her schemes affected me.

Instead, I became aware of something else.

Lucian.

He was still there.

Still watching.

Still silent.

He had seen the video.

He knew it was incomplete.

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He understood, better than anyone, what had actually happened in that hallway.

And yet-

He said nothing.

No correction.

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ADIT SIN

No dismissal.

No defense.

Just silence.

I turned my head slightly, just enough to look at him.

He didn’t look away.

But he didn’t speak either.

And that silence-

It settled somewhere deeper than the video ever could.

I looked away first.

“I’ll handle it,” I said.

Not to Eva.

Not even to Lucian.

Just… a statement.

Then I turned and walked back toward the house. 1

No hesitation.

No pause.

No looking back.

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The moment my bedroom door closed behind me, the quiet shattered.

My phone lit up almost instantly.

Then again.

And again.

Calls.

Messages.

Notifications stacking over each other so quickly the screen barely had time to dim between them.

Unknown numbers.

Press inquiries.

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Names I hadn’t heard from in months.

I stared at it for a moment before finally picking it up.

One tap.

That was all it took.

The video was everywhere.

Different angles.

Different captions.

Same edit.

The same carefully cut version-clean, sharp, intentional.

Me.

Raising my hand.

Striking Eva.

Again.

And again.

Looped.

Replayed.

Stripped of everything that came before.

Stripped of context.

Stripped of truth.

The headlines were worse.

“Claire Dhark’s Violent Outburst Shocks Corporate Circles”

“Unstable Wife Loses Control Amid Divorce Battle”

“Gold Digger Turns Aggressive as Case Crumbles”

I exhaled slowly, my grip tightening slightly around the phone.

It was efficient.

I had to give them that.

Everything Victoria had been building in court-

+25 Bonus

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CEND CARE SAVE

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It was all here now.

Visible.

Amplified.

Believable.

My phone rang again.

Margot.

I answered immediately.

“Tell me exactly what happened.”

No greeting.

No hesitation.

Just urgency.

I leaned back slightly against the edge of the bed.

“She slapped me first,” I said. “In the hallway at Dhark Holdings. I responded.”

A brief pause.

“The video?” she asked.

“Edited.”

Another pause.

Shorter this time.

More controlled.

“This isn’t damage control,” Margot said. “This is positioning.”

I closed my eyes for a moment.

“I know.”

“It reinforces everything they’ve been trying to establish,” she continued. “Instability. Lack of restraint. It shifts perception.”

I didn’t interrupt.

“It affects more than public opinion,” she added. “It affects how you’re seen in court. It reframes your testimony. Your speech.”

A beat.

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INA CLARES POL

“It makes it look performative.”

That landed.

Not because it was surprising.

But because it was precise.

I opened my eyes again, staring at nothing in particular.

“Then we don’t correct it quietly,” I said.

Margot didn’t respond immediately.

I could almost hear her thinking.

Then I continued, just as calm.

“We make it louder.”

Silence stretched briefly across the line.

Not disagreement.

Not quite approval.

Just consideration.

Then-

“Did Lucian say anything?” she asked.

The question was careful.

Measured.

I thought about it.

About the garden.

About the necklace.

About the silence that followed.

“No,” I said.

A pause.

“He didn’t.”

Margot didn’t push further.

She didn’t need to.

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NIV CLAIREPOV

“Get some rest if you can,” she said instead. “We’ll deal with this in the morning.”

“Alright.”

The call ended.

The room was quiet again.

But it wasn’t the same kind of quiet.

My phone lit up once more beside me.

I didn’t pick it up this time.