CHAPTER ELEVEN_ Claire’s POV

I was scrolling through headlines when I heard the sound of the doorbell.

Camilla appeared from the corridor, twisting her hands in front of her like she always did when she was nervous.

“Mrs. Dhark… there’s a visitor.”

I didn’t ask who.

I walked to the door and opened it myself.

Eva Sterling stood on the threshold like a woman returning home after a vacation.

She wasn’t dressed dramatically and she didn’t have a visible baby bump yet, but she looked radiant. Confident.

“Oh,” she exclaimed, quickly assessing me with her eyes. “I assumed you’d already left.”

I didn’t step aside. “Lucian isn’t home.”

“I know,” Eva replied. “He had meetings. He trusts me to handle things.”

Of course he did.

She didn’t wait for my permission.

She walked past me, into the mansion, the scent of her perfume immediately filling the living room.

She stopped, looking around as if she was already familiar with the house.

“Still the same,” she murmured. “Very quiet. I plan to change that.”

She looked down the hallway.

“The east wing will be perfect for the baby. It’s quieter.” She added. “That means we’ll need to move some of your things. Babies are sensitive to cluster.”

She spoke so casually_ like she was stating the weather.

“You’re very comfortable,” I spoke through gritted teeth.

Eva smiled, unbothered.

“I hope you don’t mind. This isn’t really about you anymore.”

It felt like something in my chest cracked, but I held myself upright. I wouldn’t let her see me break.

“You don’t get to come into my home and speak to me like this.”

Eva smiled at me pitifully. “I know this is hard,” she said, her voice dripping with false empathy. “Especially since you can’t give him what I can.”

There it was.

The advantage she had over me.

“Lucian deserves a future, Claire.” she continued. “Not just loyalty.”

I stepped forward, holding her gaze. “Children don’t fix men.”

Eva’s expression darkened. I knew I had hit a nerve.

“You were what he settled for when I wasn’t available,” she said

“Now I am.”

The words hurt like a blow to my chest. Because deep down, it felt true.

Eva watched me absorb her cruel words, with a smirk on her face.

“You should start packing,” she said. “It’ll be easier if you leave before the baby arrives.”

For a moment, we both stood in the dangerously silent room, glaring at each other.

The woman who had won.

And the woman who had been scorned.

“If you needed to destroy my marriage to keep him,” I said. “You’ll never truly have him.”

Eva almost scowled.

“I didn’t destroy anything,” she retorted. “I reclaimed what was mine.”

She glanced toward the staircase, then looked back at me.

“I’ll let the staff know what needs to be moved.”

Then almost like an afterthought, she added “Don’t worry, you’ll always be remembered. Just not needed.”

With that, she turned and walked away, heels echoing through the mansion.

And just like that, I wasn’t the woman of the house anymore. She was.

I heard a soft knock from the doorway.

Camilla answered the door, then returned to the living room with a large envelope between her hands.

I noticed that she could barely even look at me.

“Mrs. Dhark.” She called quietly.

The name felt strange now.

It felt temporary.

She crossed the room and placed the envelope on the table in front of me.

“I’m sorry,” she added, though she didn’t explain what she was sorry for.

The envelope was thick and looked expensive. My gaze went to the top left corner.

I recognized the name of the law firm instantly.

They had approached me once. Years ago. It was an offer that would have required me to step out of Lucian’s shadow.

I had turned them down without hesitation.

I had chosen him. I always did.

Now, his name was printed beneath theirs.

Camilla lingered for a moment, but eventually, she left me alone in the room.

I slowly opened the envelope.

The language was clean, the words were professional.

“Irreconcilable differences”

“Mutual consent”

I almost laughed at that.

I hadn’t consented to being cheated on and replaced in my own home. And I never consented to being served divorce papers.

And then I saw it.

“No minor children of the marriage”

Of course. That had always been the real issue.

That’s when I realized that Lucian loved me enough to end our marriage cleanly.

But not enough to end it kindly.

I set the papers down and leaned back in the chair.

For a moment, I did nothing. I didn’t cry, I didn’t scream, I didn’t throw anything across the room.

Then my phone buzzed in my hand.

It was an unknown number.

I answered.

“Mrs. Dhark.” A man’s voice called, calmly. “This is Mr. Dhark’s attorney. We’ll need your signature.”

And then I understood.

Lucian wasn’t just ending the marriage.

He was removing me from his life as efficiently as possible.

No drama.

No confrontation.

No chance for me to change his mind.

When the call ended, I simply sat there, staring into space.

For the first time since I met Lucian Dhark, I stopped asking why he had done this.

I reached for my phone.

If he wanted efficiency, I could be efficient too.