All Chapters of The Wife He Threw Away : Chapter 161 - Chapter 170

The moment the call ended, I threw my phone onto the marble counter hard enough for the sound to echo through the penthouse. My chest rose sharply once. Then twice. Then I laughed softly under my breath— not because anything was funny. But because Lucian Dhark had accused me of attempted murder. And worse— he had meant it. The accusation itself didn’t offend me. The fact that he believed it did. I stared out across the room, my lips pursed. The entire country still adored me. Flowers continued arriving by the hour. Brand deals flooded my management team. Public sympathy climbed higher and higher every day. Women cried for me online, sharing their own stories of domestic violence. And the men? They were the best part. They threatened Lucian publicly on my behalf. And yet somehow, everything still felt like it was slipping through my fingers. Because Claire Moreau had refused to disappear. Because Lucian had stopped looking at me like I was innocent. A

I woke with a painful cough lodged in my throat. The sharp, harsh scent of antiseptic hit me first. Then the pounding in my head, white ceiling and hospital lights. For one disoriented second, I couldn’t remember where I was. Then everything crashed back at once. Margot’s office. The gas. The masked man. Lucian! My body jerked upright immediately. “Claire.” Nathaniel was beside me in an instant. Relief flooded his face so fast it almost hurt to look at. “You’re okay,” he said, letting out a tired breath. His hands were already on me, checking my shoulders, my face, my arms… like he needed physical confirmation that I was actually there and safe. “You could’ve died.” His tone told me one thing: he had been terrified. And suddenly I realized how pale he looked. How exhausted. How tightly wound. “I’m okay,” I said quickly, though my throat still burned. “I’m okay.” Nathaniel exhaled shakily before dragging a hand through his hair. “What the hel

I woke up to movement outside my apartment— soft footsteps and muffled voices. For one horrible second, panic flashed through me. Was Eva here again? Or perhaps it was the press with their incessant questions. Then I remembered. Lucian. My stomach tightened immediately. I sat up slowly in bed, still exhausted from everything that had happened yesterday, and stared toward the front door. Another quiet sound followed. A woman’s voice. Camilla. Relief washed over me. I had called her barely twenty minutes earlier after finally working up the courage to look through the peephole again and finding Lucian still there. Still asleep against the wall outside my apartment. Still alone, still wearing the same clothes. And still shivering. I had lasted exactly three minutes before guilt gnawed at me enough to make the call. Carefully, I approached the door and unlocked it just enough to peer outside. Camilla was crouched slightly in front of Lucian now, speak

Nathaniel’s call came just after midnight. I almost ignored it. Because honestly, at that point, every call felt like another disaster waiting to happen. Another investor withdrawing or another division bleeding money. Maybe even another board member questioning whether I was still capable of holding Dhark Holdings together while the world watched it collapse. I sat alone in my office at the mansion with my laptop open in front of me, as unread emails crowded the screen. The whiskey from earlier still sat unfinished beside my hand. Rain pressed softly against the windows again. Everything felt cold lately. Camilla believed I had caught a small cold the night I spent outside Claire’s apartment. But that was the least of my problems. “What now?” I said as I answered the phone. Nathaniel didn’t respond immediately. And that silence was what made my chest tighten first. Then he finally spoke. “We confirmed the report.” I frowned slightly. “What report?” A

I stared at the screen for several long seconds before finally pressing the unlock button. The click of the door unlocking sounded far too loud than it was supposed to be, in the quiet apartment. And suddenly, as the door opened, I wasn’t sure if I had just made the biggest mistake of my life. Or not. By the time I opened the door, Lucian was already standing there. Tall, but exhausted. And still devastatingly composed somehow despite looking like he had not slept in days. His dark eyes met mine, and for one dangerous moment… everything between us felt exactly the same. But neither of us spoke immediately. I stepped aside quietly, letting Lucian enter. The familiar scent of him followed instantly, wrapping itself around memories I had spent months trying to bury. I closed the door carefully behind him, and the silence afterward was unbearable. Lucian glanced around the apartment slowly, then his gaze returned to me. “Nathaniel said it was part of Eva’s schem