Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 106

Chapter 106

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The red roses sat on Lucia’s desk like drops of blood against the polished marble surface. Twelve perfect blooms, their petals soft as silk, their thorns carefully removed. She stared at them through the floor–to–ceiling windows of her office, the morning sun casting long shadows across the expensive carpet.

Her secretary had found them there when she arrived at seven–thirty, along with a cream–colored envelope bearing her name in Marco’s familiar handwriting. The same handwriting that had once signed anniversary cards and love letters. The same handwriting that had signed divorce papers eight months ago.

Lucia’s hands trembled as she picked up the envelope. The paper felt heavy, expensive. Inside, three pages of Marco’s careful script waited for her.

*My dearest Lucia,*

*Do you remember our first apartment? That tiny place with the leaky fauce? You used to dance in the kitchen while making coffee, wearing my old sweater that hung down to your knees. I would watch you from the doorway, thinking I was the luckiest man alive.*

*We had everything then. Not money yet, but we had each other. We stayed up all night talking about the future, about the children we’d have, the legacy we’d build together. You believed in me when everyone else doubted. You devoted yourself to our home, our family. You supported my dreams for seventeen years, even when I was too busy to say thank you.*

*I know what I did was unforgivable. I know I hurt you in ways that can never be undone. But Lucia, I need you to know that losing you has destroyed me. Margaret means nothing. She never did. She was a mistake, a moment of weakness that cost me everything that mattered.*

*I’ve been cleared of all charges. The audit found nothing because there was nothing to find. I know you tried to destroy me, and I don’t blame you for it. I deserved your anger. I deserved your hate. But now that the legal troubles are behind us, can’t we try again?*

*I see you with Alexander Kane, and it breaks my heart. He’s using you, Lucia. Can’t you see that? He’s always wanted what was mine. He’s turned you against me, filled your head with lies about who I am. The real Marco Hart is the man who held you when you cried about your father’s death. The man who stayed up all night when Ria had pneumonia. The man who danced with you in our kitchen on Sunday mornings.*

*Please, my love. Don’t marry him. Come home. Let me prove to you that we can be happy again. Let me show what we had was real, worth fighting for.*

*Forever yours,*

*Marco*

you that

The letter fluttered to the floor as Lucia’s vision blurred with tears. For a moment, just one terrible, treacherous moment, she was twenty–two years old again, dancing in that cramped kitchen, believing in forever. The memories crashed over her like waves: Marco’s smile when she said yes to his proposal, the way he used to trace patterns on her back when she couldn’t sleep, how proud he looked when she walked down the aisle in her grandmother’s wedding dress.

But then reality crashed back down. The anniversary dinner. Margaret’s triumphant smile. Her children’s rejection. The humiliation. The pain.

“No,” she whispered to the empty office. “Not again.”

She called her secretary. “Please have maintenance dispose of the flowers. And if Mr. Hart attempts to enter this building again, security is to remove him immediately.”

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Chapter 106-

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ut dispassing of the roses didn’t dispose of the memories. They followed her through the day like ghosts, whispering of what once was. By evening, she felt raw, exposed, like an old wound that had been torn open.

She was gathering her things to leave when she heard the elevator ding. Footsteps approached her office, confident, familiar footsteps that made her stomach clench with dread.

Marco appeared in her doorway holding another bouquet, white lilies this time. Her favorite flowers. He knew they were her favorite because he’d brought them to her hospital room when Monica was born, because he’d planted them in their garden for their tenth anniversary, because for seventeen years he’d paid attention to such things.

“You got my letter,” he said, stepping into her office without invitation. He looked different, thinner, older, with dark circles under his eyes and a desperate gleam that frightened her.

“I had it thrown away,” Lucia replied, not looking up from her briefcase. “Along with your flowers.”

“Lucia, please. Just listen to me.”

“There’s nothing to hear, Marco. We’re finished. Have been for eight months.”

He moved closer, setting the lilies on her desk. “I’ve been cleared of all charges. The audit found nothing because there was nothing to find. I’m innocent, Lucia. Doesn’t that change anything?”

