CHAPTER SIXTEEN_ Claire’s POV

I woke up to the sound of my phone vibrating endlessly on the night stand.

Message after message. Notification after notification.

The headlines multiplied until it was impossible for me to keep up.

The story had grown overnight.

Lucian and Eva were both powerful and influential figures. For that reason, the whole country was talking about the news_ their relationship and my humiliation.

I managed to sit up slowly. My head was pounding and my body felt heavier than it actually was.

My name was everywhere, yet somehow absent from every sentence that actually mattered.

One article caught my attention.

DHARK HEIR CONFIRMED: CEO RELEASES STATEMENT

Against my own judgment, I opened the article with shaking fingers.

Lucian’s statement was short and corporate.

He spoke of responsibility.

Of protecting an innocent child.

Of the public respecting privacy during a difficult transition.

And then I saw a sentence that almost sent me into shock.

“Mr. Dhark asks for understanding for all parties involved, including his wife, Claire Moreau, from whom he is currently separated.”

Separated.

Not abandoned.

Not betrayed.

Not blindsided.

Because that is the truth of what he had done to me.

But he would rather erase me from the story than own up to his actions.

Something painful settled in my chest_ a feeling I was slowly getting used to.

Lucian hadn’t just failed to defend me, he had made me disappear.

As I scrolled further, another headline appeared.

EVA STERLING SPEAKS OUT: ‘THIS IS ABOUT MY CHILD’

I clicked before I could stop myself.

Eva sat in soft lighting, dressed simply, her blonde hair pulled back.

One hand rested protectively over her stomach as she spoke in a gentle voice.

“This isn’t how I wanted this chapter to begin,” she said. “The truth is; I only care about protecting my child.”

“I ask for compassion — for everyone involved.”

‘Everyone involved.’

Eva used all the right words.

She knew how to bend public perception to her own advantage.

She didn’t attack me.

In fact, she didn’t even mention me.

She didn’t have to.

She sounded calm. Gracious. Maternal.

And the world loved her for it.

The comments poured in beneath the video.

“She’s handling this with such class. I bet Claire could never”

“Poor Eva— imagine being dragged into someone else’s marriage.”

“At least now the Dhark legacy is secured.”

My hands began to shake, so I set the phone down, trying to steady my breaths.

Lucian still wasn’t home.

He hadn’t been home when the news broke.

No call, no warning before the statement, no apology afterward.

He protected the company.

He protected the child.

He protected her.

But he did not protect me.

I stood and walked through the mansion slowly. I could hear my footsteps echoing in the hallway.

Camilla approached me, her face tense. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she was afraid to.

“They asked me to prepare the east wing, Mrs. Dhark.” She finally said.

Something inside me went very still.

That’s when I noticed that the staff were already moving around the house, rearranging it.

Eva didn’t need to move in yet.

The space had already been made for her.

I stood there, surrounded by walls that no longer belonged to me, and I understood the truth;

By the time Eva crossed the threshold,

I would already be a guest in my own marriage.