The Wife he threw Away (Claire and Lucian) novel Chapter 76

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX CLAIRE’S POV

I stepped out of the courtroom without slowing down.

The doors had barely closed behind me before the noise hit-sharp, immediate and relentless.

“Mrs. Dhark-do you have a statement?”

“Do you plan to appeal?”

“Do you think the ruling was fair?”

The voices of the reporters overlapped, each one louder than the last- demanding something from me when I obviously had nothing to say.

Cameras flashed in my face, and desperate microphones extended toward me.

I didn’t stop.

I didn’t look at them. 1

I didn’t give them anything at all, not even the slightest reaction. 1

My heels struck the marble floor in steady rhythm as I moved forward, my expression composed as ever, my gaze fixed ahead. My feet felt lighter than they ever had.

Whatever they wanted from me-emotion, reaction, weakness-they weren’t going to get it.

Not anymore.

By the time I reached the corridor, the noise had dulled slightly.

Margot was already beside me.

“We can appeal,” she said immediately, her tone sharp, and calculating. “There are angles we can still push-procedural bias, evidentiary weight-”

I shook my head once, not even breaking my stride.

“No.” I simply said.

Margot threw an assessing glance my way.

“This isn’t the end of your leverage,” she continued. “And Eva just made herself easier to target. We can still-”

“I didn’t come this far just to keep fighting Lucian forever.” I stated. 1

That seemed to stop her.

Margot went quiet, studying me for a brief moment, deciding whether to push further or respect my decision.

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CHARDS STAINTY SIX CLAIRES POV

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I didn’t say anything else. Because there was nothing left to say.

Mere seconds later, we reached the exit.

The air outside was cooler.

Margot exhaled lightly. “Call me when you’ve decided your next move.”

I nodded once.

Then she was gone-already moving, already thinking ten steps ahead. Typical of Margot Sinclair.

I stood there for a moment too long before I walked to the car.

The door closed behind me with a soft click, sealing me off from everything outside.

For the first time since the ruling, I allowed myself to actually breathe.

My first breath in the car came out slow and unsteady.

I looked down at my hands resting still in my lap, but not entirely steady. They didn’t exactly help me gather my thoughts.

I lost the case…

After everything.

The words formed quietly in my mind.

But they didn’t feel the way I had expected them to.

They didn’t feel like collapse, or like failure.

I told myself that what mattered was that I didn’t lose myself. I didn’t lose my voice.

That part was clearer than anything else.

I leaned my head back slightly, closing my eyes for just a moment.

Not to escape. Just to feel the weight of it. The weight of the end.

And the beginning of something else I couldn’t fully name yet.

A knock came against the car window and I opened my eyes at once.

Lucian.

He stood just outside the car, his expression unreadable.

For a second, I didn’t move.

Then I pushed the door open and stepped out.

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THAUTE ROSEVENTY SIX, CLAIRES POV

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We stood facing each other in the quiet space just beyond the courthouse.

There were no cameras here. No judge, no lawyers, no audience.

Just us. And the aftermath of our decisions.

“You should have gotten more,” he started calmly.

This time, he didn’t sound entirely detached.

But why was he telling me this now?

I held his gaze, trying to appear stronger than I actually felt. “You could say I got exactly what I agreed to.”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“No, it doesn’t.” I said steadily. “But the law is the law. And this is final.”

Lucian didn’t respond immediately.

He was watching me- really watching me.

As if he was trying to understand a mystery. As if he was trying to see through me, to know my true

intentions.

“What are you going to do now?” he asked.

I paused for a moment.

Not because I didn’t have an answer.

But because I wanted to say it clearly, and I wanted him to know that I mean it.

“Something that has nothing to do with you.” I stated. 1

There it was- simple and decisive.

Final in a way that had nothing to do with the courtroom.

Something in Lucian’s expression shifted.

Not visibly enough for anyone else to notice, but I saw it.

Because I had always seen him clearly.

And for the first time, I didn’t feel the need to reach for him.

That’s when I heard footsteps behind me.

I didn’t have to turn to know who it was.

Nathaniel.

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CLAINT-DOW

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Lucian saw him too.

I noticed it from the way his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed.

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