All Chapters of The Wife He Threw Away : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

141 Chapters

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE_ LUCIAN’S POV

By morning, it was everywhere. I didn’t need anyone to tell me. The moment I stepped into my study and turned on the screen, the headlines were already there… waiting. Within a few hours, they multiplied faster than they could be contained. Every platform, every outlet featured the same clip. Different headlines, different angles, but the same moment. Claire’s hand striking Eva. Cut cleanly, and repeated endlessly. I watched it once. Then again. Then a third time. Each time I watched it was slower and more deliberate than the last. Not because I didn’t understand what I was looking at, but because I understood exactly what had been removed. The beginning. The provocation; Eva’s initial slap. The truth. My jaw tightened slightly as I watched. The clip being released at this particular time, was an efficient scheme. Very precise, very intentional. A knock sounded at the door, snapping me out of my thoughts, before it opened. Eva walked in without

CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO_ CLAIRE’S POV

By the time I stepped out into the street, the world was already watching me. Not the way it used to. Not recognition softened by curiosity or polite interest. No, this was different. This was. People looked at me, and didn’t look away fast enough. A woman standing near the curb leaned slightly toward the person beside her, whispering something I didn’t need to hear to understand. Another man across the street lifted his phone just a little too casually, angling it in my direction before lowering it again. I knew from his movements that he had definitely taken a picture. I kept walking. Didn’t slow down, didn’t acknowledge it— any of it. But I felt it all. Every glance, every quiet judgment… every assumption. The world had decided who I was without my permission. And it had done it quickly. My phone buzzed again in my hand. Then again, and again. I didn’t need to check immediately to know what it was. But I did anyway. There were more messages o

CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE_ CLAIRE’S POV

Margot’s office door was already open when I arrived. She didn’t look up immediately, because her attention was fixed on the screen in front of her. “Close the door,” she said the moment she heard me enter. I did. The click echoed a little too loudly in the quiet room. “What happened?” I asked. Margot finally looked at me. Her expression was controlled, but there was something beneath it. Annoyance. Sharp and focused. “They’ve escalated,” she said. “Who?” She didn’t answer directly. Instead, she turned her laptop toward me. “Read.” I stepped closer and looked into the laptop. My eyes moved over the statement. The first thing I noticed was how clean it was. Polished, and carefully worded. Every sentence was deliberate and intentional. Meant to have massive effect. “Ms. Eva Sterling is currently navigating an extremely difficult personal situation with grace and restraint.” My jaw tightened slightly as I read. “Despite recent events, she rema

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR_ CLAIRE’S POV

For a moment, the room felt suspended. Like the world around me had gone completely still. Then the headlines began to change. Not all at once. Not cleanly, but enough. The first thing I noticed was that the ticker at the bottom of the screen updated. “New Footage Raises Questions About Office Altercation Between Claire Dhark and Eva Sterling.” Another followed headline followed. “Full Video Suggests Initial Reports May Have Been Misleading.” The commentators who had previously said all sorts of things about me were now less certain. Less decisive. Now, instead of outright condemnation, they were debating. I reached for my phone slowly. The notifications were still coming in as fast as before—but they read differently now. “Wait… she didn’t start it?” “So why was the first clip edited?” “Still aggressive though.” “Both of them are toxic.” I scrolled for a moment longer, watching the shift happen in real time before I locked the screen and set my phon

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE_ CLAIRE’S POV

The courtroom felt different when Margot and I walked in that morning. Not louder, not quieter. Just… final. Because this would be my last day battling Lucian in court. My last day being a spectacle. Today would either end in triumph, or defeat. I the way conversations softened instead of stopped as Margot and I walked. The way people looked at me—not with outright judgment anymore, but with something more that resembled curiosity. They weren’t sure what to think of me now. Good. I walked past them without slowing, without acknowledging the cameras, the whispers, the weight of attention that had followed me for weeks. But today, it didn’t press down on me the same way anymore. It didn’t feel suffocating. Today, it felt distant. Like something I had already survived. Margot’s files were arranged neatly on our table when we reached it. Margot glanced at me briefly as we took our seats. “We’re on time,” she confirmed. Across the room, Victoria Merlyn s

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

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN_ LUCIAN’S POV

I remained standing exactly where she had left me. The noise around the courthouse hadn’t stopped—it never did—but it had shifted. The attention had followed her, like it always did. Cameras, voices, and movement pulled in her direction until there was nothing left around me but fragments of what had just happened. Someone said my name a couple times. I didn’t respond. My gaze remained fixed on the space where the car had disappeared, long after it was gone. She hadn’t looked back. Not even once. “Mr. Dhark.” I finally turned slightly. One of the attorneys approached me, careful, measured. “We should get ahead of the press cycle. The ruling is clean. Favorable. If we position it correctly—” “It’s handled,” I said. He paused, then nodded and stepped back back. Another voice came then— this time it was my assistant. “The PR team is ready.” She informed. “They’re drafting a statement. We can control the narrative before—” I didn’t let her finish. “Do what you

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT_ CLAIRE’S POV

I woke up to total silence. Not the kind of silence that came with tension or restraint. Not the quiet that meant something was waiting to happen. Just… silence. For a moment, I didn’t move. The ceiling above me was unfamiliar. The room, too— neutral tones and clean lines. Nothing personal. Nothing that carried history or legacies. It was a hotel room. It took a second for everything to settle into place. The court, the ruling, packing a few things from the Dhark mansion and saying goodbye to Camilla. The end. I exhaled slowly and pushed my body up against the pillows. There was no schedule waiting for me. No hearing to prepare for. No expectations suffocating me the second I opened my eyes. For the first time in a long time, there was nothing I was required to do today. The thought didn’t feel freeing— at least not immediately. It felt… unfamiliar. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood, moving toward the window. The city below was

CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE_ EVA’S POV

The house was quiet in a way it hadn’t been before. It felt… well, different. I walked slowly through the living room, followed by the sound of my heels clicking against the polished floor. My gaze moved over the interiors of the mansion with satisfaction. Nothing had changed physically. The furniture was exactly where it had always been. The lighting, the arrangement, the careful balance of space and design remained untouched. And yet, it felt lighter. I paused near the center of the sitting room, allowing my fingers to brush lightly against the back of a chair as a thought settled perfectly in my mind. Claire was gone. Gone. I felt a smile tugging at my lips. When the urge to smile became too strong, I let out a satisfied grin. “It suits the place,” I murmured to myself. “Less… sentimental.” My gaze shifted toward the hallway leading into the house. For a moment, I considered going upstairs. But I stopped myself. There was no need to rush into sp

CHAPTER EIGHTY_ CLAIRE’S POV

I stood in front of the mirror longer than necessary. The dress I had chosen was simple. Elegant, but not excessive. Something appropriate for dinner. Something that didn’t demand attention, but didn’t hide either. I adjusted the sleeve slightly, then stilled. For a moment, I just looked at my reflection. Composed. Put together. Ready. At least, that was what it was supposed to look like. My gaze lingered a second longer, searching for something I couldn’t quite name. Then my attention shifted—subtle, unintentional—to the perfume bottle sitting on the table beside me. I reached for it automatically. Paused. And just like that, the memory came back. Lucian. Our first date. I could still remember the way he had looked at me that night. Not casually. Not politely. Intently. As if I was the only thing in the room worth paying attention to. I had felt it then—certainty. There had been no hesitation. No second-guessing. Everything about that night had felt

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