Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 103

Chapter 103-

Chapter 103

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Diana Foster sat in the corner booth of Brew Haven coffee shop, her phone hidden behind her menu as she recorded the shocking scene unfolding across the room. She had been Margaret’s friend since childhood, one of the few people who knew all of Margaret’s secrets and schemes. When she spotted Ria Hart walking into the café, she had started recording out of idle curiosity.

But what she captured was pure gold.

The video showed Ria dropping to her knees in front of Lucia, sobbing as she begged for forgiveness. It captured every tear, every word of apology, every moment of Ria’s complete breakdown as she admitted how wrong she had been to choose her father over her mother.

Diana’s finger hovered over the send button as she watched Lucia pull Ria to her feet and embrace her. This was exactly the kind of ammunition Margaret needed in her war against Lucia’s influence over the Hart family.

Without hesitation, she sent the video to Margaret with a simple message: *Thought you should see this. Filmed ten minutes ago at Brew Haven.*

Margaret was in her walk–in closet, sorting through designer clothes she might need to sell if Marco’s financial situation got worse, when her phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen and saw Diana’s name, followed by a video attachment.

“What now?” Margaret muttered, clicking play.

The first few seconds showed the inside of a coffee shop, nothing particularly interesting. But then the camera focused on two women at a corner table, and Margaret’s blood turned to ice.

Lucia. Sitting across from Ria.

Margaret’s grip tightened on her phone as she watched Ria sink to her knees beside the table. The audio was clear enough for her to hear every word of Ria’s tearful apology, every admission of guilt, every promise to do better.

“No,” Margaret whispered, her voice growing louder with each word Ria spoke. “No, no, no!”

By the time the video showed Lucia pulling Ria into an embrace, Margaret was screaming at her phone screen. “You little backstabbing witch! You lying, ungrateful…”

She hurled her phone across the closet, watching it shatter against the wall. But the damage was already done. The image of Ria crying in Lucia’s arms was burned into her mind, proof that everything Margaret had worked for was falling apart.

Margaret stormed downstairs, her face twisted with rage. She could hear voices in the living room, Ra talking to Lucas and Monica about something. Perfect. She would deal with this betrayal immediately.

Ria looked up as Margaret burst into the room, her face still glowing from her reconciliation with Lucia. “Margaret, I need to tell you…”

“I already know,” Margaret cut her off, her voice deadly quiet. “I know exactly what you did today.”

Lucas and Monica exchanged glances, sensing the dangerous energy radiating from their stepmother.

“What are you talking about?” Ria asked, though something in Margaret’s tone made her stomach drop.

“I’m talking about your little performance at the coffee shop,” Margaret said, moving closer. “I’m talking about on your knees to that woman, begging for forgiveness like some pathetic dog.”

you

crawling

Ria’s face went pale. “How did you…”

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Chapter 103-

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How did I know Margaret laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “Because someone was there, you stupid girl. Someone recorded your humiliating display for the whole world to see.”

“It wasn’t humiliating, Ria sard, standing up to face Margaret. “I was apologizing to my mother for the hurt I caused her.”

“Your mother?” Margaret’s voice rose to a shriek. “I’m the only mother you have! I’m the one who’s been here while she abandoned you!”

“She didn’t abandon us.” Lucas said quietly. “We abandoned her.”

Margaret whirled to face him. “Don’t you start with me! I’ve had enough of this family’s obsession with that woman!”

“She’s not ‘that woman.“” Monica said, standing beside her siblings. “She’s our mom: And Ria did the right thing by apologizing to her.”

“The right thing?” Margaret was screaming now, her composure completely shattered. “The right thing would be staying loyal to the family that actually wants you! The right thing would be remembering who has been taking care of you while your precious mother plays house with her new boyfriend!”

“You haven’t been taking care of us,” Ria said, her own anger rising. “You’ve been using us. Just like you used Dad. Just like you use everyone.”

Margaret’s face turned red with fury. “How dare you! After everything I’ve done for this family…”

“What have you done?” Ria interrupted. “Besides move into our mother’s house and try to erase her from our lives? Besides steal my designs and take credit for my work? Besides turn our home into a place where we’re afraid to speak?”