She laughed, a harsh sound that echoed off the glass walls. “Innocent? You hid money from me. You planned our divorce while pretending to love me. You destroyed our family for a woman young enough to be your daughter.”

“Margaret was a mistake!” The words exploded from him with such force that Lucia stepped back. “A terrible, stupid mistake that I regret every single day. But you, you’re my wife. You’re the mother of my children. You’re supposed to forgive me.”

“Supposed to?” Lucia’s voice was deadly quiet. “According to who? According to the man who threw me away like garbage?” “I never threw you away. You left.”

“You packed my belongings while I waited at a restaurant like a fool. You moved your mistress into our home. You turned our children against me.” Each word was a blade, sharp and precise. “I didn’t leave, Marco. I was discarded.”

His face crumpled, and for a moment he looked like the young man she’d once loved. “I know. God, I know what I did. But Lucia, I’m begging you. Don’t marry him. Alexander Kane has wanted to destroy me for years. He’s using you to get to me

“Using me?” Lucia’s laugh was bitter. “The way you used me? The way you used seventeen years of my life to be your perfect wife, your gracious hostess, your devoted partner, then threw me away when something younger and prettier came along?”

r

“It wasn’t like that.”

“It was exactly like that.” She moved toward him, her eyes blazing. “You want to know the difference between you and Alexander? He sees me. Really sees me. Not as a possession or a convenience, but as a person worthy of love and respect.”

Marco’s face twisted with jealousy and rage. “He’s a homewrecker. A manipulator. He’s turned you into something cold and vengeful.”

“No, Marco. You did that. You created this version of me when you destroyed the woman I used to be.”

“The woman you used to be was my wife!”

“The woman I used to be was naive!” The words tore from her throat. “She accepted scraps and called it love. She forgave betrayals and called it grace. She sacrificed everything and called it marriage. That woman is dead. Marco. You killed her.”

He grabbed her arm, his grip tight and desperate. “Come home with me. Please. We can fix this. We can be happy again.” 2/5

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Chapter 106

She looked down at his hand on her arm, then up at his face. “Let go of me.”

“Lucia.”

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“Let Go.”

He released her, but didn’t step back. “I love you. I’ve always loved you. Margaret means nothing. The children miss you. We all want you back.”

“The children who chose Margaret over me? The children who believed your lies without question? The children who watched you humiliate me and said nothing?” Her voice broke on the last word. “They made their choice, Marco. Just like you did.”

“They were confused. Hurt. They’re kids.”

“Ria is sixteen. Lucas is fifteen. Old enough to know right from wrong. Old enough to choose loyalty over convenience.” She moved to the window, staring out at the city lights. “They chose you. Live with that choice.”

“What about us?” His voice was pleading now, desperate. “What about seventeen years of marriage? What about the love we shared:”

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She turned to face him, and he stepped back at what he saw in her eyes. “What love, Marco? The love where you hid money from me? The love where you planned my replacement while sleeping in my bed? The love where you let your children disrespect me?”

“I made mistakes.”

Feel

“You made choices.” Her voice was

now, unbreakable. “You chose Margaret. You chose lies. You chose cruelty. Now I’m choosing Alexander. I’m choosing honesty. I’m choosing a man who values me.”

His face darkened with pure obsession. “That bastard stole you from me. You’re mine, Lucia. You’ve always been mine. Seventeen years of marriage doesn’t just disappear because you’re having some midlife crisis with that snake.”

“No one stole me, Marco. You threw me away. Alexander simply had the wisdom to pick me up.”

“He’s poison, Lucia. He’s always been jealous of what I had. He’s using you to hurt me.” Marco’s voice grew more frantic, more desperate. “Can’t you see what he’s doing? He’s manipulated you into thinking you want this new life, but deep down you know you belong with me.”

happiness

“Everything isn’t about you.” The words were quiet but devastating. “My happiness isn’t about hurting you. My love isn’t about destroying you. My life isn’t about you at all anymore.”

Γ

Marco’s composure finally shattered completely. His eyes blazed with desperate obsession “You belong with me! We built a life together! We have children together! You can’t just erase seventeen years! You’re my wife, Lucia. Mine! I don’t care about some piece of paper or some ring from another inan. You belong to me and I will never let you go. Never!”

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