Rise of the Formidable Ex-wife (Lucia and Alex) novel Chapter 119

Chapter 119

The dream came to Lucia ing early hours of morning, one days before her wedding. She was standing on a pier that stretched endlessly over darkwater. The sky above was gray and heavy, pressing down like a weight on her shoulders.

In the distance, she could hear someone calling for help. A young voice, desperate and afraid. Lucia ran along the wooden boards, her bare feet slapping against the wet planks. The voice grew louder, more urgent.

“Mom! Help me! Please!”

Lucia reached the end of the pier and looked down into the black water. Below the surface, she could see a figure thrashing wildly. Long dark hair floating like seaweed. Small hands reaching up toward the light.

Monica.

Her thirteen–year–old daughter was drowning, her mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for air. Water filled her lungs instead of oxygen. Her eyes were wide with terror and pain.

“Monica!” Lucia screamed, leaning over the edge of the pier. “Hold on! I’m coming!”

But when she tried to dive into the water, her body wouldn’t move. Her feet were frozen to the wooden boards. Her arms hung useless at her sides. She could only watch as her youngest child sank deeper into the darkness.

“Mom, don’t leave me!” Monica’s voice was muffled by water, growing fainter with each word. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Please don’t let me drown!”

Lucia fought against whatever was holding her in place, but it was no use. She was trapped, forced to watch her daughter disappear beneath the surface of the black water.

“NOOOO!” Lucia’s scream echoed across the empty water.

She woke up gasping, her heart pounding like a drum in her chest. The bedroom was dark and quiet. Beside her, Alexander slept peacefully, unaware of the nightmare that had torn through her mind.

Lucía sat up in bed, her hands shaking as she pushed sweat–damp hair away from her face. The dream had felt so real. She could still hear Monica’s voice calling for help, still see those terrified eyes begging not to be abandoned.

“It was just a dream,” she whispered to herself. “Just stress about the wedding.”

But the image of Monica drowning wouldn’t leave her mind. It followed her as she got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. It stayed with her as she splashed cold water on her face and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Her reflection looked tired, worried. Lines around her eyes that hadn’t been there a year ago. The face of a woman who was about to become someone’s wife but was still haunted by the children she’d left behind.

Lucia returned to bed and tried to fall back asleep, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw Monica’s face disappearing under the water. She saw those small hands reaching up, desperate for someone to save her.

By six AM, Lucia gave up on sleep. She made coffee and sat on the terrace overlooking Alexander’s garden, watching the su rise over the city. The morning was beautiful. Clear skies, gentle breeze, birds singing in the trees. A perfect day for a woman who was getting married tomorrow.

But the dream clung to her like fog. No matter how hard she tried to push it away, Monica’s voice kept echoing in her mind. “Don’t leave me! I’m sorry! Please don’t let me drown!”

Lena found her there an hour later, still staring out at the garden with her coffee growing cold in her hands.

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Chapter 119-

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Mom! You’re up early.” Lena settled into the chair beside her, studying Lucia’s face with concern. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Bad dream.” Lucia said simply.

“About the wedding? Pre–wedding nerves are totally normal”

Lucia forced a smile. “Something like that.

But it wasn’t about the wedding. It was about a thirteen–year–old girl who might be in trouble. A daughter who had chosen her father eight months ago but was still her child, no matter what had happened between them.

“Maybe you should call them,” Lena said quietly.

The suggestion hit Lucia like a slap. “Call who?”

“Your kids. Ria, Lucas, and Monica. Just to check on them before the wedding

“Why would I do that?”

wedding

Lena shrugged, but her eyes were serious. “Because you had a bad dream about one of them. Because you’re getting married tomorrow and part of you wishes they could be here. Because they’re still your children, ever: if things went wrong”

Lucia felt her chest tighten. The voice in her head, the one that sounded like her mother, like her conscience, like every parenting instinct she’d ever had, whispered that Lena was right. That she should call. That she should check on her children, especially Monica, who had always been the most sensitive.

But another voice, harder and colder, pushed back. The voice of a woman who had been betrayed and abandoned by the

very

children who were supposed to love her unconditionally.

“They made their choice,” Lucia said firmly. “I’m not going to chase after people who threw me away.”

“But what if they need you?”

“Then they know how to use a phone.”

Lena was quiet for a moment, then reached over and squeezed Lucia’s hand. “I just think… if something happened to one of them and you hadn’t reached out, you’d never forgive yourself.”

The words hit too close to home. Lucia pulled her hand away and stood up, pacing to the edge of the terrace. “Nothing is going to happen to them. They’re fine. They have their father and Margaret to take care of them.*

“Margaret?” Lena’s voice was skeptical. “From what you’ve told me, Margaret barely tolerates them.”

“That’s not my problem anymore.”

But even as she said the words, Lucia could hear how hollow they sounded. How forced. The truth was, she thought about her children every day. Wondered how they were doing in school, whether they were happy, if they ever missed her the way she missed them.

The dream about Monica drowning felt like a warning. Like her subconscious trying to tell her something important. “Maybe just a quick call,” Lena suggested gently. “You don’t have to have a long conversation Just make sure they re okay.”

“No.” Lucia’s voice was sharp, final. “I’m not going to keep opening myself up to more rejection. I did that for months after they chose Marco, and all it did was hurt me more.”

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Chapter 119

Hut Mom”

“Lena, please. I know you thean well, but this is something you can’t understand. You’ve never been betrayed by your own children. You’ve never had the people you love most in the world decide you’re not worth fighting for

Lena fell silent, recognizing the pain in Lucia’s voice. The deep wound that still hadn’t healed, might never heal.

Lucia walked back to her chair and sat down, whipping her arms around herself like armor. “Tomorrow I’m marrying your father. I’m starting a new life with a new family. I can’t keep looking backward at people who don’t want me in their lives?

“Okay,” Lena said softly. “I understand.”

But Lucia could see the worry in Lena’s eyes. The same worry that was eating at her own heart, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it.

The voice in her head grew louder throughout the day. While she was getting her final dress frring, it whispered about Monica’s pale face and sad eyes. While she was reviewing wedding plans with the coordinator, it reminded her of all the times Monica had crawled into her bed during thunderstorms. While she was choosing flowers for tomorrow’s ceremony, it showed her memories of Monica as a little girl, picking dandelions and calling them beautiful.

“Call her,” the voice urged. “Just check on her. Just make sure she’s all right.”

But Lucia pushed the voice down each time it rose. She had learned to be strong, to protect herself from more heartbreak. Calling her children would only open old wounds and create new ones.

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