“I gave you opportunities!” Margaret screamed. “I let you work with me! I tried to help you build a career!”

“You used my talent to advance your own reputation,” Ria shot back. “You’re nothing but a fraud who can’t create anything original.”

Margaret’s hand moved so fast that no one saw it coming. The slap echoed through the room like a gunshot, the force of it sending Ria staggering backward.

“Don’t you ever speak to me like that again!” Margaret shrieked, her hand raised for another strike. “I am your stepmother! You will show me respect!”

Lucas immediately moved to put himself between Margaret and Ria, while Monica rushed to check on her sister. Ria’s cheek was already turning red, and she could taste blood where her teeth had cut her lip.

“You’re not our stepmother,” Ria said, her voice shaking with rage and pain. “You’re just the trash Dad picked up when he threw away our real family.”

Margaret raised her hand again, but before she could strike, a voice boomed from the doorway.

“MARGARET!”

Marco stood in the entrance to the living room, his face dark with fury. He had come home to find his wife screaming at his children and had witnessed the slap that left his daughter’s face marked.

“Step away from my daughter,” Marco said, his voice deadly calm.

“Marco, she called me…” Margaret started.

“I don’t care what she called you,” Marco interrupted, moving toward them. “You do not hit my children. Ever.”

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Margaret looked around the room at the three siblings standing together against her, then at her husband who was defending them instead of her. “They’re turning against me! All of them! They’re choosing that woman over the family we built together!”

“We didn’t build anything together,” Marco said quietly. “I destroyed my real family for you. And these children are what’s left of that family.”

“So you’re taking their side too?” Margaret’s voice cracked with hysteria. “You’re going to let them disrespect me in my own home?”

“This isn’t your home,” Ria said, holding a hand to her stinging cheek. “This was never your home. You just moved into the space our mother left behind.

Margaret looked from Ria to Marco, seeing no support in his eyes. “Fine,” she said, her voice shaking with rage and hurt. “Fine. Choose them over me. Choose your precious ex–wife over the woman who actually married you. But don’t come crying to me when she destroys you completely.”

She stormed toward the stairs, her heels clicking angrily against the marble floor. “And don’t expect me to pretend I care when you’re sitting in a prison cell, wondering how your life fell apart!”

The slam of her bedroom door echoed through the house like a bomb going off, leaving the family standing in stunned silence.

Marco looked at his children, noting how they had instinctively moved closer together during the confrontation. Ria’s cheek was swelling, and all three of them looked shaken by Margaret’s violence.

“Are you hurt?” Marco asked Ria, moving toward her.

Ria stepped back, keeping distance between them. “I’m fine.”

“Let me see,” Marco insisted, reaching toward her face.

“Don’t touch me,” Ria said sharply. “Don’t you dare act like you care now.”

Marco’s hand dropped to his side. “Ria, I was protecting you…”

“Where was that protection for the past year?” Ria demanded, her voice rising with accumulated anger. “Where was that protection when Margaret was stealing my designs? Where was that protection when she was verbally abusing us? Where was that protection when she threw away Mom’s belongings?”

“I didn’t know…” Marco started.

“You didn’t want to know!” Ria screamed. “You were too busy enjoying your midlife crisis to care what was happening to your

children!”

Lucas and Monica flanked their sister, presenting a united front against their father.

“Ria’s right,” Lucas said quietly. “You destroyed our family, Dad. You chose Margaret over Mom, and then you let Margaret treat us like unwanted stepchildren in our own home.”

“Everything that’s happened to us is because of your choices,” Monica added. “The divorce, the family breaking apart, Margaret’s abuse, all of it comes back to you.”

Marco stared at his children, seeing the anger and disappointment in their eyes. “I made mistakes…

“Mistakes?” Ria’s voice was filled with bitter laughter. “You didn’t make mistakes. Dad. You made choices. You chose to have an affair. You chose to leave Mom. You chose to marry Margaret. You chose to let her terrorize us.”

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Chapter 103

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