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Chapter 4
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Always Her, Never Me Chapter 8
Three months later.I got a call from James.James was my only real friend from college. We'd stayed in touch off and on over the years."Claire, did you hear?""Hear what?""Lucas... he's gone missing."I sat down on the balcony chair, phone in hand."What do you mean?""A month ago, the Williams family assets got hit with a full investigation. Brought up some old records from his father's... you know, underworld days. Lucas was called in for questioning a few times. And then... he just disappeared.""Some people say he couldn't take it. Killed himself.""Others say the old enemies got to him. Mob justice.""And some say he ran. Went underground."I listened. Didn't say anything.James asked carefully: "Claire... are you okay?"I looked out at the sunset over the balcony and let out a small laugh."I'm fine, James.""I'm just... I don't know. Processing."I didn't tell James that when I heard the news, the only feeling that surfaced was relief.Relief that I hadn't actually died in th
Always Her, Never Me Chapter 7
(Claire's POV)Six months later.Boston, Cambridge. Harvard Medical School's affiliated research center.The glass doors of the closed research facility slid open, and I walked out in my white coat, my entire research team trailing behind me.I'd lost some weight over the past six months. But my eyes—they were brighter than they'd been in years.Dr. Harrison, the lab director, was holding a glass of champagne, his voice cracking with excitement: "Ms. Moore—no, Dr. Moore—our paper got accepted by The Lancet!"The team erupted in cheers.I bit my lip, my eyes stinging just a little.Six months. 180 days. Sixteen hours a day. From sample collection to data analysis, from molecular mechanism to preclinical validation.I'd picked up the dream I'd dropped eight years ago.This time, nobody held me back. Nobody made decisions for me.I did it all by myself.The celebration was held in the top-floor ballroom of the research center.I wore a simple black dress, my hair pinned up, with the pearl
Always Her, Never Me Chapter 6
The hospital hallway lights were still on. But when Lucas pushed open the ward door, the bed was empty.The sheets were folded perfectly. Not a single crease on the pillow.On the nightstand, a discharge form with Claire's signature—time-stamped at 4:00 AM.Lucas gripped the paper until his knuckles went white.He ran to the nurse's station. "Room 302—the patient who came in with hypothermia, the woman—where is she?"The nurse on duty looked up. "Ms. Moore checked out this morning. Signed herself out. Walked out on her own.""She wasn't fully recovered—""She insisted. We couldn't stop her." The nurse sighed. "And... when she left, there was a team waiting for her. Looked like they were from the medical school. Had paperwork with them."Lucas froze.Medical school.It hit him like a freight train—That fellowship.When Claire graduated, Harvard Med had sent her an invitation for a closed-door neuroscience research program. Six months. A private research facility three hundred miles out
Always Her, Never Me Chapter 5
Lucas's back hit the hallway wall.Cold. But he couldn't feel it.All he felt was something inside him splintering into pieces—like that fire twenty years ago, burning so deep it hurt to breathe.He thought back to eight years ago. The first time he saw Claire on Harvard's campus.She was clutching a stack of documentary scripts, her hair a mess in the wind, looking up at him with a smile."Hey, can you block the wind for me? I've been working on this all morning and I'm about to lose half my pages."He'd blocked the wind for her. And for eight years, he'd tried to block the rain for her too.But every time it rained, Sienna "just happened" to need him.The night Claire first confessed to him? Sienna had a 104-degree fever. He'd put down Claire's call.Claire's graduation day? Sienna slit her wrists in the bathroom. He didn't make it to the ceremony.The night Claire won her first documentary award? Sienna woke up screaming about her dad's fire. He spent the whole night holding her.He
Always Her, Never Me Chapter 4
Lucas's hand was shaking around the phone."What... what are you talking about?""I'm about to expose Marco for what he really is.""Expose... what? Marco was my father's most trusted lieutenant. That night, when the arsonists came, he ran into the fire and pulled me out. He didn't make it out himself.""He was a hero. After he died, his wife fell into depression and passed away too. That's when my mother adopted Sienna. What part of that is wrong?"The old man let out a cold laugh. "Marco was no hero. It was all calculated. He planned to have your father killed, then save you, so he could take over the Williams family in your father's place.""The only problem? He miscalculated. That's why he died. And his wife? She never died at all."Lucas's brain went blank."That's impossible." He was practically shouting now. "I saw her grave with my own eyes—""That grave has someone else in it."The old man cut him off, his voice flat, almost cruel."She's been alive this whole time, Lucas.""E
Always Her, Never Me Chapter 3
I didn't even look up. "Moving out.""Moving out?" He laughed—a cold, humorless sound. "Because of yesterday? When did you get so immature?"Sienna peeked out from behind his shoulder, tugging his sleeve with a trembling voice:"Lucas... did I do something wrong? Should I not have come? Is that why you and Claire are fighting?"Lucas's expression melted instantly. He turned, shielding her with his body."Sienna, this isn't your fault. Claire's blowing things out of proportion."Then he turned back to me, disappointment dripping from every word."Claire, how many times do I have to tell you? My father died in that fire. And if Sienna's father hadn't run in to save me, I would've died right alongside him.""Without them, I wouldn't be standing here today.""I canceled the wedding. I'm getting divorced from her. What else do you want from me?""She's not just some girl—she's family. I owe a debt I'll spend my whole life repaying. If you can't accept that, then apologize and let's move on.
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